Portsmouth 1 Spurs 0; post-match thoughts
Last updated : 19 October 2004 By Keith Allman
Reflecting on yesterday's win, one thing stands out above all else - the fact that it was a real team effort to get the three points over Jacques Santini's side. And an important three points they were too; a defeat or a draw still left us looking over our shoulders with a hint of nerves, but now things have a far rosier complexion, as we seem to be pushing on to mid-table.
From back to front, everyone seemed to be pulling the same way. Even the Official Whipping Boys - Faye, Griffin, and to a lesser extent nowadays, Quashie - seem to be winning post-match praise. Not during the match though, I hasten to add; the guys behind me were especially irate when Berkovic was substituted. "Get that fucking useless Griffin or Quashie off" they shouted, clearly knowing better than Harry and clearly watching a different game to everyone else.
When praising the team for last night's game, it's hard to know where to start. LuaLua and Yakubu really looked as if they were hitting the form that won them such plaudits at the tail end of last season - LuaLua a man of the match for some, whilst Yakubu got the goal that decided the game. The midfield served it's purpose perfectly - whilst Berger and Berkovic were passing and probing to break down a Spurs defence which has been resolute this season, Faye and Quashie were doing the donkey work. An aspect of the latter two which continually came to the fore was that even when they lost the ball, they would fight hard to get it back.
The defence were simply awesome. When you think of the calibre of striker that the visitors have - Jermaine Defoe, an England international; Robbie Keane, Ireland's record goalscorer at the age of 25; Frederic Kanouté, with proven experience at the top level. And then think - what did they actually DO last night? Defoe fell over a bit and Robbie Keane argued with him on occasion, but other than that they were completely silenced by the might of Primus and Stefanovic. The latter was a complete and utter rock - winning everything in the air, first to every ball, and always in the perfect position. I love the man and as far as I'm concerned he never gets the credit he deserves - he's been awesome since joining us, and last night was just another perfect example.
All this with barely touching on the majesty of Patrik Berger, the smug "I-told-you-so" factor over the brilliant performance of Griffin, the solid competence of Unsworth. On this sort of performance, we're creating a squad which COULD - if we get the luck with injuries and dodgy deflections we didn't last year - finish comfortably in mid-table. Hell, soon enough people might stop making up ridiculous excuses ("Defoe was tired after international duty", "We missed Redknapp", "we had ten players injured") and invading the pitch in anger just at the mere embarrassment of losing to us.
