NORMAN GILLER’S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 198
Submitted by Norman Giller
Legendary Diego Maradona sat alongside Spurs chairman Daniel Levy watching the 4-1 destruction of Liverpool at Wembley (Home, Sweet Home). But who needs the Hand of God when you’ve got the feet of Our Harry Kane!
He scored two and made another for Son Heung-min. And it took the fleet-footed South Korean to find the right description for the man terrorising Premier League defences: “The Monster …!”
It will now be all eyes on Harry’s thigh after he limped off in the closing minutes, but Professor Pochettino is confident it is just a minor problem caused by playing three high-octane matches in a week.
You can bet your boots he will be rested from Wednesday’s League Cup tie against West Ham, saving him for the crucial match against Manchester United on Saturday.
One player who hardly got a mention yesterday was Davinson Sanchez, who has quietly become part of the Tottenham furniture without fuss or fanfare. He slots in perfectly between Belgian masters Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld and does his stopping job so well that he almost goes unnoticed.
Prof. Pochettino knows a thing or three about playing in the centre of defence, and clearly has complete confidence in Sanchez to hold the fort while Jan and Toby carry out their mopping up exercises with a mix of style and strength. How Liverpool must envy this solid unit.
The two Merseyside clubs do not seem to have a defence between them. I have rarely seen such looseness from both Liverpool and Everton. Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Harry Catterick must be spinning.
Meantime, ‘Sir’ Bill Nicholson would be purring at the way Spurs are playing. It is football right out of the Tottenham manual, based on deadly accurate passing, being in the right position even when not in possession, and a collective team approach. No prima donnas, thank you. Our Harry is a great individualist, who commits himself totally to the overall team performance.
Our travelling guru Paul H. Smith gives the facts and figures on yesterday’s invigorating match HERE, just five days after his eyewitness account of the glorious draw against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu. Lucky old Paul!
Anybody who manages to watch every minute of Scintillating Spurs on the road this season can count themselves blessed. They are without argument the finest Tottenham team for several decades.
But just one note of caution: let’s not forget that Hugo Lloris had to make three world-class saves to stop Liverpool getting back into a match that Spurs thought they had wrapped up. Total concentration, please.
The only way Poch’s Pups can stop mouldy oldies like me from digging back into the past for our golden memories is to win some silverware. They are definitely good enough to take a trophy or two … a pity Manchester City have picked this season to show they are one of the finest club teams in the world.
But while the ‘Monster’ Harry Kane is on the loose, all things are possible for Tottenham. Let’s hope the stunning away form continues with a victory at Old Trafford and then into second place on the trail of the City slickers.
WEEK 11 of the Sports Odyssey Quiz League 2017-18. The rules are simple: I ask one Tottenham-related question for which a right answer earns you two points, and then a related teaser that can bring you an extra point.
The questions are always easy, provided you know the answers!
The winner this season will get a framed certificate proclaiming him (or her) the Spurs Odyssey Quiz Champion, plus a no-longer-in-print autographed GOALS book by Spurs idol Jimmy Greaves and another collectors’ item from my Greavsie collection: Football’s Greatest Entertainers, signed by Jimmy and Tottenham’s Mr Loyalty, Steve Perryman.
Now here comes the eleventh question of the 2017-18 SOQL season:
Who joined Spurs from Newcastle in 1997 and won 17 England caps? Against which team was he on a winning Tottenham side in a League Cup final?
Please email your answers by Friday’s midnight deadline to: soql11@normangillerbooks.com.
Keep a check on your points score, because I can never rely on my server that often loses emails in the ether.
I test you with Spurs questions until the last few weeks of the season, when I introduce the dreaded tiebreaker teasers that call for your opinion as much as your knowledge.
But please remember, we are all in this just for fun, with the common bond of admiring all things Tottenham.
Answer to last week’s question was Moussa Sissoko, who scored his first Spurs goal in the 4-0 thumping of Huddersfield. Moussa was one of the heroes of last week’s draw against Real Madrid, and has at last won over the Tottenham fans.
First name drawn from the correct answers was Bill Taylor, from Bradford and a Spurs fan for more than 30 years. I will send Bill a screen version of my Spurs ’67 book (I have now sold all copies, and the book raised £4,000 for the Tottenham Tribute Trust to help our old heroes Thank you all those Spurs Odyssey followers who gave their support. Have you thought of writing a book yourself? My latest book, ‘How to SELF Publish’ is now going to press. The perfect present for that person you know has a book in them, perhaps you! Full details at http://www.normangillerbooks.com.
Thanks for your company. See you same time, same place next week. COYS!
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