EPL wrap: Bale’s absence almost costs Spurs

It is a problem that affects many teams across many sports. What do you do when you lose the most important player in your team – the man who is your inspiration, heartbeat and soul? When you are blessed with someone so good that it sometimes doesn’t matter what the other 10 men are doing, then it can be perplexing to try to cope with the talisman absent. Gareth Bale has been a very good player for a couple of seasons now, but for the last few months he has transcended his previous achievements and turned into Tottenham’s creative genius, their most reliable goal-scorer, the chief playmaker, the pacy dribbler who cuts defences to shreds. The list goes on. After suffering injured ankle ligaments last Thursday in the Europa League, Bale is currently unavailable, and with Tottenham already going through a bit of a flat spot in their attempt to make sure of a Champions League spot next season, the timing is not good. [caption id=“attachment_689761” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Adebayor was in good form. Reuters[/caption] Against Everton on Sunday, in front of their own supporters, Tottenham began and ended strongly – but what happened in the 85 minutes in between must have worried manager Andre Villas-Boas. There was a lack of rhythm, a lack of ideas, there was tension and uncertainty. Like junkies in need of a fix, the 11 players wearing white seemed desperate for Bale to light up the stage. Everton scored two goals, and led 2-1 with just three minutes plus injury time to go when Kyle Walker picked out Emmanuel Adebayor with a neat pass. The Togo international’s shot beat Tim Howard and bounced off the post, whereupon Gylfi Sigurdsson was on hand to bury a simple chance. The draw was not a disaster for Spurs, and Everton are a very good side, pushing for a fifth-place finish and a Europa League spot. But the pattern of the match suggested that even if Bale is not yet 100% fit again by the time Tottenham play host to Manchester City on April 21, then he might play some kind of part in the game. It would be prudent to wait a little. The season runs deep into May and points will need to be picked up from many of the later games to make sure of that top-four spot. Tottenham’s problems appear to be a case of last season’s woes coming back to haunt them, when the lines were fluffed with a Champions League spot there for the taking. But Villas-Boas possesses the tactical awareness to avoid a repetition. Arsenal are the team most likely to nab fourth spot off Spurs. They registered their third Premier League success in a row by winning at West Brom, and are just two points behind their north London rivals with a game in hand. On Saturday, the Gunners were indebted to Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky – not a crowd favourite at the Emirates – who firstly cleared a goal-bound shot off the line, before diving spectacularly to head home Gervinho’s cross for the first goal, and driving home another early in the second half. The last 20 minutes were a nervous period for the away side as Per Mertesacker was sent off for a bad foul on Shane Long which led to a penalty, scored by James Morrison. But Arsene Wenger sent on a succession of reinforcements at the back – Arsenal ended up with a remarkable team featuring six defenders, two defensive midfielders and one striker – and the Gunners held firm. At the bottom end of the table, there was another shattering blow for QPR to stomach. It took them 85 minutes to break the deadlock against Wigan, but what could have been a famous 1-0 win - considering Bobby Zamora had been sent off for a dangerous challenge just 20 minutes in – wasn’t to be. Shaun Maloney buried his free-kick into the QPR net with the last kick of the game, and with Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool still to come QPR are surely destined for relegation alongside a rudderless Reading team who have forgotten what it’s like to avoid defeat. Who will be the third team relegated? It’s hard to say, but Sunderland are among the possibles. They have a new manager in Paolo di Canio, whose arrival has triggered a sparky debate on the rights and wrongs of fascism – even though Di Canio and his eccentric political views have been around English football for years. In the Italian’s first game in charge, Sunderland scored first away at Chelsea but went down 2-1 in the end. There are some interesting times in store for them as they next take on local rivals Newcastle, and there’s sure to be a media circus accompanying Di Canio over the closing weeks of the season.