16 Conclusions From Tottenham 4 Liverpool 0
It wasn't that Andy Carroll was that bad, it's just that Liverpool's slower, less mobile, disjointed midfield were no match for Parker and Modric. And there's much more...
curry sauce!
* Kenny Dalglish's selection of Andy Carroll wasn't proved wrong by the Geordie's meagre contribution but by the schooling Liverpool's slower, less mobile, disjointed midfield received against the central speed of Luka Modric and Scott Parker. From there, all of Liverpool's problems followed by almost seamless consequence with the result being their worst in almost eight years.
In fairness to Carroll, he was not actually that bad; his problem was a dearth of service even before Charlie Adam's dismissal. Liverpool, written to ruin by their manager's misleading teamsheet, needed a fifth man in midfield and his absence meant that they were numerically disadvantaged from the start with both Carroll and the out-of-position Jordan Henderson put to waste. Honeymoon over?
* Yet the principal problem with Carroll isn't just a matter of service. It's not even a matter of form or fitness. The real problem seems to be compatibility. A particularly telling moment occurred in the final minutes of the first half when Luis Suarez chipped to the back post while Carroll ran round to the near. As the ball sailed harmlessly away, the pair still failed to connect; Carroll looked to the skies while Suarez stared at the ground. Nine months after arriving simultaneously at Anfield, the pair still play like complete strangers. There's only one system for Liverpool at present and that's the one with just one striker up top.
* Funnily enough, that was the expectation of Tottenham after the deadline-week arrival of Emmanuel Adebayor but the Togolese is hitherto impressing as a partner for Jermain Defoe. It's a partnership that Adebayor is even managing to make look good whilst Defoe is playing badly. When he's minded to be, Adebayor is a top-notch performer - and his touch to lift the ball over Pepe Reina was top class.
* As for Reina, his reputation remains greater than his returns for a number of seasons. Dare we say it, but is the Spaniard over-rated over here and rightly rated with his status as third-choice national keeper over there?
* Back to Dalglish because the Liverpool manager, despite his messianic status on Merseyside, cannot escape with such scant scrutiny. Of all the days to select Dirk Kuyt as a defensive forward, this was surely it. Instead, a flat midfield of four, with Henderson and the anonymous Stewart Downing occasionally swapping wings, only had the predictable consequence of exposing Martin Skrtel at right-back against Gareth Bale and his almost-as-predictable dismissal. Hmm. If ever there was an instance when a manager deserves to serve one of his player's suspensions, this is it.
* Dalglish can be forgiven a bad day at the office after inspiring such a vast improvement in Liverpool's fortunes over the last nine months, but that improvement has raised expectations to such an extent that he can't afford another bout of acute mismanagement. His handling of Steven Gerrard's comeback will be fascinating to behold because his return, scheduled for this midweek, will be occurring at the first genuinely difficult time of Dalglish's second reign.
* Tottenham should finish above Arsenal this season. 'Should' because Arsenal are at their weakest in almost 20 years and because they currently look a far better team. In Modric and Parker, they may even have the best central-midfield partnership in the league.
* The future of Liverpool's season, on the other hand, suddenly looks very unclear. After their last trip to north London they appeared a sure thing for the top four, but just a few weeks later they have reached a crossroads just at the time that Tottenham have found their stride. Next up: Wolves (h), Everton (a), Man United (h). Crunch time.
* A very quick line about Bale: he's started the season very quietly. Both on and off the pitch, now we think about it.
* Lucky for Liverpool, by the way, that their next match is a Carling Cup fixture because it means that neither Skrtel nor Adam will be unavailable next weekend when Pool return to must-win league action. And in the injured absence of both Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly, and now Daniel Agger, Liverpool need Skrtel available for all of their matches which matter.
* Speaking of fortune, maybe in hindsight Tottenham got lucky by being pitched into early engagements against the behemoths of Manchester when in a state of acute disruption because there's almost every reason to believe they lost two matches they would have lost whatever their mind-set and composition. The real loss would have been to have played two lesser teams, such as Wolves and Liverpool, when Parker was still at West Ham, Adebayor still at Real Madrid and Modric still agitating for Chelsea.
* Mike Riley's chat with Dalglish didn't do much good then. Though Mike Jones' card-waving performance verged on the pedantic, and it's certainly debatable whether Charlie Adam's eye-on-the-ball high collision with Scott Parker was worth half a dismissal, the disappointment was his failure to dismiss Suarez when the Uruguayan continued to berate the officials on the eve of half-time. Dalglish wants respect from the officials but his side - particularly the parts with the names of Carragher, Lucas and Suarez - are among the least respectful in the league.
* Not that Adam deserves sympathy, however. His tackle was reckless in isolation and stupid after his previous caution. Moreover, his dismissal served as retrospective justice in the wake of his disgusting escape last April after crippling Bale with an utterly awful tackle.
* One of the very best sights in cricket is that of a top batsman taking apart an attack, regardless of its quality. Football, by contrast, is at its near worst when uncompetitive and the side on top, both in numbers and form, isn't minded to attack or press home their advantage. See the final 20 minutes this Sunday at the Lane for clear, soporific illustration. Frankly, the only interesting thing that happened after Jamie Carragher finally let Skrtel leave the pitch was the publication of the Man United and Chelsea teamsheets.
* When Adebayor speaks, therearenogapsbetweenthewordssaid.