[lfc-news] Tottenham Away PA Report

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Tottenham 0-0 Liverpool PA

If England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had come to
White Hart Lane to find a replacement for Wayne Rooney
against Austria, he will have left with his search
still wide open after Tottenham's Jermain Defoe and
Liverpool's Peter Crouch failed to break the deadlock.

But while both England strikers had 'goals' ruled out
- a fate which curiously also befell Poland
international Grzegorz Rasiak - it was midfielder
Michael Carrick who should have really caught the
England boss' eye.

Carrick, partnered in central midfield by new signing
Jermaine Jenas, outperformed Steven Gerrard throughout
this goalless stalemate and should be a strong
contender for a call-up against Austria next month.

Whether Eriksson is persuaded of such a change remains
to be seen, with his greatest concern remaining
Rooney's replacement as the striker is suspended
against Austria.

Indeed, the England head coach can only have concluded
that he has rather more strength in central defence -
where Jamie Carragher and Ledley King were both
outstanding - than in attack.

However, it is Carrick's form which demands further
inspection in the next few weeks, with England crying
out for a holding midfielder, with Gerrard and Frank
Lampard out of form and David Beckham not cut out for
the task.

With Spurs including £11million worth of deadline-day
signings, Jenas was handed a central role alongside
Carrick, while Lee Young-Pyo provided width outside
Edgar Davids and Rasiak offered height up front.

Liverpool, meanwhile, gave Crouch his first start of
the season after injury, but rather than opting for a
cautious five-man midfield, boss Rafael Benitez
included Djibril Cisse up front as well.

It was a relatively open game, but with few early
chances as Cisse's snapshot flew wide and Defoe's
drive sped over the bar.

Defoe came even closer with his next effort after
indecision in the Liverpool defence, while Jose Reina
failed to deal with a cross by the former West Ham
striker, but Jenas just failed to take advantage.

Spurs had two half-hearted penalty appeals turned
down, while Lee made a handful of penetrating runs
down the left flank, King had a shot blocked and
Defoe's 'goal' was ruled out for a clear offside
decision.

Not that the home side could rest on their laurels,
however, as Liverpool threatened intermittently.

Stephen Warnock launched a deep cross and, when the
Spurs defence's attention was distracted by Crouch,
Luis Garcia was allowed to sneak in at the far post,
only to volley into the side netting.

Crouch also rose to meet Gerrard's free-kick, only to
head the ball two feet over the bar, but the clearest
chance of the first half fell to Rasiak just before
the interval.

Reina could only parry Davids' powerful free-kick and
the Poland international looped his follow-up header
against the crossbar.

At the interval Benitez replaced Dietmar Hamann, who
had received a painful blow at a free-kick, with
Mohamed Sissoko and he was greeted by pouring rain
with the storm clouds having broken.

As the game came to life, Liverpool were now on top,
with Cisse letting fly with a thunderous half-volley
from Crouch's knockdown, with Paul Robinson just
managing to parry the ball.

The England goalkeeper also dived full-length to grasp
John Arne Riise's long-range effort, while the
Norwegian then let fly with a superb volley which
struck the underside of the bar and bounced to safety
off the goal-line.

Tottenham tried to make the most of that reprieve,
with Reina doing well to block Carrick's long-range
drive. While Defoe skied his follow-up over the bar,
his blushes were saved by the offside flag.

Rasiak looked to have put the home side ahead, but
Carrick's corner was adjudged to have curled out of
play before the Polish international headed home and a
goal-kick was duly awarded.

Rasiak's next header was also ruled out for a push,
although that had been directed well over the bar,
while Liverpool made an enforced change with 22
minutes left as Xabi Alonso replaced Warnock.

Within a minute, Liverpool also thought they had gone
ahead, only for Crouch's header to be ruled out for
exactly the same reason as Rasiak's, with the corner
having gone out of play before the converter made
contact.

And that effectively was that. For Eriksson, it was a
familiar sight - yet another game which raised more
questions than it solved.

• Jol hails Carrick

Tottenham boss Martin Jol claimed midfielder Michael
Carrick deserved an England call-up ahead of the key
World Cup qualifier against Austria next month.

Jol declared: 'Michael Carrick mastered the whole
midfield, he was outstanding. I think he deserves it
[a place in the England side]. He's doing very well
for us and has always been appreciated as a big
talent.

'Maybe it's better to keep his feet on the ground,
rather than praising him all the time, but he always
plays a big part.'

Jol, who was pleased with the full debuts made by
Rasiak, Lee Young-Pyo, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine
Jenas, added: 'Rasiak had played two internationals in
four days but said he felt good. If he gets crosses
in, he will score goals.'

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admitted: 'We have three
clean sheets and we are better than last season in
terms of defence but we need to improve in terms of
attack.'

But he insisted the club would not live to regret
failing to re-sign Michael Owen. 'If we score three
goals next week, then everything will change,' he
insisted.

'In football, it's easy to talk but it's better to
wait. Everything can change. At this moment, I'm very
happy with the players I have.'

As for Gerrard's form, he added: 'He's okay. He knew
what to do during the game, he changed his position
twice and he did a good job.

'The more games he plays, the better he will get. He
was injured for 10 days and then played two games
without training. Now he has played another game
without training and in a few weeks, he will be
better.'

Benitez believes Dietmar Hamann, who was substituted
at half time due to a blow to his head, should have
recovered in time for next week's opening Champions
League group tie against Real Betis.

'I think he will be okay but he got a blow on the head
and was a bit dazed,' he revealed.

Substitutions
M Brown for A Lennon (82)

M Sissoko for D Hamann (45)

R Keane for G Rasiak (82)
X Alonso for S Warnock (69)
D Traore for P Crouch (77)

Yellow Cards
Edgar Davids (77)
Sami Hyypia (60)

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