Is there a more enticing day of the week than Friday? I usually try to work from home on a Friday. The peace and quiet of having the place to myself for a few hours is a tonic. This week, of course, both of my kids are home on their half-term holidays, so I don't have the tonic.
Of course, Friday is a two-edged sword. It heralds the onset of the weekend, and especially the arrival of Shabbat (the day of rest) on Friday evening. That is truly something worth waiting for. But it also requires the house to be cleaned and all of the cooking done for Shabbat, which is something of a monumental task on its own, let along when I am also trying to tie up the week's loose ends of my workload. I should count my blessings that at least my kids help with some of the housework when they come in from school on Friday. Getting them to help when they've been home all week requires a lot more shouting!
Friday is also the day which heralds the football fixtures for the next few days. After a week or so of European fixtures—well done, Spurs, against Lyon... eventually—it will be good to get back to the bread and butter of the English Premier League. Although it seems like forever since I was last at White Hart Lane, at least Spurs have been on television, and Monday's fixture away to West Ham is no exception. I remain hopeful that Spurs will gain a much-needed three points, despite the possibility of a European hangover.
Although it is tempting to engage in analysis of the tactics and performance of Spurs against Lyon I will simply make one point: the gap left by the injury to Sandro is huge. An abyss. Scott Parker is an immense player, a footballer of some class, but still looks to be nowhere near his form of last season. Moussa Dembele is a player of undoubted potential, but for me lacks some personal confidence. His strong run last night which led to the goal is something I would like to see MUCH more of. But I wonder if the chemistry between Dembele and Parker is right? The central midfield pairing is crucial to the rest of the team, both attacking and defending, and also when trying to maintain possession. The Parker/Dembele combination lacks any real creative flair, and is not robust enough when defending. But with the spotlight firmly on Gareth Bale for his magnificent contributions to the team in recent weeks, and the critics roundly weighing in on Adebayor (whom I thought played much better last night: more active and more thoughtful in his running), this midfield issue may not have been fully noticed.
Still, it would be churlish to be overly critical of a Spurs team lying fourth in the EPL and into the last 16 of the Europa League. But when, like me, you have grown up and in your formative years lived with Spurs consistently in the top three and playing regularly against Europe's finest the perspective is different. So with this thought in mind I wish you all a splendid weekend, and to my Jewish relatives and friends I bid Shabbat shalom and chag Purim sameach.
