Seven Days @ Spurs: “…dramatic reactions…”

Football Talk contributor Steve Jennings looks back on a memorable week for Tottenham, which saw the north Londoners collect nine points from three impressive wins.

Jermain Defoe rounded off a memorable week for Spurs with two well taken goals against Fulham. Midfield enforcer Sandro struck from 30 yards in a 3-0 which took Tottenham up to joint third in the Premier League.

Twitter’s ludicrous ability to make moronic rumours believable had led many to believe that, before the West Ham game on November the 25th, Andre Villas-Boas had three games to save his job. If true (believe me, it wasn’t true) then the Portuguese coach has done more than that – he has hugely kicked on over the last week, gathering much more support for his reign as Spurs boss.

The 3-1 victory over West Ham may have been marred by the anti-Semitic chanting from the away end, but it will still be remembered as a turning point in Spurs’ so far patchy season.

Tottenham brought that form into a mid-week clash with Liverpool at White Hart Lane. Gareth Bale shone most brightly in the opening twenty minutes with a superb assist and a sumptuous goal from a free-kick.

Bale displayed his famous acceleration to get past Liverpool’s entire right side, before brilliantly crossing low for Aaron Lennon, who put Tottenham into an early lead. The Welshman then swerved a Ronaldo-esque free-kick past the wrong-footed Pepe Reina in the Reds’ goal.

Liverpool dominated large sections of the match, resulting in Lennon’s clearance off the line hitting Bale in the face and trickling past Hugo Lloris. But Spurs held on for a second successive league win.

Michael Dawson’s partnership with William Gallas wasn’t promising, unfortunately. The pace of Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling often threatened Tottenham’s flat footed pair at the back. The injured Steven Caulker’s return couldn’t come soon enough as many predicted the end was nigh for William Gallas’ aging career.

But Dawson’s early injury set-back at Craven Cottage meant that Gallas was once more thrown into the action against Fulham – luckily partnered with the impressive Caulker.

A clean sheet was possibly the most integral result of the 3-0 win at Fulham. On 55 minutes, Sandro ambitiously smashed the ball at goal from distance, resulting in Mark Schwarzer diving late and palming the ball into the top of the net.

Sandro has deserved a goal all season. The Brazilian fan favourite has been tremendous game after game in front of a regularly slack back four.

It was also a delight to see assists from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Clint Dempsey. Both summer signings have performed way below par in the current campaign, but in all fairness both Gylfi and Clint found Defoe superbly for his two goals.

Defoe is in flying form. When in front of goal, he just doesn’t seem to miss. Personally, I still believe that the absent Emmanuel Adebayor provides more strength to Spurs on the whole. However, Defoe cannot be dropped at present. Spurs fans may begin to worry when the goals (potentially) dry up.

A hamstring injury for Gareth Bale means that Spurs will be without their star man for up to two weeks. Bale picked up another booking for diving on Saturday for the second game in a row. Replays once again proved the winger had been clipped, but his dramatic reactions need to stop. Bale is getting a reputation which isn’t helping himself or his team.

This week, Spurs have a crucial Europa League tie against Panathinaikos at the Lane, in which a win would ensure qualification to the knockout rounds of the competition. AVB and co. then travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton. In a game which is sure to be tricky, will Tottenham keep up their superb form to go third in the Premier League table?

What do you think of the past Seven Days @ Spurs? Use the comments section below to give your opinion, or follow me on Twitter @SteveJenn93 to join the debate!