Had Draw Written All Over It

My pre-match ritual was slightly different yesterday. Due to the on-set of what can only be described as a life threatening case of man flu my warm up for our quarter final tie was less beer and banter more tea and a nap.

So positioning myself on the sofa, blanket in hand, my outlook was bleak. The only thing sicker than myself happened to be the Spurs squad. A lot as been made of our injury crisis but despite all that we managed to put out a very decent looking line up.

Benny was introduced at left back with our in-form man Bale shunted further up the pitch. Moddle skipped into centre mid to combine silk with Honduran iron. Fulham had a couple of their own injury issues most notably the talismanic Danny Murphy absent.

I had previously avoided the idea of breaking up partnerships that are working so was disappointed to see the promising Bale - Modric duo split. My thoughts on midfield selection can be found on a previous post as my head can't comprehend trying to remember what I think...

The match started with a lot of possession from Spurs. Delicate passing designed to flirt with Fulham with the hope of dragging them out of their set positions. We batted our eyelashes and flashed some thigh to entice Fulham, but found our rivals unmoved from their two banks of four. Such an approach to football is normally derided by our fans as being negative but the organisation and disciplined skill of our opponents is something to be admired. There should be no surprises as to why their home record is so good.

Bale looked our most promising attacking outlet (again) however by having him further up the pitch saw him often being double marked by Duff and Baird. He still caused them problems to his credit with purposeful bursts of pace but often found himself isolated. Would have liked to have seen more from Niko on the opposite flank however he remained largely anonymous.

In the middle Palacios was indomitable, snapping into challenges, considered distribution and basically a brick wall. The only way Fulham managed to find their way past him was over him and even then he tracked back and chased them down like a rabid dog. Modric again looked lost in the middle where he doesn't have the creative freedom to roam as he does when drifting in from the left.

Particularly impressed with Bassong who stuck to Zamora like a clingy ex-girlfriend. A mature considered performance from the young defender who, as opposed to attempting to rough Bobby up was willing to allow him to take possession before dealing with him. Fulham's main source of attack would have been through set pieces usually earned by Bobby. Bassong conceded very few which showed great promise from the Frenchman. He seems a lot better when given the task of handling one big striker than having to track runs from numerous different attacking outlets.

'Super Pav' showed us his form of last season. First touch of a rapist is probably the best description of an untidy, headless performance. Pav has shown he's better than this in recent games and whilst I avoided going over the top with expectations of him I still believe he will be better than that for us.

Our main problem with the game yesterday was a lack of penetration in midfield and attack. We were comfortable dealing with possession and carrying the ball for long periods of time but we missed the clever through balls of a giant man named Tom and the jinking runs of a man named Jermain. We often curse these two players but their importance was highlighted yesterday. We neither had the threat from a clumsy strike force nor from a lackadaisical midfield.

In the end the game was probably the most suitable for my disposition. A high octane, proper cup game would have killed me. We should paste them back at WHL where our home form is good and their away form is awful.

Also well done to the 4,000 Spurs fans at Craven Cottage. In full voice and good spirits they done us proud and raised a wry smile from me for your endeavour. Good show lads.