Bruce wants repeat of Spurs show v Arsenal
STEVE Bruce says he'll be delighted if Sunderland play as well this weekend against Arsenal as they did in their last outing, against Spurs.
Despite going down to a 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane to Arsenal's North London rivals in their last match, Bruce was thrilled with the way his team performed.
And he says he hopes Sunderland can hit the same heights this weekend.
He said: "It's a funny thing to say that you want similar standards to the ones you wanted in a defeat.
"But I thought at the time that we played really well against Tottenham, and having now watched the replays several times, we actually played better than I originally thought.
"The performance levels were terrific, and anyone who witnessed that game would have seen that.
"They scored after 10 minutes, but that was their only real attempt in the first hour, while in contrast we had half a dozen good chances away from home.
"I had a beer with Harry Redknapp after the game, and he was very complimentary about the team.
"He said we were the best team he had seen at his ground this season, and the players have to take a lot of credit for the way they played that day.
"I have never been a manager of a side that has gone to White Hart Lane and comprehensively outplayed Tottenham Hotspur.
"But that was the case in our visit there at the start of this month, and if we produce a similar performance this weekend then Arsenal will certainly know they've been in a game.
"The only criticism I would make is that I would like to see us finish better.
"I would like to see us make more of the chances we create because we had plenty against Tottenham, plenty against West Ham in the game before, yet didn't make them count.
"But sometimes football is like that – you can be the better team on the day, you can play the better football, but every now and then the result goes entirely against you, and that was the case against Spurs.
"We held the ball well, played it around nicely and ran the middle of the park, but that's the way it goes sometimes, where you don't get that bit of luck and the result goes against you.
"I know that if we play to that standard consistently though, we'll win far more than we lose, so I'll happily accept a performance as good as that against Arsenal, because if you keep carving out the chances, sooner or later they start going in."
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Weather for South Shields
Saturday 11 February 2012
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