Swansea 1 Tottenham 1:HARRY REDKNAPP is often the most garrulous of interlocutors but he was unusually muted after seeing Tottenham Hotspur fail narrowly to become only the second team this season to take three points back to England from the Liberty Stadium.
Redknapp’s only real moment of animation was reserved for the sight of Andre Villas-Boas being interviewed on television, the Spurs manager announcing that henceforth he wishes to be known, AVB-style, as “HJR” - “It makes me sound more intelligent”.
Otherwise Redknapp was keen to play down the significance of what might be considered two dropped points, given that Spurs led Brendan Rodgers’ committed and inventive Swansea City until the 84th minute.
“I was impressed with Swansea,” Redknapp said. “It’s brilliant the way (Rodgers) has got them passing the ball. Anyone can boot the ball up the pitch but they play the right way. Not many teams are going to come here and get three points.”
Similarly, Redknapp was equally phlegmatic about a muted showing from his most potent attacking weapon, Gareth Bale, who faded with the rest of his team-mates in the second half. “He’s not going to do it every week,” he said. “He’s only human. He was a bit quieter than normal but that’s how it goes.”
Perhaps there were good reasons for Redknapp to play down the minutiae of Spurs’ final game of the year. A point in south Wales is a fair return, but the fact is Rodgers won the tactical battle, noting afterwards that Swansea had learnt from their home defeat by Manchester United, where they afforded their opponents’ best players too much respect.
Against Spurs, Joe Allen and Mark Gower hustled energetically in central midfield from the opening minutes. Luka Modric was closed down relentlessly, still managing to find space via some breathtaking manipulation of the ball, but usually doing so in his own half.
Rodgers also came out best in the battle of the left flank, where Bale might have been expected to prove a decisive trump card against the young midfielder Jazz Richards, uncomfortable at right-back and turned inside out by Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the buildup to Spurs’ goal, which was converted expertly by Rafael van der Vaart.
But rather than mercilessly plugging at an apparent weakness, Bale spent much of the first half wandering to mixed effect in his roving role. “I let him free up,” Redknapp said. “The other night (against Norwich) he did his damage through the middle. Once you get him on the ball and in space and he runs at people he’s unplayable.”
On the other hand, an entire first half of Bale against Richards might well have killed the game. As it was, by half-time Rodgers had read the situation and Richards gave way to the rested regular right-back Angel Rangel, a potent attacking force in his own right.
This was where Swansea won the second half. “Rangel came on and he pushed forward and really Gareth had to come back and do a job on him otherwise we’d get outnumbered down that side,” Redknapp conceded, generous in his praise of both Rodgers and his team.
