Sport

Hoddle sees he will have his work cut out for him

With his beige suit and unseasonal suntan, Glenn Hoddle could have been the man from Del Monte

Mon Apr 02 2001 - 01:00

With his beige suit and unseasonal suntan, Glenn Hoddle could have been the man from Del Monte. One sip of orange juice, remember, and "He say yes!"

Having cast an eye over the present crop of emerging talents at Tottenham, several of whom were drafted in to replace injured regulars for Saturday's North London derby at Highbury, Hoddle probably felt like giving a more qualified affirmative to the possibility of his taking Spurs to a place in the top three during the next five years.

This is how long Hoddle's contract as Tottenham's new manager will give him once his move from Southampton has been completed, and he is likely to need all the time he can get.

He will hardly, for example, be in the position of David O'Leary after George Graham had left Leeds for White Hart Lane. There is not an abundance of youthful quality at Spurs simply waiting for the lights to turn green.

READ MORE

On Saturday, David Pleat, Tottenham's director of football and caretaker manager following Graham's dismissal, used six players of 21 or under. "We have some promising youngsters," he observed, "but will need to buy top-quality players." So much depends on how much Enic, the conglomerate that recently added Spurs to its club collection, is prepared to spend.

For his first match in charge, next Sunday's renewal of hostilities with Arsenal in an FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, Hoddle looks as if he will have to pick his side from a squad only marginally stronger than the choice available to Pleat.

Tottenham's best chance of springing a surprise could lie in Arsenal's contrasting set of priorities. For Spurs the Millennium Stadium may be this season's Valhalla, but Arsenal are looking no further ahead than Valencia, who visit Highbury on Wednesday in the Champions League quarterfinals.

The strength in midfield of Patrick Vieira will be crucial in both matches, and reports that Juventus are interested in the Frenchman will worry Highbury supporters.

If Arsenal took a while to get going it was understandable given the circumstances. The news of David Rocastle's untimely death that morning had shocked everyone and, as on other grounds, the minute's silence was impeccably observed by both sets of supporters.

Rocastle as much as anybody had typified the invigorating style of Graham's championship-winning Arsenal sides of 1989 and 1991, and the fact that for more than half the game Wenger's side lacked a similar quality was almost a mark of respect for what he had once given the team.

Pleat praised his makeshift Tottenham team for denying Arsenal a goal until 20 minutes from the end, although Thierry Henry had hit a post after seven.

Eventually Robert Pires gathered a pass from Vieira before cutting in from the left to beat Neil Sullivan with a fine, right-footed shot into the far corner of the net. By then Nwankwo Kanu had been brought on to provide some party tricks and his was the pass which released Henry to bamboozle a head-bandaged Chris Perry before slipping in Arsenal's second.

A happy ending for Highbury then, but with Rocky gone it was a sad afternoon all the same.

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon (Luzhny 82), Keown, Adams, Cole, Vieira, Parlour, Lauren (Kanu 67), Pires, Henry, Wiltord. Subs Not Used: Manninger, Ljungberg, Edu. Goals: Pires 70, Henry 87.

Tottenham: Sullivan, Gardner, Young, Doherty, Perry, Thelwell, Freund, Iversen, Davies (Etherington 78), Korsten (Piercy 66), Ferdinand. Subs Not Used: Walker, Hillier, Ferguson. Booked: Freund.

Referee: P Durkin (Dorset).