There was a time when it was really depressing to be a Spurs fan. A time when waiting up to watch Match of the Day was an arduous task and we were generally wedged into what is nowadays the West Ham/Stoke City slot. However, today Spurs aren’t that team. Today we are a top four/five […]
Bravery Needed On and Off the Field
There was a time when it was really depressing to be a Spurs fan. A time when waiting up to watch Match of the Day was an arduous task and we were generally wedged into what is nowadays the West Ham/Stoke City slot. However, today Spurs aren’t that team. Today we are a top four/five side, who have lost four league games since December 2012 and despite not playing the most wonderful football in our history sit three points off top spot.
I am not going to start waving my flag and say everything is ok with Spurs, as its clearly not, but I would rather be here today than witnessing Spurs of a decade ago or when we played Hull at home in 2008.
At White Hart Lane on Sunday Spurs didn’t send out a message to the PL that they are challengers, but what they did do is collect three points in a game that not so long ago would have yielded one, possibly none.
Hull City came with a plan and for the most part they were successful. They slowed the game down, feigned injuries and occasionally looked threatening on the break. AVB deployed Sandro alongside Paulinho for the second successive PL game, and as the first half wore on, it was clear that a defensive midfielder wasn’t needed.
However, instead of opting for the brave approach of introducing Christian Eriksen, and perhaps dropping Lewis Holtby deeper, AVB brought on safe Mousa Dembele, yet we still won, so are we wrong to judge AVB’s apparent lack of bravery?
At full-time though, AVB showed bravery is something he doesn’t lack as he spoke rather candidly to the BBC and SKY about the negative atmosphere at White Hart Lane on Sunday. To be fair he had a point, however, this wasn’t the worst atmosphere I have experienced at White Hart Lane, it wasn’t even the worst AVB has seen.
[linequote] I would rather be here today than witnessing Spurs of a decade ago or when we played Hull at home in 2008[/linequote]
The reaction of the fans on Sunday was a festival of love compared to the backlash after the West Brom and Norwich games early last season. AVB had a point that we could have done more, but in an age where we have seen our fans attacked by Neo-Nazi’s, had words ripped from our song list and have pockets of the stadium filled by anyone willing to pay £200+ for a ticket, he picked the wrong time to make his stance.
As the game started there was a sense of expectancy around the ground, which then morphed into one of anxiety and stress, but that is a natural side affect of human beings reacting to what they are witnessing. It brings us back to the old conundrum, is it the support who lift the players or the players who lift us?
As a crowd we do need to be more supportive and vocal, but it’s difficult when before us 11 individuals fail as a unit to sparkle and inspire. When West Ham came to White Hart Lane and emerged with a 3-0 win, a heinous precedent was set. For the rest of the season we need to brace ourselves for more bus parking, injury feigning and slow motion goal kicks, and find some way to counter it, this also applies to Andre Villas-Boas and his players.
With Spurs sitting in the top four a few points off the leaders, some have decided to look back and reminisce about a a time when a wheeler-dealer had has playing this amazing brand of football. Apparently, we were the most exciting team in the country, a team bristling with talent, ready to explode, yet we didn’t, in fact we imploded.
[linequote] in an age where we have seen our fans attacked by Neo-Nazi’s, had words ripped from our song list and have pockets of the stadium filled by anyone willing to pay £200+ for a ticket, he picked the wrong time to make his stance[/linequote]
There was no silverware, there were no open top bus parades, and there was only a solitary Champions League campaign, served up with some indigestible FA Cup semi final defeats. It’s pointless to look back, it serves no purpose, what we need to do, is look forward and hope we start adding some flair to the three points that more often than not we collect.
However, in the modern Premier League this is extremely difficult. It seems every week with a reactionary media every single game is a cup final.
“Our rivals have won!! We have to win!! This is the most important game ever!!” When in reality it isn’t.
A by-product of being relatively successful over the last few years has created a consensus amongst us that the opposition should arrive at WHL prepared for a spanking. They should set their team out nice and open and allow us to play pretty triangles at pace. As West Ham and Hull showed, life isn’t like that.
Every game is a battle. Points are just as precious for us as they are for Hull. No team will roll over and let us tickle them into submission. We have to fight for everything, and at times it won’t be pretty.
[linequote]The next two home games are both 1882 events, it’s time to sing up and show AVB and his players that we have turned up, now it’s their turn[/linequote]
What we must remember is Tottenham aren’t finished yet, the season is only nine games old, there is time for the team to improve and for the support.
The next two home games are both 1882 events, it’s time to sing up and show AVB and his players that we have turned up, now it’s their turn. If we are going to do anything this season, we need outstanding performances on and off the pitch.
[author name=”ARLombardi” avatar=”https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000190788876/b1d0a1120760e39338a815ea5827d7f8.jpeg” twitter=”ARLombardi” website=”arlombardi.com” tag=”ARLombardi[/linequote]
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9 Comments
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29/10/2013 @ 11:02 am
Every game for Spurs is a cup final, every single one of them whether big opposition or small. This is the reality of being in a race, be it title race, Champions league race, or being relegation favourite. That’s what we as a club have to realise. I always bemoan avoidable or lazy points dropped in Oct/Nov seeing them as the point or so you are desperate to have stored in the bag for the last few games of each season.
I agree were in a good space now compared to years gone. problem is in the old days of the so called big four teams knew they’d get CL but it was just a matter of what order they came in. Nowadays it’s a big three with a chasing four competing for that last spot. You always got the feeling watching Man Utd lose or throw away points early in the season that Fergie saw that as a stumble in the title race from then, waiting for his rivals to drop a point in the next game and looking to get an advantage in the upcoming game. That’s called going for your goals from game one.
At WHL we need that win or die mentality from day one also, fair enough players will have a bag game after all we’re all human but punish pedestrian performances. With teams who win things it’s not the box office games so much that win prizes, its the Sunday coming back from Europe, tired from the plane journeys, having to play Bolton and seeing everyone dig real deep and fight and scrap out a result, the hardmen and the flair players alike go home covered in bruises but content with the three points knowing that that rainy dark muddy last-minute victory over xmas might be the one that has you two points ahead in the ultimate game of the season.
Over the years we start dodgy, go on a mind blowing run with fans and players alike talking of title possibilities, talking about being in 3rd and at worst finishing 4th, we lose about 7-8 points to the whipping boys then we get to the last ten games. Pure panic, going on a run which emotionally we cant handle because your aims and aspirations of an entire season all at risk, everything put on the last few games when by then you can see the players are mentally and physically drained.
When that win every game psyche is the norm, the emotional adjustment is not needing of such a big change come the end of the season, its just a matter of holding your form and nerve. It’s a mans game, fight for our lives from September, show we want it, hearts on sleeves. fire in the players eyes and the crows will always react to that. Its what we love to see. Its who we warm to. If AVB gets the tryers in, gets the ball moving quicker, wingers on correct sides, passing rather than dwelling, making runs rather than ball watching… these things make us applaud because we as fans know football and we know when effort is being put in. Making it known to the players no gut-busting run is pointless. The players need us as we lack leadership on the pitch. When we as fans get nervous they get nervous. We have to man-them-up, but its true if were the twelth man, only 12 of us every week will get us to the promise land.
29/10/2013 @ 11:15 am
You clearly don’t realise how amazing Dembele is or the tactics that AVB plays! The opta stats alone will tell you before the Hull game began Dembele had the best passing accuracy (91%) at Tottenham and made 82 passes in the final third resulting in 13 chances created for our side. Not only that but his tackling/breaking up of opposition play & receiving the ball short off of our long-ball happy English defenders to create something by keeping the play in our possession is unlike anything I’ve ever seen as a Spurs fan. (Sandro aside).
The stats will also tell you that he is almost our sole link between defence and attack and without him on the pitch our lack of creativity is what instills such a negative atmosphere amongst the Spurs faithful. When he wasn’t playing against Villa the team had a pass accuracy of 64% in the final third with the ball given away on 46 occasions!!!
Now we could play a magical system that you speak of with no defenders at all – 10 men up front and the ghost’s of Van Der Vaart and Glen Hoddle floating around to help with the assist count but when in your lifetime have you ever seen so many clean sheets from our beloved team?!
We are SOLID! We are classy! And I hate to compare us to Barca but in terms of a keep-ball style of play we are coming up against backs to the wall – park-the-bus defensive teams and we are grinding them to submission after an hour by making them relentlessly chase a ball that they’re not allowed a touch of.
I’d like to see more of our cup goal-machine who is being made to sit on the bench for a lot of Prem games but I’m sure J.D has a big role to play yet – as does a fresh and returning Ade from the death of his brother.
We have 7 world class players to integrate – SEVEN!!! And are trying to work out how to use them as effectively as our former Ballon D’or nominated monkey boy was when they don’t possess his pace or power. Azza blud is returning from injury and a rapidly maturing space monkey has emerged from the shadows to set the White Hart Lane wings ablaze once again.
AVB is a genius. Question his logic at your own peril. SING YOU DEPRESSING F*CKERS!!!! We’re 3 points off the top and yet to get out of 2nd gear!
COYS!!!
29/10/2013 @ 11:59 am
Good man…like ure style…cant stand these negative armchair experts…AVB is young and hes learning…but in the first half against CHELSEA WE WERE FUCKING SUBLIME//// SO FUCKING SUPPORT URE TEAM YOU NEGATIVE DEPRESSING COCKS.
29/10/2013 @ 11:16 am
When at the start of the game we pass sideways and back pass frequently the opposition get a lift and we have set a mental negative in the players mind. The idea sets in that someone will produce a Bale moment to win the game. A loud vocal support can change this and drive the team forward so its a two way street where supporters can play there part in the performance of the team.
29/10/2013 @ 11:58 am
In Physical EPL, every team plays differently.
We lost in West Ham game and played with patience with Hull.
Spurs is an attacking attractive side especially on wings eg Bale and Lennon, even in past wing players’ like Hoddle, Ginola etc.
Past 2 seasons Spurs didn’t have ” Creative ” midfielders. When wingers were marked out, it took an OUTSTANDING winger like BALE to ‘ bail’ Spurs out.
Lennon has on many occasions , terrified defences with his runs, only on last quarter he has to improve.
Only just recently, after the loss of Modric, Spurs FINALLY got a good CREATIVE ATTACKING MIDFIELDER in ERIKSEN to unlock stubborn defences. He can be like a Messi-type.
But Eriksen still need his pals like Dembelle, Sandro, Verts, Paulinho who are equally skilled to flow with and open up defences.
29/10/2013 @ 12:49 pm
I think last season we were spoilt with the amount of games won by Bale alone. It’s not natural, only a few individuals do this type of thing. For a successful season the guys mentioned all have to dig deep to make it happen. Eriksen is no messiah, he is a ‘great’ playmaker. It’s more of a team effort this time which I always like, with some lovely players who have to play at top level. When I look at the team sheet sometimes I think who do you mark, double team up on any players and we have about 5 or 6 who will punish you having a marker out of position. Hopefully that really materialises.
29/10/2013 @ 12:42 pm
Good points Dan. I myself have been a long time admirer of Dembele, I had a night out in celebration of him signing for us back then, but recently and I have been in the camp of giving Holtby a go as one of a central two just to see what can do there given the chance. Reading what you have said has reminded of the qualities Moussa does possess. I usually like to argue but that is a very strong point which I certainly can take on board. Thing is both can put their foot in so instead of a Holtby vs Dembele argument as who to partner Paulinho, I think somewhere in our squad there is a perfect partnership in there among the gang but it would probably take time to show. Maybe it doesn’t necessarily have to be two destroyers protecting the back four, maybe two creative guys who can put the fight in and show discipline and tactical awareness.
I think the most frustration on the surface stems from the centre of midfield. I don’t know who to point the finger at, is it the guys in the centre themselves or the wingers or the full backs? I say this because I am a life long fan of the defensive playmaker. I have noticed over time that the playmaker only looks as good as his runners. We tend to look quite static when we start playing the ball out for some reason, sometimes I find myself screaming at Dembele via the telly to knock the ball on quick, but I look around him and not enough players are showing for the ball or making space for themselves. When watching Barca for example, the midfielder take ball from defender and you see multiple options arising. I know Lennon works his walnuts off defensively but does he make as much runs forward as he used to? Would we be more comfortable having the wingers on their natural sides providing width and scaring full backs to death? That would give the likes of Eriksen even more room to cause havoc and try and slip Soldado or other midfield runners through.
I think in the back of all of our minds throughout the joy of all the summer signings was how well they would gel. I thought to myself the other day no matter the situation AVB is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t so it’s best to trust his judgement and he will inevitably live or die by them. The squad we have now has so much quality and depth that we are in this unusual state of fans having widely differing opinions in so many areas. Given the pressure of the job and the players at AVBs disposal finding the perfect XI cant be an easy one at all but it causes so much argument, I do it myself. For example, Defoe would bang two goals in during a midweek cup game, the world and their dog would say it’s only fair he gets selected the following weekend, which he does, fails to score then AVB is the idiot who should have selected Soldado. On the other hand he keeps faith in Soldado, who then fails to score then AVB is the idiot for playing Soldado who cant score in open play in favour or a red hot Defoe.
As it’s all about opinions. Mine would be drop Dawson for Vlad who looks oh so classy in terms of bringing the ball out and merging into the midfield, keep Paulinho in there as I like his quiet efficiency and goal threat, Keep Moussa in long as he can drive forward in ways I know he can as there is a title of ‘Absolute General’ waiting to be adopted by someone and that responsibility could easily be his. Keep Holtby breathing down his neck from the bench as he will develop into something special either for us or for whoever we sell him on to. Eriksen pulling the strings… its here where it always gets hard for me, Siggy for me has come alive as a runner since the arrival of Eriksen but with Townsend on the opposite flank do you lose the balance you’d have with Lennon? I think that nucleus would work nicely in the world of armchair management but the gist of it is if we work harder off the ball and get the wide boys working the flanks we’d play a more fluid game and halt the anxiety in the stands.
Maybe were gelling in good time, but are getting used to playing in the knowledge that someone has to be the ultimate hero and step up. Maybe someone will take that mantle now that Bale has gone. I felt like we struggled a bit start of last season with a Modric sized hole in our play but we eventually we got over it.
29/10/2013 @ 1:57 pm
Does anyone remember the “statistically best midfield partnership in Europe come xmas” combination of Sandro & Dembele from last season and how the champions ManYoo couldn’t get a kick of the ball in the first half at Old Trafford then we went on to seal our first win there since I was 2?
Losing the Beast cost us a Champs League place last year imo.
Haha if we could play 15-a-side then it would be perfect offensively but that’s the trick! If we were playing in the Spanish league then I’d be all for starting the likes of Lewis & Christian in the middle together but in the rough n tumble of the prem do we go for total sexy football or dominate the midfield defensively while upholding a silky style when on the ball?
Lennon’s problem is he hasn’t had the service of a competent right back since ‘Charlie’ Corluka (who was our right back of choice the season we qualified for our only venture into the Champs League.) Walker is still young and I use that excuse too often to defend this player with so much potential but he lacks the gift of world class players in knowing what he’s going to do with the ball before receiving it. Lennon needs the ball released immediately while the opposition defence is relatively high so that he can get on his bike and annihilate whatever poor left back has the dubious task of marking/chasing him. Walker gets the ball and has to take 3 touches while staring at Lennon almost mentally asking “what do I do??” so Lennon comes short to drag the defender with him for the 1-2 spin and run behind – lays the ball to Walker then turns to find Kyle has either spooned his pass out to touch or just given the ball back to Daws to restart from the back. Walker is painfully obvious in his play and needs to study what really makes his idol – Dani Alves such an effective wingback without just forcing our right wingers inside so that he can bomb into the space they want to play in (be it Townsend or Lennon) then not have a game plan or the delivery to finish it off.
Charlie was a solid defender and offensively knew his job was to just play the ball into the space behind and let Azza run. Figueroa did a pretty solid job against Andros at the weekend but in almost every other game Townsend comes back to the halfway line to receive the ball and even when doubled up he beats both defenders with skill – power and pace without the “help” of Walker laying him into space. This pure brilliance is why he has deservedly earned the plaudits – MOM awards and his England call-up.
Walker has got a new 6 year contract and an England career ahead of him so I wish the boy all the luck in the world but the title race is on right now and the World Cup is this summer so its time to man-up defensively and stop making me scream “SEND HIM!!!!” & “DON’T LET WALKER TAKE THE FREE KICKS!!!!!” Every time we are trying to attack! :)
29/10/2013 @ 4:06 pm
Please stop quoting statistics Dan as they are meaningless. Dembele is lazy and ineffective. How many goals Dan? How many assiststs Dan? To save you looking, it’s a big fat zero it both cases. That’s how good Dembele is and the sooner he goes back to Fulham the better. The three central midfielders should be Sandro, Paulino and Eriksen. One to sit, one to link and one to create, all very simple stuff. Then, play the wide players on their natural sides. Finally, we need a manager who is willing to let the team attack, the ball has to go wide with players allowed to push on (we are so strong at the back and with the League’s best keeper behind them we won’t ever concede many). I have no time for All Very Boring’s approach (he’s another one that hides behind stats “we had more possession than them”, so what if we do nothing with it) and for him to now knock the fans is a disgrace. We have arguably the strongest squad in our history yet we struggle to create more than a single chance per game. Sideways, backwards, sideways, backwards, keep the ball, sideways, backwards……..OMG give me something to cheer!