Source: Telegraph
Jonathan Woodgate sick of false dawns after Spurs' Carling Cup success
Manchester United v Tottenham HotspurKick-off: Sun Feb 28, 3.00pm; Wembley Stadium, LondonTV: Sky Sports 1 (14:30-17:30), Sky Sports HD1 (14:30-17:30)Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live[LNB]Certainly, he has tended to leave any self-preservation instincts in the dressing room, as when he walked off the field against Hull City last Monday with blood pouring from his head, or when he happened to score the winner in last year's Carling Cup final after Chelsea's Petr Cech punched a clearance straight back into his face. It was no surprise that, within 24 hours of sustaining his scars at Hull, he declared himself fit for another date at Wembley, ready to resist all the attacks that Manchester United throw at him. [LNB] Related ArticlesRedknapp seeks fourth cup win[LNB]United youth given Cup chance[LNB]Gamezone: Carling Cup final[LNB]Apprentices follow Giggs[LNB]Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko 'dreams' of playing for Manchester United[LNB]Manchester United can win the quadruple, says Wayne Rooney[LNB]Woodgate recalls his fortuitous header 12 months ago not as a splendid goal – it was possibly the ugliest ever to seal a game of such magnitude – but as the most gratifying experience of his career to date, a moment on which he hoped the fortunes of his mercurial team could pivot. Except that they did not. [LNB]Tottenham's first trophy for nine years acted not so much as a shot of adrenalin as a tranquiliser dart, creating an abject complacency that caused them to drift to the end of the season at half-pace, seemingly content with a mid-table finish knowing that they had qualified for Europe already. Such a proud player as Woodgate looks back with a shudder. [LNB]"As a collective group we thought, 'We don't need to push harder, we're not going to win the league'. It was not really good enough," he says. "The form was poor, we weren't playing well at all, we were going 1-0 up and getting beaten 2-1. You go out to win games, to put your maximum effort in, but it wasn't working right." [LNB]The trend continued into this season, as Tottenham's worst league start for a century gave rise to a relegation fear that has stalked them to this day. Woodgate had won his second trophy under Juande Ramos, his only silverware besides an FA Youth Cup winner's medal with Leeds in 1997 – and yet eight months later, in the wake of a witless Uefa Cup defeat to Udinese, he was among a cabal of disenchanted players forcing the Spaniard's sacking. [LNB]Woodgate, with disarming honesty, has even questioned if his move from Middlesbrough has represented promotion for him. "If you look at the way we've played it hasn't really been much of a step up," he said. "We're 15th in the league, and we're there because we deserve to be. At the moment we're not showing it. The potential is there, but how long are we going to see potential for?" [LNB]So do not expect Woodgate to issue the latest groundless forecast of a Tottenham revival, to witter about the team's fleeting exposure in the Carling Cup final as being the "start of something".[LNB] "I'm sick of saying it," he says, conscious that he is fortunate to be facing United at all today after his team-mates somehow contrived to throw away a three-goal lead against Burnley. Indeed, if you listen closely to his assessment of Tottenham's prospects you noticed how racked with doubt he is; one second he dares to dream, the next he checks himself. [LNB]"Maybe next year," he says. "People always say next year, don't they? It will have to start. Won't it?" Woodgate has resignedly thought 'next year' for most of his playing days. He thought it in 2004 at Newcastle, as they came up just short in a Uefa Cup semi-final against Newcastle, and he thought it at Real Madrid a year later, when a wretched debut after a long-term back injury – debuts hardly come more wretched than scoring an own-goal and being sent off – rendered him a kind of anti-hero for the Real fans. Then came the enforced homecoming to Middlesbrough, where he was perpetually lauded as the team's most influential figure but where he had to accept a relatively low ceiling of ambition. [LNB]Woodgate cites Aston Villa as an example if how a club can improve. "Villa have a team ethic, and no massively 'individual' players," he said. "You have got to build a team, it has to fit together. If you look at our team against the others in the Premier League you see we have got the ability, but if you don't fit together it's not good."[LNB] Woodgate is not implying that Tottenham are disunited, more that they are hamstrung by weak links, whom he does not name, and by maddening inconsistency. "You need to have the right mentality in the squad. We have a lot of top-quality players but we need the mixture right," he says, in a veiled aside to Daniel Levy, hardly a chairman renowned for using his largesse wisely. "They will always spend a lot of money here to push things on."[LNB]Woodgate's candour about Tottenham's deficiencies is arguably a cry in the dark. He is famed as a talker, a leader, and yet his relentless demands for high standards have not convinced Harry Redknapp to confer the captaincy upon him in the long term, with Robbie Keane preferred instead. At least, with Keane cup-tied for today, he could be poised to deputise for Ledley King, his ever-fragile partner in the heart of defence. But nor has his admirable work ethic won over Fabio Capello. [LNB]Although Woodgate affects not be bothered, he shows some frustration through his deadpan sarcasm. Reflecting on the lack of explanation for his omission from Capello, he says: "Fabio's a good manager, he has proved that with other teams, so you can't really go against his decision. You just find out on Sky Sports News, which is nice." The oversight has not harmed his performances for Tottenham, which have grown in talismanic stature alongside King or the plucky Michael Dawson. "It's not a problem. I'm feeling good in myself, and maybe not being picked for England has given me the little break I've needed."[LNB]Woodgate would not dismiss Tottenham's hopes of denying United their second trophy of a possible five this season, saying: "We play well against the big teams. That's the type of team that Spurs are and we need to get out of the habit of being that." [LNB][LNB]
