Spurs: Carling Cup aftermath and the relegation battle

After the disappointment of the Carling Cup final, Spurs must crawl from the wreckage and salvage what is left of the season.

Spurs lost to Manchester United on penalties, having pushed The Red Devils for 120 minutes at Wembley.

Captain Ledley King today stated that he felt Spurs played well and put in a performance to be proud of. Meanwhile,  Jermaine Jenas and Darren Bent are issuing a ralling cry to team mates, insisting they have to pick themselves up from the Cup final and concentrate whole heartedly on the league, right away.

Spurs must now concentrate on their league position, as they are just two points off the relegation zone and head to Middlesborough on Wednesday for a huge six pointer.

The question is, how will Spurs react to the Carling Cup loss on Sunday? Last year the club seemed to completely switch off  after the Cup final. But if the same happens this year Spurs will be playing in the Championship next season.

No one thinks this could happen but we all know actually that it could. And its not because Spurs are not good enough to stay up, or that they don’t have the players to win matches, but its simply down to the fact that Spurs don’t regard ordinary, everyday matches in obscure away from home or at the Lane, worthy of effort or committment.

Spurs lose Carling Cup Final

Spurs lose 4 -1 on penalties after a closely fought extra time battle.

O’Hara’s penatly and Spurs’ first was saved. Bently then missed the target.

Is the season over?

Spurs: Carling Cup Half time

After a poor start, with Manchester United dominating possession, Spurs have pulled it back towards the end of the half.

Modric has been playing some good balls through to Lennon on the right (who’s had a great game so far).

Gomes hasn’t had much to do but has looked OK when called for.

Ekotto has looked poor at the back on the left for Spurs, giving Ronaldo plenty of time and space to play.

Ferdinand had a great dipping shot 20 minutes into the match, otherwise there has been very few clear cut chances.

Spurs look best on the right with Evra having problems keeping with Lennon.

Wellbeck has looked good for Manchester United but its likely that Giggs will come on in the second half to add some experience to the team.

Meanwhile, Tarrabt is on the bench for Spurs who we know can come on and make a difference in the last twenty minutes. Bent has been putting a OK performance so far in terms of energy but still can’t hold the ball up and hasn’t threatened Ben Foster’s goal.

On the Sky Sports fan-o-meter Spurs’ fans at Wembley have been generating 52% of the noise.

Spurs Carling Cup Final at Wembley

With a combined 128 years of experience today’s Carling Cup final is a meeting of two of football’s greatest minds.

This time last year Spurs went into the Carling Cup final with a clear strategy as outlined by then boss Juande Ramos but this time around, under Redknapp, the club go to Wembley without such an clear cut strategy. Redknapp has continually changed the players, the system and style in the short spell he has been at the club.

But Sir Alex Ferguson should be wary of Redknapp, as the Spurs boss has sent Manchester United crashing out of the FA Cup three times in his career. 

With that said, Spurs have a lot of players unavailable today, inlcuding Robbie Keane, Carlo Cudicini, Pascal Chimbonda and Wilson Palacios, all of which are Cup-tied.

Perhaps an experimental style and team however is exactly what is needed against the Reds – one more change is unlikely to unsettle Spurs who at the moment have no recognisible pattern to their play.

Meanwhile, despite all Spurs’ absences it is looking likely that club captain King will start despite his serious knee injury. Redknapp says he is amazed at how King can perform well for the club with all his injury troubles and describes him in the press today as a “one-off”.

But King has warned his team that they cannot let the Carling Cup affect their Premier League campaign like it did last season (without a win in the following 73 matches!)