Tottenham in control thanks to Redknapp
It has long been believed that Harry Redknapp's effectiveness as a manager owes about 90 per cent to his powers of motivation and the occasional inspired foray into the transfer market, however the Tottenham boss showed last night that he's got enough tactical nous to hack it in the Champions League.
This was supposed to be the season that his alleged limitations in that department were going to be exposed, and further question marks were raised after a pitiful first half away to Young Boys and collapse from 2-0 up against Werder Bremen, but lessons appear to have been learned from those games.
Redknapp opted to drop in-form Niko Kranjcar for the more defensively supportive Steven Pienaar, field Sandro and Wilson Palacios as holding midfielders, and leave Peter Crouch, Rafael van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon as his only entirely attack-minded players, and that trio combined to great effect.
AC Milan's undoubtedly talented forwards failed to flourish as a Tottenham side that had managed just six clean sheets in 32 Premier League and Champions League proper games defended superbly, with Ignazio Abate surprisingly the Rossoneri's biggest threat as they pushed after the break.
They didn't create enough though and Peter Crouch's priceless winner late on after Aaron Lennon beat Mario Yepes and laid it on a plate for the impressive giant, who justified Redknapp's continued selection of him in a campaign where his goal ratio hasn't been the best, puts Spurs in a great position.
Having been outsiders to qualify, the Lilywhites are now [1.35] to see out the tie at White Hart Lane. A 2-1 or 3-2 victory would be enough for the seven-time champions to turn it around, suggesting they shouldn't be written off at [3.7], yet a run of six fixtures without success against English opposition doesn't bode well.
Can Spurs go all the way to Wembley? They are in to [18.5]...
Published: 16 Feb 2011
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