By Myles Palmer
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MARTIN JOL is a Dutch manager and the Premiership has not had many of those.
Ruud Gullit lived in Amsterdam when he managed Newcastle, so we knew that was not gonna work.
Martin Jol, we don’t know yet.
We are told Jol is a good tactician. If that is the case, Spurs could do well in this game.
If Jol is ruthless, and a good tactician, Spurs will definitely do well.
Jol says he wants to play organised, attacking football, but he won’t mind if, just this once, Spurs win ugly.
Jol will be familiar with how Panathinaikos played against Arsenal, how Southampton played, how Palace played last week, how pathetic Arsenal are on set pieces, how rarely Arsenal threaten from crosses, how off-form Pires and Bergkamp are, how Henry and Reyes struggle to combine, how moody Henry has become as he buckles under the challenge of being France’s main man, post-Zidane
As I said a few days ago, this game will be very interesting.
More interesting than most Spurs-Arsenal games.
CLEARLY, IT’S A HUGE OPPORTUNITY for Arsenal to get back on track.
They have a more skilful team, a more settled team, an athletically superior team, and should be able to beat Spurs 2-1 or 3-1.
Recently, as performances have dipped, games seem to be divided into three phases : the period before Arsenal score, the period after they score, and the period after their opponents score.
But these days, in the period after Arsenal score, they don’t explode any more.
They used to go bang!bang!bang!
They used to raise the tempo, create four chances, score a couple, and kill the game.They had purple patches of penetration and finished teams off.
Nowadays, they can’t get the second goal.
HOW GOOD ARE SPURS?
Well, I now believe that keeper Paul Robinson DID have a secret trial at Arsenal and I now believe that AW passed on Robinson because he was not impressed by his fitness.
Body shape is everything to the athletics-loving AW and Robinson is built like John Hartson.
Lehmann could have a bad game, and Robinson could have a blinder.
Alternatively, Lehmann could have a blinder.
CARRICK is a stylish, slim, creative player that Arsene once fancied, and could have signed last summer.
Carrick might be the classiest midfielder Spurs have signed since Darren Anderton.
He is better than Redknapp, Freund, Sherwood and other yo-yos who have worn the Lillywhite shirts in recent seasons.
But Carrick has done nothing yet.
I want to see his next 100 games.
JERMAIN DEFOE is an electric poacher who doesn’t go wide, doesn’t work the channels much.
Like Martin Chivers, Defoe likes to stay within the width of the penalty area, get the ball and shoot.
Like Chivers, he likes to stay in the middle, score the goals and get the glory.
Defoe is razor-sharp and scores from positions which would be a half-chance to anybody else.
I think Defoe is technically better than Michael Owen, but international football is about temperament, not giving the ball away, playing the match not the occasion, not freezing when you hear that anthem.
Playing for England is about a lot of things and takes a lot of qualities.
Sven doesn’t rate Defoe as highly as I do.
Against Charlton, Spurs went 3-0 down and got one back and then Robbie Keane created a terrific goal.
His short pass was sublime, touched to Defoe with 100% precision.
Defoe was facing away from the goal but he did not have to run after that pass, which rolled gently across him, so that he was able to spin and smack the ball low past Kiely.
A fantastic shot from a world class pass.
Defoe did not look up to see where the goal was. He knew where the goal was. He is very aware of where the goal is.
My friends often slag Robbie Keane off, ask why a 24-year old striker has had five clubs, but I always defend him. If I like a footballer, I like him for a long time.
Robbie Keane remains one of my favourite footballers. He has improvisational fire, bottle, an advanced game-sense.
He did the business for Ireland when the pressure was on the 2002 World Cup, when you-know-who flopped and got sent off in France’s second game.
LEDLEY KING is a marvellous centreback.
First time I saw Ledley I thought: this guy can pass the ball out of defence.
Second time : This guy can pass the ball out of defence under pressure. He always gets his pass in and its always a good pass ! He is class !
Ledley is a player that Arsenal will want in 2005 or 2006. And Chelsea will want him too.
HOW WILL ARSENAL PLAY?
Until we see the line-up, we cannot guess.
Overall, my predictions have been too optimistic.
I thought Arsenal were better than Panathinaikos, Man United, Southampton and Palace, and said they would beat Panathinaikos, Man United, Southampton and Palace.
I kept thinking they would bounce back. But they didn’t, so I’ve lost trust in the team.
ARSENAL have not won at the Lane for five years. As Lee Dixon says, it’s their Cup Final.
However, Arsenal are not too far off playing well, not too far off scoring three goals, and not too far off being able to catch Chelsea.
George Graham always told reporters that success isn’t down to one thing, it’s a lot of five percent and ten percent improvements, in various areas, that accumulate into an effective, confident, winning team.
Conversely, although George didn’t say this, when a team starts to fall apart, it does so by five percent in one area, by ten percent in another area, and by a bit more than that in the next game.
Which is why when George’s Arsenal lost a game, he made sure the next game was a draw, at least.
Saturday’s noon kick-off might bring great joy to Gooners everywhere.
Obviously, many of these derbies are draws, but my gut feeling is that this one won’t be.
Bottom line : White Hart Lane is a big opportunity for the champions.
But it is also an opportunity for Carrick, Defoe and Keane.
November 12th 2004