Guileless Spurs fail to unlock green door

Spurs 0 Norwich 0

There is no doubting the effort and application of Jacques Santini's unbeaten side but their inability to earn three points against struggling Norwich highlighted the lack of creativity for which the Spurs of old were renowned.

Under the club's new two-tier managerial structure, sporting director Frank Arnesen has handed Santini a host of tigerish and energetic players but has yet to provide him with the creative quality that will lift them beyond the ordinary.

Spurs secured another clean sheet with a defensive performance that bodes well for the immediate future but, livewire England striker Jermain Defoe apart, there is nobody else capable of carving open opposition defences.

Norwich were there for the taking. Without a win or a clean sheet to their name, Spurs should have wrapped the game up in the first half. They dominated proceedings yet failed to make the most of them. Defoe, fresh from his England heroics against Poland, hit the post with a long range shot and then had another effort cleared off the line. His strike partner Freddie Kanoute was also denied by a fabulous saving tackle from Adam Drury.

In the second half, the tide turned and it was Norwich who looked more likely to steal the points.

In Darren Huckerby they possessed the kind of striker Spurs so desperately lack. Moroccan defender Nourredine Naybet has been outstanding since arriving at White Hart Lane, steadying the new-look back four with leadership and calmness.

But he was run ragged by the trickery and pace of Huckerby who, at 28, is surely not too long in the tooth for an England call-up. Along with Defoe and Norwich goalkeeper Robert Green, he was the pick of the 22 on display - causing the Spurs defence all kinds of problems in front of the watching England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Indeed, but for a fabulous challenge by Ledley King, Huckerby would have sealed all three points for the visitors.

The City striker pushed the ball beyond Spurs keeper Paul Robinson in the second half, only to be caught by the sprinting King as he drew his right foot back in anticipation of placing the ball into the empty Spurs net.

The home side huffed and puffed with vigour but they lacked guile and pace on either wing. Thimothee Atouba is certainly not the answer on the left but the major boost for Spurs concerned the reemergence of Simon Davies on the right.

The Wales international was greeted with huge cheers on his return off the bench from a year out with hip and shin problems. He did enough in 20 minutes to suggest he will become a fixture in Santini's side once he regains full match fitness.

Davies's return highlighted the pace and trickery Spurs have been lacking and if they can prise Andy Reid from Nottingham Forest in January then they may yet have a chance of reaching their European goal this season.

Norwich frustrated Spurs all afternoon and when the home side did breach their rearguard, they found Green in magnificent form. Second half saves from Atouba and substitute Robbie Keane proved his inclusion in the England squad is no fluke.

But for Santini, the draw represented two lost points.

He said: "We had chances to win and I'm a little disappointed for the team because they played very well at times.

"The fact their keeper was man of the match says it all."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in