Samuel Eto’o is a player in the twilight of his career. He is gradually losing some of the qualities that made him such a decorated player, but one thing that he has continuously shown to be gaining is anticipation. His goal against Tottenham was a testimony to that.
A 20-year-old, no matter how talented, might not have capitalised on two defenders making mistakes at the same time as Eto’o did.
After scoring, he ran to the corner flag and used the pole to mimic a decrepit old man. It obviously had something to do with the leaked comments from Jose Mourinho about doubts over his exact age, but it also served to remind everyone that age has its advantages, too.
Another interesting moment was Spurs boss Tim Sherwood’s post-match comments.
He said: “There’s a lack of character, too many of them are too nice to each other and you need to show a bit more guts.”
He went on to say that he alone cannot motivate all the players for every game without their help on the pitch. Interestingly, he then went on to say that some players may not take the criticism he had serve dup after the game. Maybe it was just a heat of the moment comment, but it suggests that he may not be happy with a couple of players in that squad.
Even more worryingly, it hints that he thinks some of the squad are not happy with him.
Is it just a rookie manager’s comments or is Sherwood actually suggesting his players are not fully committed to his cause?
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Is it a coincidence that when a referee seems to have treated another team harshly, he then goes on to do a similar thing to the other team or finds a way to even things up? When Manchester United visited West Bromwich Albion before the Chelsea game, goalkeeper Ben Foster seemed to have escaped a clear sending off after handling the ball outside the penalty area and denying Robin Van Persie a goalscoring opportunity.
As the game went on, Van Persie seemed to have committed a bookable offence while sitting on a yellow but was not sent-off.
A similar thing happened at Stamford Bridge. Video replays show Younes Kaboul clipping Eto’o, but the Blues striker seems to be in the process of creating an opportunity but not in a clear goalscoring opportunity.
This makes it a foul, a penalty even but not a sending off. Yet Kaboul got his marching orders.
Eight minutes later, Sandro clearly blocks the path of his fellow Brazilian Oscar. He blatantly had his hands all over the young playmaker and should have been booked. This would have been a significant moment as Sandro already had a yellow card. Referee Michael Oliver did nothing.
