Three weeks into the new season and a day before the end of the transfer window, the North London derby came early this year. Tottenham Hotspur have spent better than 100 million pounds buying players versus nothing for Arsenal, but in today's match at the Emirates Stadium, Spurs were yet again outdone by their neighbors. Arsenal's narrow win had as much to do with Spurs lack of a cutting edge as with Arsenal's superior creativity in the midfield.
The absence of any creativity in the side can be attributed to the departure of Gareth Bale. After today's match, Spurs announced the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee of 86 million pounds, eclipsing the fee Real paid for Ronaldo from Manchester United five years earlier. In the second half of last season, the Welsh wizard nearly single-handedly dragged Spurs into the Champions League places with late game match winners against West Ham, Southampton, and Sunderland. In two years, two of Tottenham's best creative and skillful players have left to Real Madrid: Luka Modric and Gareth Bale. A Spurs fan is only left to wonder where their team may if they remained. My fandom of Spurs began three years ago by watching these two work their magic.
At multiple points today, Spurs could have used the services of either man. While Spurs retained superior possession, they had a hard time finding their way through the Arsenal midfield and creating clear cut chances. Delivery from wide areas was poor with Tottenham showing little threat from outside the box.
The truth of the matter is that Spurs have bought almost an entirely new team this offseason. It will invariably take time for players to develop chemistry and adapt their talents to the English game. The new creative players that Spurs have signed - Eric Lamela and Christian Eriksen - just arrived and hardly featured in today's match. Moreover, in days of Modric and Bale, Spurs were overly reliant on scoring goals from outside the box - soccer's version of the low-percentage shot. Time will tell if this new team can score more "cheap" goals from set pieces and drawing penalties. But, Modric and Bale brought flair and style to the team. It may be early days, but the play of this more muscular side is damp squib in comparison to last year's team and Spurs under Redknapp.
Many Spurs fans evince a good deal of optimism about what this new team can do, and perhaps they are right. But I will certainly miss the Spurs of old . . . and sheer talent and class of Gareth Bale.
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| Olivier Giroud with the match winner |
At multiple points today, Spurs could have used the services of either man. While Spurs retained superior possession, they had a hard time finding their way through the Arsenal midfield and creating clear cut chances. Delivery from wide areas was poor with Tottenham showing little threat from outside the box.
The truth of the matter is that Spurs have bought almost an entirely new team this offseason. It will invariably take time for players to develop chemistry and adapt their talents to the English game. The new creative players that Spurs have signed - Eric Lamela and Christian Eriksen - just arrived and hardly featured in today's match. Moreover, in days of Modric and Bale, Spurs were overly reliant on scoring goals from outside the box - soccer's version of the low-percentage shot. Time will tell if this new team can score more "cheap" goals from set pieces and drawing penalties. But, Modric and Bale brought flair and style to the team. It may be early days, but the play of this more muscular side is damp squib in comparison to last year's team and Spurs under Redknapp.
Many Spurs fans evince a good deal of optimism about what this new team can do, and perhaps they are right. But I will certainly miss the Spurs of old . . . and sheer talent and class of Gareth Bale.
