Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
After the disappointment of being held to a draw by West Ham on Thursday in the Premier League the focus for Mauricio Pochettino and his Tottenham players switches to cup action as this afternoon the North London play host to AFC Wimbledon.
Thursday night saw Tottenham looking to become the only team to win all four of their festive period fixtures but they were foiled at the final hurdle by a resolute Hammers outfit who took the lead through a fantastic Pedro Obiang goal.
That made Spurs task even harder as they searched for the win that would close the gap to Liverpool in fourth to just a point, they may have managed to get back into the game thanks to a goal that was arguably just as good as that of Obiang’s minutes before.
Hueng min-Son managed to restore parity to set up a grandstand finish but try as they might, West Ham’s resolve could not be broken and as things stand Tottenham are now three points behind Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool while lying fifth in the Premier League table.
Some felt that the fact they had played twice in two days was their undoing on Thursday but then West Ham were in exactly the same boat, the louder argument is that Mauricio Pochettino did not have a ‘plan b’ in which to turn the game around.
And it is ‘plan b’ in which the Tottenham boss will look to rely on this afternoon as although it is a third game since Tuesday the Argentine manager will use this opportunity to give the bigger names in the squad a well earned rest after what has been a frenetic period of fixtures.
Although it is lower league opposition that they face Today, the club will be mindful of giving this tie it’s full respect. You only have to cast your mind back to the 4th Round of last year’s competition when it needed a Heung min-Son goal to break Wycombe’s hearts in what turned out to be a dramatic seven goal thriller at White Hart Lane.
Today’s opponents AFC Wimbledon will appreciate the break from League One action as they currently find themselves 21st in the table and more importantly in the relegation places, they do however have two games in hand over Oldham who lie just a point above them in 20th.
Neil Ardley’s men come into this game having earned a home win over Southend at the start of the month and they will look to carry that momentum into their trip to Wembley and look to cause something of an almighty upset later this afternoon.
Of course Wimbledon are no strangers to upsets here, the 1988 final saw the old version of the club beat Liverpool 1-0 thanks to a Lawrie Sanchez header but they also had Dave Beasant to thank after his penalty save from John Aldridge’s effort.
Whether there will be another Wimbledon shock at Wembley today I’m not to sure, this represents Tottenham’s best chance of silverware this season and the last thing they need is to fall at the first hurdle. I’ll go for a routine home win later today.
