Tottenham 1 Wolves 1:TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR have more points than the champions, Manchester United, had at this stage last season but they know that although points in the bag are important the most crucial are the ones yet to come. United have a wealth of experience of racking up wins during the run-in, Spurs and Manchester City do not.
Sustaining a title challenge means coping with teams who set out to sicken in the way that Wolverhampton Wanderers did here. Tottenham failed to find the antidote on this occasion but insist the two dropped points are far from terminal for their title chances.
“It’s a compliment to us that the majority of teams seem to be happy to go away with a point and we have to get used to that,” said Scott Parker, who returned to the Spurs midfield after injury but, like his team-mates, found it difficult to operate in an area where Karl Henry and Emmanuel Frimpong proved dynamic destroyers for Wolves.
“We tried everything against Wolves but they were well organised and it just didn’t happen for us but we can definitely still win the league.”
Harry Redknapp expressed similar sentiments, arguing that a top side drawing at home to one teetering just above the relegation zone should not cause excessive surprise or damage.
“It is only one game and we are not going to win every game, we are not Barcelona,” he said, before adding “who, by the way, drew at Espanyol the other night.
“United had a tough home game against Blackburn, Liverpool have drawn six games at home this season because teams go there looking for a point and make it difficult. It happens.”
Stopping it from happening too often is Tottenham’s task now. Naturally there are reasons for them to be optimistic but there are also causes for concern. Against Wolves they looked tired, and were frequently outfought and outnumbered.
The most obvious example came in the 21st minute when Roger Johnson jumped above Michael Dawson to head Matt Jarvis’s corner towards goal and then, after Luka Modric and Brad Friedel combined to keep it out, Steven Fletcher reacted fastest to stab into the net.
Although Modric’s second-half equaliser now means Wolves have gone seven league games without a win, this was an encouraging performance and should give them hope of avoiding relegation.
Guardian service
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