Poor old England fail as Paxo Man and Defoe flop

However Spurs were unable to beat Arsene Wenger’s revolutionary new strategy. His tactics are to demoralise the opposition, and motivate his own team, by conceding cheap goals from free kicks and corners, and the semi- final was no different. The tactic fools the opposition, and their fans, into thinking they have a chance of winning the match.

This worked a treat against Tottenham as their fans celebrated Mido’s equalising goal, and dreamt of being the first team to win at Ashburton Grove. In reality the 85 minute equaliser was far more than Spurs deserved, it flattered them.

For once in a long while I decided to watch the match on TV rather than fork up £45 for the Spurs development fund. A mate messaged me to complain he was surrounded by ringers who looked like the Fred West clan. Rather unkind as I thought those fans who replaced the regulars did a far better job than we season ticket holders usually manage, though not the Fred West Clan who wouldn’t get off Theo’s back.

Thus I had to suffer the surreal world that is Sky Sports the half-time talk was all about how well Spurs had played. Hoddle sensed that Spurs were going to "nick it"; which is exactly why he is unemployed as he as no sense at all. Right up to Adebayor’s 77 minute opener Andy Gray was anticipating that Spurs were just about to win. Then the Arsenal goal went in and suddenly it was all how brilliant Arsenal were, which was actually far more accurate than his earlier rantings. I assume the director knocked on the door and changed his script for him.

The friends I was watching it with thought it was because he is anti-Arsenal, which I am sure he is, but the real reason is that he writes the script in advance. In his script Spurs the plucky underdogs, or underachieving no- hopers (depending on your viewpoint) beat the mighty Arsenal. Its all about wish fulfilment, I can live with it, but not with his pathetic excuses for violent play. Every nasty Spurs tackle was just bad luck, or not that serious, which explains why Senderos was wearing a bandage all game. How Ghaly was not given a card for elbowing Senderos I don’t know.

Arsenal then proceeded to dominate extra time; the Paxo men couldn’t even get the ball. Rosicky pulled all the strings and in no time the Gunners were 3-1 up. This time the crowd could crow Ole in the knowledge that the cockerels had crowed their last. Mores the pity that the Tottenham fans had all gone home. So apart from a shaky ten-minute spell the reds had dominated for a 100 minutes out of 120. The stats do not lie on this occasion

Diaby was also excellent, his power of recovery is remarkable (after 9 months out), and he really does remind you of Vieira, except I get the feeling he is even more of an attacking player. He is another one that could walk straight into the team.

Ali and Adebayor ensured the Gunners didn’t miss the Beast. Adebayor led the line magnificently, and got the all-important opening goal from Rosicky’s slide rule pass. It’s good to see his shooting boots have returned. Ali was quiet in first half, but he was allowed to play more centrally in the second half and he grew in stature as the game progressed. His 105 minute goal was the match winner, and one of the finest goals at home this season.

He reminds me of the kid at school who doesn’t have to work hard to get top marks. Denilson had worked his socks of all game, but Tomas comes on halfway through, ambles around the pitch, gives wonderful flicks and telling passes that destroy Spurs. Yet it all looks so effortless. The key to it all is his technique; either that or he is illegally putting super glue on his boot. A pity Chimbonda got in the way of his shot and took him off the score sheet. He deserved his Man of the Match Award, but so did Denilson, and Toure, and Senderos and .. (That’s enough ands. Ed).

Yes it’s great to win over the old enemy and get to a final, but more importantly the match demonstrated that the squad have come of age. The number of options available has increased, even though we are without RvP, Hleb, Eboue, Freddy, Baptista and so on. Players like Ali, Traore and Denilson are ready to fit in. Also worth keeping in mind that every round was played away until Wednesday, these guys do not get homesick.