Lennon thrives on freedom
Aaron Lennon won his second consecutive man of the match award from Spurs Odyssey voters with a whopping score of 8.6 out of ten.
It was no less than he deserved for what was one of his best performances for Spurs, and that's saying something for a player who has been with us now for 8 seasons, having played 217 Premier League games in our colours.
As I mentioned in the report, Aaron thrived on the freedom granted in the absence of Gareth Bale, turning up right, left and centre to worry the Reading defence. Aaron is still only 25, and has loads more to offer Spurs and surely also England, whose manager Roy Hodgson was watching on New Year's Day.
Lennon has once again been a mainstay in the Spurs team this season, having played almost as many minutes as Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen in our 29 games this season. Last season, Aaron missed 18 games through injury, and sometimes over the last two years, he was in competition with Rafa van der Vaart for the spot on the right of midfield.
With Chelsea surprisingly losing at home to bottom of the league Queens Park Rangers, Spurs hold third place until the next round of Premier League fixtures starting on Saturday 12th January. Our next league opponents will of course be the same QPR, managed by a certain Harry Redknapp. That's going to be a match to relish!
That next round of fixtures includes Man Utd playing LIverpool, Arsenal at home to Man City, Chelsea at Stoke and Everton a home to Swansea.
Spurs gained 10 points in their four Christmas games. This was our best festive total for 8 years, when we beat Southampton (5-1), Norwich (2-0), and Everton (5-2), only drawing at home to Crystal Palace.
After 21 games last season (mid-January), we had 46 points and we were also in third place, ahead of Chelsea in fourth. The Manchester City game that followed proved to be crucial, starting a downturn in our form and fortunes. Perhaps this year we can maintain our form and momentum and secure Champions League football for next season.
As The Hollies sang (and now the Justice Collective), "it's a long, long road", and Spurs have plenty of mileage to cover in this New Year. Let's hope we carry on enjoying the ride!
· See the Spursometer in full for the Reading game
Results 01-02.01.13
West Brom 1-2 Fulham
Man City 3-0 Stoke
Swansea 2-2 A. Villa
Spurs 3-1 Reading
West Ham 2-1 Norwich
Wigan 0-4 Man Utd
S'hampton 1-1 Arsenal
Chelsea 0-1 QPR
Liverpool 3-0 s'derland
Newcastle 1-2 Everton
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Man Utd 21 17 1 3 54-28 26 52
2. Man City 21 13 6 2 41-19 22 45
3. Spurs 21 12 3 6 39-27 12 39
4. Chelsea 20 11 5 4 39-19 20 38
5. Everton 21 9 9 3 35-26 9 36
6. Arsenal 20 9 7 4 40-22 18 34
7. West Brom 21 10 3 8 29-27 2 33
8. Liverpool 21 8 7 6 34-26 8 31
9. Swansea 21 7 8 6 31-26 5 29
10. Stoke 21 6 11 4 21-20 1 29
11. West Ham 20 7 5 8 24-24 0 26
12. Norwich 21 6 7 8 24-34 -10 25
13. Fulham 21 6 6 9 32-37 -5 24
14. S'derland 21 5 7 9 21-29 -8 22
15. Newcastle 21 5 5 11 27-39 -12 20
16. A. Villa 21 4 7 10 17-41 -24 19
17. S'hampton 20 4 6 10 27-38 -11 18
18. Wigan 21 5 3 13 22-39 -17 18
19. Reading 21 2 7 12 23-40 -17 13
20. QPR 21 2 7 12 17-36 -19 13
