Source: Daily_Mail
Tottenham 0 Wigan 1: It's White Hart Pain for Euro big boys
Now Tottenham are officially one of the big boys they had better be prepared for the little fellas coming to White Hart Lance and putting hordes behind the ball.[LNB]Wigan played a deep-sitting 4-5-1 formation on Saturday and they won't be the last side to use that tactic against Spurs, who last week qualified for the group stage of the Champions League.[LNB]Harry Redknapp's team are often ruthlessly efficient on the break but the shock 1-0 defeat by Wigan proved that they have a problem against teams who pack the midfield and put men behind the ball.[LNB] What's going on? Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermane Defoe and Tom Huddlestone look dejected following Wigan's winning goal[LNB]Wigan used the same tactics andorganisational approach against Chelsea the week before and gothammered 6-0. Spurs are incapable of breaking teams down as clinicallyas the champions, though.[LNB]Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was happy enough to speak openly about the problem. [LNB]'I have felt all along with us thatwe lack that bit extra when teams sit back,' he said. 'We need that bitof flair. We've got no real dribblers if (Luka) Modric doesn't play.'There is already talk of Spurs being a side that suffers ChampionsLeague hangovers. [LNB]Their dismal show against Wigan camejust three days after a euphoric play-off win against Young Boys - andRedknapp admits that they need to learn from the other English sideswho compete in Europe's showpiece club competition.[LNB]'Chelsea, United and Arsenal arestronger than us,' admitted Redknapp. 'We lacked ideas and, the longerit goes on, it becomes harder and harder. People have got to have thecourage to come and accept the ball. [LNB] Welsh wizard: Gareth Bale comes under pressure from Emmerson Boyce[LNB]'People turn up and expect you towin, don't they? But we knew it wouldn't be that easy. I have neverreally mentioned Inter and Werder Bremen. I know how important it is toget a win against Wigan.' [LNB]Tottenham's England defender MichaelDawson added: 'They came here and got everyone behind the ball and wecouldn't break them down. [LNB]'They had a good game plan. Ithappened a few times last year. Stoke came and did the same. Hull didit. Wolves did. Against Wigan, we didn't create many chances. A fewteams will come and do this again.[LNB] Pete first: Crouch, left, tangles with Steve Gohouri[LNB]'We've got to get used to it. Wewere attacking and tried to get the ball into midfield but we weregetting closed down. Then we tried to go a bit longer - and it wasn'thappening. We maybe left ourselves a bit open at the back. We wanted togo for the win and it backfired.'[LNB] Enlarge Spurs tinkered with their tactics inthe hope of finding a breakthrough but no formula worked. Mostsurprising was Redknapp's decision to leave Robbie Keane on the bench.[LNB]With 20 minutes to go, and the scorestill 0-0, the situation seemed ripe for Keane to exploit. But Redknappopted to bring on Giovani Dos Santos, indicating that Keane's days atWhite Hart Lane are over with Newcastle poised to swoop, as revealed bySportsmail.[LNB]Wigan were justifiably proud of allthe selection and tactical headaches that they posed Tottenham, havinglost 9-1 at White Hart Lane last season. The Lancashire side also cameinto this game in dire form, opening the season with a 4-0 homedrubbing against Blackpool before the mauling against Chelsea.[LNB]Defender Emmerson Boyce was one ofthe few survivors from that 9-1 nightmare. After Saturday's 1-0triumph, he said: 'Last year was definitely playing on our minds. Wedid it for our fans. Last year hurt us. Losing 9-1 is not nice. A lotof people took the mickey out of us. Coming here and keeping a cleansheet, we got some of our respect back.[LNB]'At times, we've over-played thisseason and caused ourselves problems. The manager told us to keep ittight. We carried our gameplan out to perfection.' [LNB]Sadly for Tottenham, they won't be the only team using that gameplan this season. It's up to Redknapp to find the answers to it.[LNB] Enlarge Results That Rocked[LNB] Gudjohnsen dropped from Iceland team for Euro 2012 qualifiersBirmingham's protracted move for Wigan winger N'Zogbia collapsesKeane on his travels again as Aston Villa and Newcastle prepare to pounceTOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC
