Super Sunday Analysis – Fulham vs Tottenham

Spurs are the toast of London thanks to the oldest man in the league

With Harry Redknapp still recuperating following a heart operation Tottenham named an unchanged side from that which stylishly demolished QPR the week before, with Ledley King even going as far as to make back to back starting appearances. Fulham, without midweek hero Andy Johnson opted to play Moussa Dembele just off of Bobby Zamora up front.

Fulham started really well in front of their not so roaring home crowd with Danny Murphy outshining his high profile opposite numbers Luka Modric and Rafael Van Der Vaart in the opening exchanges. A finely weighted sliding pass down the inside left channel soon found Clint Dempsey who forced a corner. Murphy whipped the corner in to the near post to find the onrushing head of Steve Sidwell only to see Brad Friedel beat the ball away with all the disgust of a dad knocking a beach ball away at Glastonbury.

Modric and Murphy both exhibited their relative importance to how their sides play and took it in turns to dictate the tempo. Always looking for the ball, each is a constant outlet for their team mates and are comfortable enough with the ball to recycle the play constantly. As the chalkboard below shows, Modric attempted 57 passes, completing 48 whereas Murphy attempted  66 with 54 of them finding a team mate.

http://www.guardianchalkboards.com/guardianchalkboards_embed.swf?chalkBoardID=GaA9306j9F59x370s9U4
 by Guardian Chalkboards

Emmanuel Adebayor had been dropping deep to collect the ball early on and it was his initially hopeful looking pass which was collected by the pacey Kyle Walker in the build up to the opening goal. The England right back got his head up well to cut the ball back for Aaron Lennon who’s cross eventually found Gareth Bale at the far post to smash the ball towards goal and deflect home off of Chris Baird.

It was another ruthlessly efficient and tidy goal from a side which are looking extremely clinical in the early part of this season and a harsh reminder to a Fulham side that had started well. Fulham may have dominated possession for the opening half hour but with little penetration and with an acute awareness of what Spurs can do on the break lingering uncomfortably they looked tentative in the final third and severely lacking in the sort of pace their opponents possess to get beyond players in key areas.

When given the chance Spurs looked to spread the ball wide at pace, with Modric so often the orchestrator from deep. All four of Spurs wide players have the pace to damage even the best sides and with neither Grygera nor Riise blessed with the sort of athleticism to deal with the threat this was was the avenue that looked the most fruitful for the away side.

Once given the chance to run at their men Spurs certainly showed their class, with Lennon twisting Baird inside out and smashing home confidentially with his left foot on the stroke of half time. The half eventually petered out to a hushed finale as Czech right back Grygera was stretchered off after going down clutching his knee with the screams of pain caught in high definition by the Sky pitch side microphones.

Fulham needed to respond after the break and they did, peppering Brad Friedel’s goal for long periods of the second half. The Tottenham defence did well to put their bodies in the way but it was from the resulting corners that Fulham looked the most likely to score, with the towering Brede Hangeland posing the most obvious aerial threat. Spurs didn’t help themselves with their marking and the comical nature of the goal, when it eventually came, was the fitting result for both parties, Ledley King and Younes Kaboul combining to put the ball into their own net from another corner.

Fulham kept pushing forward with the fancy footwork of Dembele, Zamora and the substitute Bryan Ruiz all looking capable of undoing a resilient Spurs backline. However it was the sharp reflexes of their 40 year old goalkeeper that eventually helped Tottenham take home three points. Fulham certainly deserved something from this game especially for their efforts in the final moments but the heroics of Friedel and then Modric clearing off the line deprived them of this piece of justice.

Andy Gray’s verdict: Not a vintage, buccaneering performance from one of the leagues most exciting sides but a solid defensive display and some quick, incisive break aways were enough to secure Tottenham’s position as the best side in London at the moment.

Tottenham:

Friedel

Walker; King; Kaboul; Assou Akotto

Lennon; Modric; Parker; Bale

Van der Vaart; Adebayor

Fulham

Schwarzer

Grygera; Hangelaand; Baird; Riise

Duff; Murphy; Sidwell; Dempsey;

Dembele; Zamora

Report by Scott Carey.