The view from White Hart Lane
4th Feb 2012 - Latest News
Dave Tickner from Sportinglife.com provides a Tottenham fan's view of Monday night's encounter at Anfield.
Spurs can get a result at Anfield because...
We're pretty good, actually. We've got plenty of attacking quality to trouble even the best defences (and Liverpool's is certainly up there) and the players should be feeling pretty confident: our best performance in the second half of last season was probably at Anfield and our best performance this season was undoubtedly against Liverpool at the Lane.
Can you win the league?
In theory, yes. In reality, no, I don't think so. If we're still within a handful of points after our next four games (Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal, Man United) then we'll have half a chance. But I don't think we will be. Defoe's miss at the Etihad is going to be our Gazza-against-the-Germans-at-Euro-96 moment. Still, third place would be absolutely splendid, ta. Fourth would do, to be honest, as long as Arsenal don't go and do something stupid like winning the Champions League. Hark at me: 'Fourth would do'. Spurs fans - so cocky now.
Players we need to stop?
Gareth Bale seems to have regained some of the discipline he briefly lost after temporarily believing himself to be the new Cristiano Ronaldo after he single-handedly beat Norwich playing a free, largely central role. It's not as simple as stop Bale, stop Spurs, but we're a vastly better team when he's having one of his Inter Milan days - not least because teams then start doubling up on him and giving more space to the likes of Modric and Van der Vaart.
Best way to beat Tottenham?
Sounds obvious, but attack us. No-one has got a result against us by sitting back and parking the bus. There are different ways to go about said attacking - the Manchesters United and City overwhelmed us at the start of the season, and Stoke profited from going right at us in their own horrific way from the off - but attack us you must. We were ludicrously comfortable at Man City until they stepped up the pace at the start of the second half. There have been plenty of other games this season where sides have realised too late (Fulham at the Cottage, QPR, West Brom and Wigan at the Lane) that passively sitting back and looking to frustrate hasn't worked. All those sides might've got something against us by showing a bit more attacking ambition a bit earlier.
Liverpool players you wish had signed for Spurs?
It's not a position we're particularly short in, and he's broken at the moment, but I do like Lucas a great deal. And again, while we're not particularly short of skilful attacking players, I think Luis Suarez would do a splendid job in our fluid front four. As for a player who might actually offer us something a bit different, I'm always impressed with Maxi Rodriguez when I see him. As a team that gets a large number of its goals from midfield and wide areas, his goalscoring knack would be quite handy. Don't suppose you're going to let us have any of them, are you?
All-time high being a Spurs fan?
Qualifying for the Champions League was great, beating Chelsea at Wembley in the Carling Cup was glorious, but for Spurs fans of my generation I still think April 14, 1991 tops the lot. Tottenham v all-conquering Arsenal, FA Cup semi-final, Wembley. Is Gascoigne going to have a crack? He is you know... Winning the final was important to make the semi-final special, but that was a bittersweet day: Gazza's injury, winning it through an own goal from lovely Des Walker. The semi-final was perfect.
All-time low?
If the high was winning an FA Cup semi-final, then the low has to be losing one. There have been plenty since that 1991 victory. Getting mugged by a dreadful Portsmouth side two years ago was depressing, but nothing was worse than the 4-1 thrashing by Everton at Elland Road in 1995. It was the Year of the Klinsmann, we'd been utterly sensational in beating you chaps at Anfield in the previous round and as a naive, impressionable youngster, I genuinely and utterly thought we were destined to win a competition that, thanks to the financial naughtiness of a previous regime, we weren't even in at the start of the season.
One song we're bound to hear?
The brilliant slow version of 'When the Spurs'.
Supporters love to moan - what's your biggest gripe as a Spurs fan this season?
Seems churlish to complain, but shouldn't let that stop me. While I do grudgingly admit that Harry's a really good football manager, I still don't much care for the bloke and am slightly pained that our best period in my lifetime has come with him in charge. And I still think we're no more than a couple of successive defeats (which could well come in the next month) from him deflecting attention with his 'How can you compete with these guys, eh? All the money they spend' spiel. I am aware that complaining about a manager who has done so well for us makes me sound like an ungrateful little twerp, but what can I say? I'm not a perfect or even particularly good man. And I don't like 'Arry.
Prediction?
At the risk of getting splinters in my backside, I'll go for the draw. I'll say 1-1.
Author: Jimmy Rice
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/the-view-from-white-hart-lane