Hard To Be Happy: Internazionale Milan 4 - Tottenham Hotspur 1

Photo by Salim Virji on Flickr

If James Thought He Was Having a Bad Day, Just Wait
Until He Sees What Correspondent Ed Did to His Bike

James may be back, but he's not altogether happy:

Yes, Spurs are through to the last eight in the Europa League but, make no mistake, today was a train wreck at the San Siro from the manager on down. AVB has been sterling this year for the most part and, with this team missing both Bale and Lennon, it's likely not even the reincarnation of Bill Nicholson would have conjured a solid win out of this team.

While the team has lacked width and pace with Moussa Dembele playing on the right the last two games, he has been sorely missed centrally. Scott Parker and Jake Livermore do not exactly splash the canvas like Picasso. That combined with AVB's insistence to both play a high line with over an over-40 goal tender (Brad Friedel) and center half (William Gallas, in perhaps the worst game of his career) and play a 4-4-2 with Jermaine Defoe and Emanuel Adebayor up top against a team duty bound to attack on their home ground was pure folly. Lastly, the decision to loan out Andros Townshend, who has played superbly for QPR, and sacrifice the now necessary cover for Aaron Lennon has proved costly.

But AVB was probably over confident. Doubtless, the entire squad - save Jan Vertonghen, Dembele and Gylfi Sigurdsson - played that way. They were the clones of the Inter team that collapsed at The Lane last week with one vital exception: Spurs scored a goal. Beyond that, however, one was convinced that this would go down as the one of the worst examples of Spurs-cursed karma in their long history of cursed karma.

Easy Street: Tottenham Hotspur 3 - Internazionale Milan 0

photo by NCBrian	via PhotoRee

If James is writing, Bale is scoring:

Spurs strolled through an Inter Milan side today that appears to be a shadow of the team that Tottenham shocked in the Champions League group stage in 2010.  The Nerazzurri, struggling through transition, injuries and only one point off the pace for a Champions League places in Serie A, appeared as if they were happy to focus only on that for the rest of the season.  Spurs, on the other hand, are on a quest for both a European trophy and Champions League next year and, based on recent performances, are well on course for both.

Inter’s meek display should take nothing away from a dominating performance by the Lilywhites.  A fair score would have been five -- or even six -- to one or two.  Spurs took the lead only six minutes in on a headed goal from You Know Who off a fantastic cross from the ascendant Gylfi Sigurdsson (official MOTM).  It was Siggy who doubled the lead only twelve minutes later after a nice exchange from Mousa Dembele to Aaron Lennon, who gave Inter fits all night.  Also excellent were Jan Vertonghen who scored off a corner on a Bale delivery in the fifty third minute (Spurs scored on a corner!!!), Dembele and Scott Parker (unofficial MOTM).

Flippin' Channels

photo by David Reber's Hammer Photography	via PhotoRee

• Juve played Inter yesterday. Another game played in a blanket of fog in Italy. Am I missing something or does every third game in Italy consist of a fog shrouded stadium from which the fans can barely see the product on the pitch? Very atmospheric, but maybe not so good for business in the long run. 
• By the way, who's the guy who does the commentary for Fox Soccer Channel's broadcasts of the Serie A? He makes me want to slit my wrists. He's monotone even when he gets excited, and his accent mixes Irish and Italian, creating a bizzare linguistic experience. He's worth listening to, though, if you ever find yourself overly excited -- he's guaranteed to bring you back down to earth.
  
• Real Madrid with ten men -- due to Iker Casillas' early and deserved red card -- are still better than most teams with eleven on the pitch. Real put Espanyol to the sword yesterday after being shorthanded, and could easily have score four or more golazos with slightly better finishing. Never mind, though, the result was still good enough for Mou's men to pick up two points on the Blaugrana, leaving them five points adrift of the leaders after this weekend.