The smiles, the tears and the Gazza

A tweet from Josh Onomah; a rising talent at Spurs, showed the youngster’s appreciation of Paul Gascoinge and perhaps his desire to emulate one of club legends. The youngster tweeted about the latest Gascoigne documentary, “Gascoigne.”

From a young age, my dad would tell me of Gazza’s passion and commitment for the club and how saddened he was to learn of our number 8’s departure. As a young fan who remembers little from Gazza’s playing days, I watched the film to try and appreciate the great man’s talents – what I actually found was that I appreciated the man.

The character of Gascoigne stood out head and shoulders above everything. Although the film demonstrated both the highs and lows of the midfielder’s career, the comical moments had me in stitches. Anecdotes including how Gascoigne borrowed an ostrich from the local zoo to take to the training ground showed the man loved to make people laugh. Gascoigne even highlights himself how “there’s no better feeling than putting a smile on somebody else’s face” – a quality of which he carried both on and off the pitch.

[linequote]All too often we see players who care more for club than country or even vice versa but the midfielder always gave 100% quickly making him a fan favourite for all[/linequote]

Gazza’s passion for the game is what made him a special player. From tears in Turin to wonders at Wembley, the man’s passion for playing was equal if not above that of a fan – a rarity in today’s game. All too often we see players who care more for club than country or even vice versa but the midfielder always gave 100% quickly making him a fan favourite for all; Gascoigne even describes his reception after returning from Italia 90 as like nothing he’d seen before.

For a player’s dream to be walking up the steps of Wembley a winner shows how passionate he was. The emotional agony he shed coming off after 12 minutes in the FA Cup Final demonstrated this. The echoes of wanting to be winners still resonate throughout the walls of White Hart Lane today but the fact that Gascoigne considered risking the rest of his career just to celebrate cup success in 1991 is a true sentiment of Gascoigne’s nature.

When you discuss the great man with anyone, whether football fans or not, many jump to his troubles with alcoholism and drug abuse. However, the film explores Gascoigne’s vulnerability describing how he blames himself for the death of his best friend’s brother and how his young nephew died after a phone call with Gazza.

Gary Lineker describes the midfielder’s vulnerability as “part of his magnificence”; these are not words to describe a man who does not have complexity. After developing twitches following witnessing death at the mere age of 10, Gascoigne turned to drink to deal with problems in later life even claiming that it made him play better.

Recovering from an 8 month spell of being injured following the cup final was spent with Gascoigne training as hard as he could with a serious injury in order to re-join Tottenham’s first team. Being told on the Friday that he could train on the Monday clearly satisfied a man who craved for competitive football; however no a night out that weekend he was hit on the chin and injured his knee, which forced him to miss yet another 6 months.

These issues would have challenged anyone, which is why this area of Gazza’s life should accompany people’s perceptions of Gascoigne’s demons.

Gascoigne should and is seen as an inspiration by many Tottenham players. Josh Onomah clearly admires the man’s talents; Harry Kane and Nabil Bentaleb clearly share the same desire to win for the team. These are positives signs at Spurs and shows how Gascoigne’s legacy remains poignant at the Lane.

[linequote]Gascoigne should and is seen as an inspiration by many Tottenham players. [/linequote]

It is always refreshing to see players who play with a passion and detest the feeling of losing. It is for this reason why Gascogine is considered a Tottenham legend because in such a short spell at Spurs (with one entire season out to recover from injury), he achieved so much and stole the hearts of all fans.

The great man once said: “I won player of the year and players’ player, two cups and two championship medals, had a great time” reminding fans that sometimes it’s just about playing with a smile on your face. Thank you Gazza.