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The visitors were a man down at Anfield before they started and they showed reduced attacking verve against Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur were a man down before they even started. Perhaps that assertion just underlines the fact that we put such weight on everything a manager says and does. In practice, though, it was difficult to tell if the visitors would have been more vibrant under the watchful eye of Harry Redknapp.

We have been taking managers very seriously for a long time. It is not enough that they pick the team and lay down the tactics. Their presence on the touchline or in the stand is somehow thought essential. Given that the cult of the manager is so marked, the lack of Redknapp made the scene a little odd. Perhaps, too, it accounted for diminished verve in his Tottenham team.

Regardless of the court case in London and his inability to get to Merseyside because of a technical problem with the plane, it was still hard to forget him. Kevin Bond, the assistant manager, and Joe Jordan, the first-team coach, would have been in no doubt as to what was required and the plan for the night had been laid down already.

All the same the true issue was whether footballers somehow need their leader in view to give of their best. It seems preposterous such an attitude could be allowed in a professional sport where players are paid so lavishly on the basis that they themselves shape the outcome of a match. Even so, this was the type of fixture that did call for managerial expertise and the lack of Rafael van der Vaart because of a calf strain was another factor to be addressed by those in the technical area..

Liverpool held some advantages. They were at home and, just as significantly, far closer to full strength than their opponents. Tottenham mostly had to resist in the first half but they still hinted at the ability that makes a Champions League campaign very likely next season.

That under-strength line-up did at least have Ledley King in its midst. That, in its own way, was a means of compensating for Redknapp’s unavailability. Given the severity of the knee trouble that has bedevilled his career, it said much that the defender was starting a match for the second time in seven days. There is hope that playing the game regularly might again become normal to the centre-half.

If Redknapp, glowering at his television, had a complaint, it would have related to the lack of confidence on the ball that hindered Tottenham’s efforts to take the game to the opposition. It was Liverpool who dominated possession before the interval but Tottenham had an intensity of their own even if they had neither sight nor sound of their manager.

Any small misgiving lay then in the conservatism. The best moment for them in the first half probably lay in Michael Dawson’s impeccable tackle on Andy Carroll after five minutes when a penalty could so easily have been conceded. Even so that stringency would not have sufficed for Redknapp. His emphasis on attacking style has, after all, seen the team notch 20 goals in 11 away fixtures in the league before they got to Anfield.

That incisiveness was out of reach in the opening 45 minutes. The interpretation of that fact is awkward to assess. It is, after all, supposed to be a taxing night when any side takes on Liverpool here. All the same we have come to expect more from Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and others in the line-up.

It was easy to think how exasperated Redknapp would have been at that stage. The bid for the title itself has faded but the manager is still entitled to call for confidence and ambition when his side is on the ball.

Tottenham, too, had beaten Liverpool in all three of their most recent encounters, including a 4-0 spree at White Hart Lane in September.

Given the context, it was natural to ask that Tottenham do more than demonstrate efficiency while containing Kenny Dalglish’s side. They did better in the second half and looked more interested in attacking but still the verve and penetration were in short supply.

The single heartening factor would have been the discipline in Tottenham ranks when Liverpool commanded so much territory.

That focus had to be even more intense when Luis Suárez made his return from suspension and came on before an adoring Anfield in the 66th minute. Everything depended then on Tottenham’s capacity to maintain order even without Redknapp’s presence.

Premier League 2011-12LiverpoolTottenham HotspurPremier LeagueKevin McCarra
guardian.co.uk

Our football writers run the rule over the possible ins and outs for the final day of the January transfer window

Arsenal

What they wanted Cover up front and at left-back. The squad’s reliance on Robin van Persie is well documented and neither of his deputies, Park Chu-young and Marouane Chamakh,, who is away at the Africa Cup of Nations, has so far shown himself to be capable. Due to injuries, Arsene Wenger has not named a recognised full-back in his starting line-up since 6 December.

What they got Thierry Henry on loan from the NY Red Bulls until 16 February, with an option for him to stay until 26 February, which the Red Bulls hold. It has been emotional to see Henry back in the shirt and the first of his three substitute appearances to date saw him score the winner against Leeds in the FA Cup

D-Day moves? Anyone hoping for a big-name buy, and that includes many of the players, should be braced for disappointment. David Hytner

Ins Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls, loan); Thomas Eisfeld (B

Today’s blurb has eaten too much porridge

Ah, José. Every stop he makes, he makes a new friend. But he can’t stay for long, just turn around and he’s gone again. Maybe tomorrow, he’ll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, he’ll just keep moving on (Ba-da, ba-da, ba-da, ba-da).

Yes, football’s littlest hobo seems to be on the move again, although they won’t be accompanied by the lump in the throat that his TV equivalent never fails to bring. Real Madrid have drawn up a two-man shortlist of potential replacements. Smoothly coiffed, scarf-wearing, German man-plus Joachim Löw is one of the names scrawled in Crayola on the back of an old receipt, reckons the Daily Mail EXCLUSIVELY, while the other is wilting north London spendthrift Arsène Wenger.

Quite how the denizens of the Bernabéu would react to a manager whose transfer policy seems to contradict everything Madrid have stood for over the past 15 years or so, but if the transition from Galácticos to 19yearoldprospectfromMetz-icos fails then at least they’ve had plenty of practice of late with those whistles and hankies.

Manchester City want former Barcelona vice-president Ferran Soriano and former Camp Nou technical director Txiki Begiristain to be their new chief executive and director of football. On the pitch, City are close to wrapping up a £2m deal for Israel’s Nir Biton after the midfielder sorted out his national-service-knack.

Anton Ferdinand is set to snub John Terry’s handshake offer this weekend, say the Mirror, hopefully in the time-honoured fashion of lifting the hand at the last minute and pressing his thumb to his nose before waggling his fingers. The tongue-poke and “Ner, ner, ner, ner, ner” is, of course, an optional extra.

Mark Hughes can’t wait to start spending at Loftus Road. South Africa striker Katlego Mphela of Mamelodi Sundowns and Fulham’s Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora will all be turning him down in the near future.

Newcastle have been told they will have to fork out £2m for Watford’s Adrian Mariappa, having had a derisory offer rejected. “I couldn’t begin to tell you how far away it was,” said Watford manager Sean Dyche. “My son’s got more in his money box,” he added, raising the intriguing question of how exactly you fit £500,000 in a child’s piggy bank.

Bolton, Swansea, Barnsley, West Ham and Sheffield United all want to borrow Raheem Sterling. Liverpool say they can’t have him.

Sunderland are keen on Bolton’s solid-pine battering ram Kevin Davies. Aston Villa will release Emile Heskey, Carlos Cuéllar, Habib Beye and Brad Guzan this summer.

Nicky Maynard has turned down the chance of four months of Premier League football, rejecting Wigan’s offer despite the Latics agreeing a fee of £2.2m for the Bristol City striker.

West Ham, having tired of their £6m pursuit of Rangers’ Nikica Jelavic, want Salomon Kalou on loan until the end of the season. Also in the Championship: Leicester will beat Sheffield Wednesday and United in the race to sign Stoke’s Ben Marshall and Doncaster have taken Peru defender Jesús Rabanal.

Transfer windowArsenalReal MadridManchester CityLiverpoolJohn Ashdown
guardian.co.uk