By Boris Mellor
November 3 2009
I hope the players are better than me at changing their focus to AZ on Wednesday after Saturday's game. I still can't get over how funny the whole thing was. What makes it so funny was the fact that Spur's expectations were so high. Indeed so high that far more of their fans stayed in the ground at 3 clear goals down than did at 4-2 down last year.
Why the delusion? It's quite simple really and best explained by a true story, I know a bloke who took a Scottish Five Pound note to a news agent in Kings Cross and was given change for a tenner. He went back there several times but only ever got change for a fiver.
Last year's 4-4 draw saw Spurs put in a fiver's worth of effort but they got change for a tenner, so only naturally they thought they would get a repeat. Unfortunately, for them, Arsene, like the news agent, was too wise to repeat the same error. He carefully made sure his defence protected the lead.
If the Spurs bench is so good they could try playing it, oh I forgot they did, and it showed how bankrupt they are. Spurs fans hung on, only a minority left early, because the majority thought they were going to repeat last season's good luck, but they were to be disappointed.
Meanwhile Arsenal fans showed none of the nervousness they showed at the same stage in last year's game. They were celebrating as if they had won from 43 minutes on. "Are you Tottenham in disguise; Bentley, Bentley, What's the Score; Harry, Harry give us a twitch; Can we play you every week"; the only favourite they couldn't sing was "one nil to the Arsenal", there just wasn't time. They knew that newsagent wasn't going to repeat the mistake.
Now a couple weeks ago another team got change for a tenner, when they had only paid a fiver, the 1-1 result at AZ was as ridiculous as the infamous 4-4 draw. And like Harry AZ will big it up and expect it to happen again.
The newsagent might give them hope by putting some of his less valuable wares on display. Wenger will have to rest some players with Wolves away Saturday evening. No doubt this will raise hopes further, and no doubt AZ will big it up, however like my mate and his Scottish fivers they will be wasting their time.
Quote:Lets hope we kill off the Koeman myth. I am sick of it as Wenger is. Besides Ajax and PSV bore the pants off me, as no doubt AZ will
