arsenal lose to spurs; lessons learned?

A strange occurrence in the football world last night as Spurs beat their N London rivals for the first time since 1999, when most of the Arsenal side from last night were wearing shorts… to school. Actually it wasn’t just a win it was a 5-1 thrashing. For all Spurs fans it must have been a sweet, sweet moment and for my good friends Shay and Colin, who have had to endure many jibes from me as long-suffering fans of the under-achieving THFC, it must have been v special. Their gracious decision not to send through any ‘who’s smirking now fat boy manurite?’ messages is humbling…and inexplicable. After all it could easily be 9 years before it happens again! Sorry guys, easy joke.

So what caused this lightning strike moment? Spurs were the better side I thought at the Emirates when Berbatov had a sublime 45 minutes. But 1-1 seemed a reasonable score. I thought Wenger might have loaded his team with a couple more of his first teamers given that Spurs were clearly intent on not letting this tie go without a fight – after all a Cup final place was at stake. But to be fair he kind of stuck with the bulk of the kids choosing to ship in some heavy mob into the centre back roles. I guess he must have reckoned that Senderos and the other kid were simply no match for Keane and Berbatov.

But I watched the match highlights and Arsene got it all wrong. Spurs were just rampant from the start and the threat came from midfield where Jenas in particular had a blinder. Plus the White Hart Lane crowd were clearly up for it. The atmosphere seemed electric from the start as if they all knew that destiny beckoned. And so it proved. Arsenal changed things with the introductions of the Fabregas etc but it was all too late. A good goal from Adebayor for sure but what was all that stuff with Bendtner about? Very un-Arsenal like. Do you suppose big Addy was taking the piss out of NB’s orange boots? If so he should have had a pop at Diaby too. What did they look like – ORANGE boots! What a pair of jessies. Lennon’s tangerine rascals were bad enough but at least he was playing in white socks. Orange boots and red socks though is not a look for the faint-hearted. Those boots were made for wanking.

So that’s the big upset of the week. Surely Arsene needed to spend some of that cash mountain building up at the bank knowing that a number of his key personnel were away at the ANC. His reliance on the kids has stood him in good stead up until now but they were up against an undaunted side last night who knew they had the beating of the junior gooners. It’s a lesson I reckon and actions will show if Wenger thinks similarly.

For Spurs that’s the monkey off the back. I’m very impressed with Ramos to be honest. As decent as he was, I don’t think Jol would or could have instilled that sense of killer determination in his players to be honest. Blimey, did the Spurs board actually make the right decision, even though the way it was handled was cack-handed? One swallow doesn’t make a summer and all that but that could be a big turning point for the Spurs. It might just dent Arsenal’s confidence significantly.

Everton , Villa and Man C starting to hunt down Liverpool. Chelsea having to resort to winning ugly (wasn’t that Mourinho’s crime?). Rooney and Ronnie entering the zone. Has the whole season just burst into life?

pp