Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Liverpool

[funster]

Bright, blazing sunshine. Summer-style heatwave. Shorts and t-shirt. It could only mean one thing..... BBQ!

Errrrr..... no, hang on..... I mean, final day of the season!

Somehow, most seasons I seem to remember the final game of the season played in pretty good weather. Probably never in my going to the game as good as yesterday, but you instinctively know the season's at an end by the weather.

Unlike the last couple of years there was little (OK, let's be honest, NOTHING!) to play for. Its an odd feeling. I was just beginning to get used to things going to the final day. Seems the players had similar thoughts as they haven't really bothered turning up very much since that fateful night in Eindhoven!

Unusually I half contemplated taking my motor to the game. Having blasted up the roads to London to my sister's with some top down action, it was very tempting! But then I reminded myself that I wouldn't be allowed a couple of pre-match pints, so she drove!

Said pints polished off we got into the ground, bathed in sunshine, and, shall we say, a little bit warm! It was scorching. The blazing sun was, well, it was hot! No doubt the players would be feeling it and the speed and tempo of the game would be affected.

Pre-match most - myself included - had been hoping for an entertaining end. Games against Liverpool, whether at The Lane or Anfield, tend to be pretty open. More than once I remember high scoring draws at The Lane. I would've settled for that.

As it turned out I didn't get it. Not only did we get beaten, the game itself was crap. By the standards of previous Spurs-Liverpool encounters it failed to live up to much expectation at all. Don't get me wrong. It was a million miles away from the dross served up at Goodison earlier this season, but what a disappointment!

Line-up was vaguely as expected. Berbatov restored to the side and some lad named Insua playing at 48 for Liverpool. I was also quite looking forward to seeing Torres play. He is a quality player.

So, I've rambled a lot about stuff before the match. And you're not going to get nearly as much about the match itself!

The first half was crap. A couple of half chances here and there. A decent save by Reina from Berbatov on the end of an O'Hara cross. Liverpool comfortable in possession, but neither side particularly threatening. Dull.

The Scousers who had travelled down were enjoying themselves though. Much as I like playing the opening and closing games of the season at home, travelling away for them has a lot to be said for it!

At half time there were a few presentations. Well, awards. Somebody won a season ticket for next season. Somebody else won a copy of The Opus. Are the club struggling to shift these?!

It was so hot that I was actually looking forward to my seat falling under the shade in the second half! Man, it says something about a game when I write about stuff like that in preference to talking about the football itself!

For the second half we were treated to a double substitution. O'Hara and Jenas replaced by Huddlestone and Tainio. Maybe it was the other way around, but that was a bit of an irrelevance really. Jenas had been frustrating in the first half, lacking the edge he's displayed all too rarely this season. O'Hara was caught in possession way too much. Possibly not getting sufficient warning from his compatriots, but it happened at least three times.

The second half started with a bit more pace, not that that could be put down to the substitutions! Huddlestone simply wasn't in the game and while Tainio gave us a bit of width, things didn't really improve all that much.

Last week at Reading we were desperately short on the right wing. Malbranque at least gave us some width. Against Liverpool we seemed to have absolutely no width at all! First half, or second. Hutton got forward, but had limited options when in an advanced position. Tainio gave it a go at supporting him and a lot of our progress up the pitch came from that side in the second half.

Malbranque seemed to be played a narrower role, and actually was pretty good. He'd had a stonker the week before at Reading and he was probably our best player on the pitch against Liverpool.

A couple of chances did present themselves, but it was Liverpool who scored first. Poor poor defending even looking at it from the opposite half. Looked like Dawson at fault from what I could make out and Voronin slotted in.

It gave us a bit of a kick and we raised our game. Best chance of the game for us - pretty much - fell to Berbatov. He took it from outside the box, on the half volley, a cracking strike. But Reina made a really good save to tip over the bar.

From the resulting corner, we lost possession on the right wing - really sloppy - and Liverpool broke, Torres receiving the ball deep in our box on the left, one-on-one with Dawson. It was when I saw that that I turned to my sister and said "Ah no, you don't want that. One-on-one with Torres, he's going to kill you."

And the rest, as they say, is history. The lad is sheer class. Beat Dawson and squeezed his shot past Cerny. 2-0 and game pretty much over.

We had a bit of a go, but it was an irrelevance. Even Keano didn't get as involved as he normally does.

In passing I should say that Uriah Rennie was rubbish, as was his assistant running the line on the East Stand side. A crap decision to book Hutton from the ref, followed by a shockingly blind assistant to a clear foul no more than two feet in front of him! Not that the officials can be blamed for such a lacklustre display, or indeed the result.

It wasn't really a 2-0 game. Liverpool were certainly better in possession, but the quantity and quality of chances created was probably about equal. The difference yesterday was that they took theirs, we didn't.

Still, season over. Thank God, I think! With the exception of some cracking games through the season - 4-4 with Villa and Chelsea, 6-4 against Reading, and who can forget smashing the Gooners and winning the League Cup at Wembley? - its been a real letdown.

We've trebled the number of times we've lost at home in Europe this season. We've underperformed almost throughout, and since our exit from Europe, we've hardly bothered turning up.

Post match there was a bit of cheer with O'Hara awarded Young Player of the Year, and Keane (unsurprisingly) Player of the Year. Both making comments that show their commitment to the cause.

We can, at least, begin to look forward to next season. More new arrivals - and departures I don't doubt - before we get under way. If Modric is an indication of where we're aiming, its a good thing. More like that and we'll be going into the start of the next campaign full of hope. Bit like we were at the beginning of this season!

So there you go. I've loved going to so many games this season. The couple of European away days were fantastic, even if we did get knocked out in Eindhoven. Some stonking memories from matches at The Lane. Don't think I will ever, ever, ever forget THAT game. The result, the atmosphere, everything about it! And as for Wembley, well, that was just a special, special day.

Hope you've enjoyed the match reports. Look forward to writing one or two again next season. Never know, I may even try to get myself along to a pre-season friendly or two!

If nothing else, let us be grateful that Chelsea failed to win the Premier League, and keep our fingers crossed as honorary Mancs for next week in Moscow!

Enjoy the summer and see you all back here again next season!

[Beats]

Good report as ever Funster, looking forward to more next season (which hopefully isn't too far away...)

[yidno1]

Cheers for all your indepth reports Funster, as said above will look forward to em next season hopefully more good than bad results to shout about.

[funster]

Fingers crossed mate..... fingers crossed!

I am planning a cheeky trip to Norwich for the pre-season game at Carrow Road. Just need to wangle the right customer meeting the following day so our match reports could start earlier than expected!