Barry: players 'at each other's throats'

An interesting insight from Gareth Barry:

"Nobody likes to lose 3-0," he added. "There was a lot of hurt in there. The lads were really at each other's throats because we want to put things right.

"There was nothing malicious in there, but we're desperate to put things right, and we hope that will come.

"It's important we move on from a frustrating period. We hope we can have a better spell now with the three games close together over Christmas.

Rather this sort of tension and discord than the infamous laughing that followed the 8-1 at the Riverside eighteen months ago. Apparently a similar atmosphere followed the 1-1 draw with Hull City, and led to the seasons-best performances against Arsenal and Chelsea. The frustrating thing is that any momentum gained from those wins has been frittered away after one of the worst team displays in recent years. We're suddenly suffering from momentum deficit disorder all over again. Is this a cycle we have to go through all season? Pathetic surrender, angry reaction from players, two good performances, and then pathetic surrender all over again? Even by the standards of Manchester City FC this would be a frustrating and self-defeating way to conduct ourselves. At least it would be predictable though.

There is an interesting question over which players were at whose throats - presumably there were accused and accusers in the dressing room rather than an equal, mutual arrangement. If I had to guess I would say that Shay Given, Nigel de Jong and maybe Gareth Barry were accusers, with Emmanuel Adebayor and Robinho on the receiving end. But this is essentially based on which players I do and don't like. But in an ideal situation wouldn't you want the club captain to be unapologetic in his condemning of the main underachiever - Adebayor. But we know that they are as close as brothers. Whether this stands in the way of Touré successfully doing his job as captain I just don't know. But it might. Just think what Bryan Robson/John Terry/Roy Keane/Tony Adams would have said to Adebayor after Wednesday night. And then try to imagine Touré dishing out the same treatment. I can't.

Spurs reax

Sam Wallace, The Independent

Robinho was the worst offender in a poor City performance but he was by no means the only one. Emmanuel Adebayor blasted his only decent chance over the bar in the closing stages of the game and he failed to make a tackle when he had a chance to stop Tottenham's third goal. Kolo Touré was at the centre of a City defence that no one would describe as commanding.

This was a godforsaken City performance and Hughes knew it. The City manager twitched and gesticulated, but the uncomfortable truth was that the superstars of this £200m team Hughes has assembled are letting their manager down. In the last 10 league games they have only won once and that is not what the oilmen of Abu Dhabi had in mind come Christmas.

Russell Kempson, The Times

Hughes’s star players did not perform, with Robinho, the Brazil forward, looking totally out of sorts. It was a blessing in disguise when he was substituted in the second half, disappearing straight down the tunnel — presumably to keep warm rather than sulk. He did not look that concerned about being replaced.

Kevin McCarra, The Guardian

Whatever the flaws, there had been an intent to Tottenham's work that was not echoed by the visitors. The blandness of City appeared to increase. They were in a familiar 4-2-3-1 system, but the lone centre-forward, Adebayor, was isolated. The visitors sorely missed Bellamy's readiness to go haring into the attack with clear intent.

Jeremy Wilson, Telegraph

Lennon is blossoming as a right winger of genuine international class and, with the 35 year-old Sylvinho deputising for Wayne Bridge at left-back, it was clear that Tottenham were determined to exploit City’s obvious weakness. In fairness, Sylvinho does still possess a sharp footballing brain and sound positioning sense but, on the occasions he was caught one-on-one with Lennon, there was only one winner.

Ivan Spenk, Daily Mail

One victory in 10 Premier League encounters, albeit against Chelsea, is not the kind of return City's Abu Dhabi owners would have anticipated when they financed the club's astonishing spending spree. Especially when so much of that money has been blown on strikers.

Spurs player ratings

Given Could do very little about the first two goals (I left before the third went in and don't want to see it again.) Made a good save or two in the first half and distributed well. 6

Richards Not quite the bad old Richards but not exactly the exciting new one either. There were no total howlers (nothing as bad as the penalty he gave away here last season), but he looked a bit distracted and was often outfoxed by the intelligent Niko Kranjčar. Had a heavy burden as the team's only player with any pace. 5

Touré One major blip - losing Defoe for Spurs' second - but otherwise he defended relatively well. Serious questions have to be asked about the man's captaincy though - that was as spineless a City performance as I have seen for some time. I think that if Bellamy's knees could be relied on twice a week he would certainly have the armband. 5

Onuoha Poised for a run in the side with Lescott sidelined and he made an acceptable start. Crouch won everything in the air but that is to be expected. He can't pass with his left foot but we knew that before. 5

Sylvinho You don't have to be Rinus Michels to see that Lennon's pace against Sylvinho was going to present problems. As soon as Lennon realised quite how slow Sylvinho was - and how little help he was going to get from Robinho - Spurs' opening the scoring with a move down our left flank was inevitable. Didn't look like a bad footballer when we had the ball, and is not the first full back to be exposed by Lennon, but it was still painful. 4

Ireland Told us what we knew before: when pushed out wide in a 4-4-2 he will drift inside but fail to influence the game as much as he might, but when playing in the hole, with two holding midfielders behind him and three forwards ahead of him he is an excellent player. Clearly enjoyed pulling the strings at the end even if it was a lost cause. Whether Hughes will rebuild the team around him in 2010, I'm not sure. I doubt it though. 6

de Jong Did not look to have fully shaken off swine flu. A few big tackles early on but tended to look off the pace. Let Palacios and Huddlestone dominate the midfield, which was a disappointment after his success against Chelsea last week. 5

Barry From a technical perspective he did well. His touch and passing were not quite at August levels but certainly better than in recent weeks. But questions have to be asked about his role: this is a guy who came with 30+ England caps and almost 400 Premier League games at Villa. With that experience he should be marshalling the midfield, to put Spurs under pressure and rally the troops when behind. But he didn't. At least we know why Hughes didn't give him the captaincy. 5

Robinho Threatened to play well in the first quarter of an hour, with a few nice touches and movements inside, and a shot from distance that Gomes palmed over. But then it was the same performance we've seen too many times before - not getting involved in the game, not helping out his full-back, not showing any particular interest in the match or in the team. There is no choice between him and Craig Bellamy. 4

Tévez Our one forward who looked like making a difference, he ran hard and tried things, even if nothing was quite coming off for him. Had a few shots in the first half without getting anywhere. Big question over whether he can play lone striker - if so we can easily switch to 4-3-3 to get best out of Ireland. 6

Adebayor Woeful. Like Santa Cruz at St. Andrew's but worse, and with fewer excuses. He barely won a single header, he barely made a single run for Ireland or Robinho to pick him out, he drifted into wide positions and then failed to do anything with the ball. Not since Joey Barton have I had as much disdain for a blue as I do currently for this guy. African Cup of Nations cannot come quick enough. 3

Subs:

RSC An improvement on Adebayor (see above). He won one or two headers and moved well enough. Not 100% yet but getting there. Needs more games before January. 6

Petrov One decent run but didn't look like he was going to change the game. n/a

Spurs 3 - 0 City

One of our biggest games of the season and we put in one of the weakest performances of the Hughes era. The whole of the 2009/10 season is starting to look like one big missed opportunity. This game was a microcosm of that: Spurs were good but not very good. We produced two acceptable fifteen minute periods but when it mattered we were too weak, too slow, too narrow and looked nothing like a team competing for Champions League football. Proof of what Saturday hinted at - that the Arsenal and Chelsea triumphs were a blip, a spasm of success, the exception rather than the rule.

I said that we would miss the pace of Bellamy and Wright-Phillips, and I was right. Our midfield was as one paced as McManaman Reyna Bosvet and Sibierski. But this is more than a question of mere velocity. Shorn of our wingers we lacked fight, dynamism, the ability to make things happen or to worry Spurs at all. Even more striking was that we missed Bellamy's leadership. There was no one to take the fight to Spurs, to drive on our midfield or to fire us up. I don't know whether it reflects well on Hughes or not that Bellamy is our indispensable talisman, but it's a demonstrable fact. Kolo Toure and Gareth Barry may be good players but they're not leaders. Not like Bellamy.

And I really don't think we should be using injuries and suspensions as excuses. I firmly believe that we have, in terms of depth and quality, the best squad in the league. Look at our bench. Tonight we had Benjani on the bench but it's the first time in months we've had someone of his quality in the 18. When players like Vincent Kompany, Robinho, Martin Petrov and Roque Santa Cruz don't make the team you can't complain too much with one or two absences.

There is still no settled role for Stephen Ireland in the side. He spent the first hour wide on the right, drifting inside but failing to influence the game as much as he might like. He impressed, though, when moved into the hole of a 4-3-3 as we chased the game. But we knew that that was his best position from 2008/09. The fact is that Hughes has to choose between 4-4-2 - which gets the best of Tevez - and 4-3-3 - which gets the best of Ireland.

So now we know that Shay Given's save was no Mark Robins moment. Beating Chelsea has been followed by a draw and a loss, and it's going to be a real battle for sixth.

Spurs preview

Now this is a huge game. Away at one of our closest rivals for fourth place; win and we're two points ahead of Spurs and three behind Villa with a game in hand on both. Lose and we're four behind Spurs and six behind Villa - and we can enjoy another Christmas of rumours about Mark Hughes' imminent dismissal. This doesn't make it a must win though - I'd certainly take a draw. Yes, it would cost us ground on Aston Villa but given how they folded after Christmas last season I'm sure they're catchable.

The problem is that, despite recent form, I think we'll struggle to draw this one. And this is mainly because of the absence of our wingers. The reason that we can afford to play such an open 4-4-2 is the pace and work rate of Craig Bellamy and Shaun Wright-Phillips on the flanks. They both track opposition full backs all the way back into our penalty area (and put in some crucial tackles), while being able to hit teams on the break with their prodigious pace. Between the two of them so far they have a total of ten goals and fifteen assists so far. And while we can replace them with excellent footballers - I imagine that Stephen Ireland and Robinho will occupy the wide positions - they offer a quite different threat: clever, certainly, and more creative, but slower too. And I do worry about Aaron Lennon exposing Sylvinho given Robinho's reluctance to track back.

It's just possible that Hughes will seek to recreate the Bellamy/SWP threat by deploying one of Martin Petrov or Vladimir Weiss out wide. But that aside I can't forsee any surprises: the back five will continue, and Nigel de Jong will probably replace Vincent Kompany in midfield. (I was shocked that de Jong had swine flu, as I was convinced that he was indestructible. Hearing that he has shaken it off in about 48 hours is an immense relief.) With our first team I could see us worrying Spurs, but with this team I'm not so sure.

So I'm going to predict a 3-1 defeat. I know it sounds gloomy but it will make me feel much better if we manage to lose 2-1.