Tottenham blow it against Sunderland

Tottenham against Sunderland was not the best football but an intriguing exercise in measuring up what each side would bring to the Premier League this season.

In fact it was a touch boring. I struggled to sit thru it. Opening match and all, I expected better.

Sunderland, to their credit, were not very talented but eager. Their new goalkeeper Craig Gordon looked very good with what little he had to do. They were fighters, that’s for sure and for a Sunderland crowd grown accustomed to winning in the Championship, the newly promoted team did not disappoint. You can consider this a major coup: 3 points, 90th+ minute, a touted top 4 side –it was an even bigger dream start than that of Manchester City’s.

For Tottenham, where is the improvement? Lots of new signings, but no pace on the wing and an obvious hole on the left where the team tried and failed to sign a noted winger –time to make a buy, and quick. That hole will only grow larger as the season wears on. Moving Robbie Keane out there in the second half didn’t help, in fact it probably hurt the team as Keane didn’t settle into the role (maybe sensing a season in that position).

Tottenham as a whole didn’t play badly, but they didn’t play well. Tactically they were good, Berbatov played well enough, but there were so many errant passes and carelessness in possession. This could work in Tottenham’s favor though, a wake up call might be just what the team needs.

A bright spot for me was the play of newly signed defender Younes Kaboul. I thought he did very well for the most part. He was agile, great in the air, played some classy touches and made some impressive forward runs only to be let down by poorly weighted passes.

While Sunderland have a long way to go and Tottenham have many injuries in defense, this might be a blip on the radar for both teams but, at least in terms of the Premiership table, the teams couldn’t be farther apart.