A 0-0 draw on a Thursday night at White Hart Lane, which will be better remembered for its controversy, than for the game itself. I won’t talk about the racist chants, but the disallowed goals will cause the Tottenham Hotspur to rue their bad luck. However, one thing I do hope is that these chalked off goals don’t mask a slight lack of creativity in this Spurs side.
Deadline day signing Clint Dempsey, made his first start, but found it difficult to find space between midfield and defence, something Rafael Van Der Vaart used to be able to do so regularly. Of course, Dempsey should not try and change his game; he has earned his considerable name in English football, as a goalscoring midfielder-make shift forward.
At times last night however, there did seem to be a lack of midfield creativity, which was needed to break down the underrated Lazio side (they’re joint top in Serie A – a draw is not the end of the world). Gylfi Sigurðsson is much the same, a sensational few months with Swansea, with whom he scored seven goals, but whether he would have had the media praise and a subsequent move to Tottenham without the goals scored, is doubtful.
Technically, these two players should suit the Tottenham style of play well. With the width given by Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale, plenty of quality balls will be put either into the box, or pulled back, something both Dempsey and Sigurðsson should relish.
With these two goalscoring midfielders both vying for that role behind the striker, it will change Spurs’ style of play drastically, and while there were signs against Reading that things were clicking, against sterner defences, a lack of creativity may be a problem.
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