EPL: No goals, no titles

EPL: No goals, no titles

EVERTON 0

TOTTENHAM 0

When Gareth Bale left Tottenham, Andre Villas-Boas had the money to buy just about anyone.

He forgot to buy goals.

The Beatles said that money can't buy love. But goals buy love for a manager and there is a growing suspicion that Spurs are all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Sunday's 0-0 draw at Everton - a pivotal fixture where a win would have lifted either side up to second - served only to demonstrate the striking deficiencies of both sides.

Roberto Martinez's men earn the benefit of the doubt, considering they operate on a fraction of Tottenham's budget and rely mostly on loan signing Romelo Lukaku.

Spurs are a different kettle of finances. They can flatter. But they no longer deceive.

Everton maintain a proud unbeaten home record that extends to last December, but Tottenham's attacking depth and first-half dominance should have ripped that record to ribbons.

More than £100 million ($198m) has been spent on a Spurs side that still strangely lack dynamism, ingenuity and any real sense of menace in the penalty box.

LACKING

Villas-Boas' men are up to fourth but they are revealing a lack of cutting edge with increasing frequency. They can be as brilliant as they are blunt.

The first half was so imbalanced Everton appeared to be attacking the side of a hill.

Tottenham couldn't have found their left flank more welcoming if the hosts had laid out a red carpet, a dancing troupe of cheerleaders and a ticker-tape parade.

At any moment, the mayor of Merseyside was expected to pop in and hand a golden key to Jan Vertonghen. The fullback had the freedom of Everton.

His Belgium teammate Kevin Mirallas vanished shortly after kick-off and threatened to take James McCarthy and Gareth Barry with him.

With Mirallas absent without official leave, Seamus Coleman had no choice but to retreat.

At a stroke, Everton's attacking threat down their right side was neutered.

Sandro, Paulinho and Lewis Holtby stopped short of pulling their opponents' pants down; otherwise it was abject humiliation for the hosts' central midfield.

But possession without penetration is clumsy, fumbling foreplay and Roberto Soldado continues to bear the discomfort of a man on a difficult first date. For all their dominance, Spurs rarely looked like delivering. It's proving to be a common tale.

The financial outlay impresses, the names dazzle and the subs' bench is the envy of much of the Premier League, but the absence of an obvious end product still frustrates.

Unlike the other title contenders currently in the top four, Tottenham do not terrify in the penalty box.

UNTROUBLED

Tim Howard was relatively untroubled by a couple of pot shots.

Spurs had little else to offer.

In fact, they should have been punished for their ponderous attacking when Vertonghen almost turned hero to villain with one silly swipe of the boot in the 66th minute.

As the Toffees finally realised they were at home and decided to shake a leg, Coleman found himself inside the box and turning past Vertonghen. The Belgian clipped the heel of fullback, who admirably tried to stay on his feet but scuffed his shot wide - because Vertonghen had clipped his heels.

Referee Kevin Friend didn't agree. He had no friends left inside Goodison Park after failing to award an obvious penalty.

Then came the strangest incident of the game when Hugo Lloris' head met with Romelu Lukaku's trunk-like knee.

The goalkeeper was almost knocked out cold and then spent a full five minutes refusing to be substituted.

Brad Friedel felt a little foolish standing on the touchline doing nothing, but then a few footballers were guilty of that at Goodison Park.

Unusually, the foul was Lukaku's only contribution of note in a game where strikers became strangers. At the opposite end, Soldado was largely anonymous. So was his side's attacking threat.

Bale is long gone, but it looks like he's taken Tottenham's goals with him.

EVERTON: Tim Howard, Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin, Seamus Coleman, Kevin Mirallas (Gerard Deulofeu 63), James Mc- Carthy, Gareth Barry, Leon Osman (Ross Barkley 63), Steven Pienaar, Romelu Lukaku (Nikica Jelavic 86)

TOTTENHAM: Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Vlad Chiriches, Michael Dawson, Aaron Lennon (Gylfi Sigurdsson 69), Paulinho, Lewis Holtby (Christian Eriksen 86), Andros Townsend, Sandro (Mousa Dembele 61), Roberto Soldado


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