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Culture Wars

6 min read
by Sam Marlow
If we all think back to why we all fell in love with Tottenham, it certainly wasn’t for the trophy count.

It is all too familiar isn’t it? Our fanbase split down the middle almost as if the magical romance of the Pochettino years didn’t happen. Everywhere I look I see people blaming Jose Mourinho, or people blaming the players. Usually it is a case of one or the other. In this age of binaries and conflict, everyone has picked a side and is choosing to ignore nuance. There is no longer any space for a sensible discussion for how Tottenham Hotspur move forward and get back to chasing league titles and competing in the Champions League again. There is no quick fix but there won’t be while we are all dug in our trenches.

On one side of the argument, we are all sick and tired of the “what have you won” jibes from other fans. It is tedious, but there is no legitimate response in the world of Twitter point scoring. How can you possibly capture the emotion of going unbeaten in our final season at White Hart Lane, or a magical European journey in 2019 into a mere 140 characters. The joy of Amsterdam was worth more to many of us than Woodgate’s scrappy header in 2008.

I am convinced the 1 trophy (ignoring the Audi cup) in 20 years weighs heavy around Daniel Levy’s neck, and that is why he opted to bring in Jose “proven winner” Mourinho. Mourinho is the answer to the “what have you won” problem for many fans. He always wins a pot wherever he goes, and that will allow us to get this monkey off our back. Simple.

Except it isn’t that simple. Past performance is no guarantee of future success. The criteria by which we judge Jose Mourinho’s tenure at Spurs should not be his trophies at Porto and Chelsea. In a results business, we need to judge results today. Mourinho no doubt understands that. 6 points off of fourth place in the league (with a game in hand), and a league cup final is probably about right for where Spurs are at as a club right now. Nothing special, but there have been glimpses of green shoots in our painful rebuild, and some pleasing performances. There is definitely some progression from last year. Fine. Does this alone mean we should be pleased with Mourinho’s tenure? Definitely not.

On the other side of the supposed argument is the Mourinho out crowd. Understandably, Jose has very little credit in the bank with a large portion of our fan base. He is a Chelsea legend, and is very much results over style. An antithesis to what Tottenham Hotspur have always been as a club. The point we have reached now is that when Spurs lose, Jose takes all of the blame and the players are absolved by one group, and vice versa for the other group. This is not at all helpful. There is no way we can move forward and progress if our only solutions are “sack the manager” or “buy a new defence”. We need a vision and a roadmap.

Personally, I cannot get behind the style of football. I understand it. I tolerate it. However, for me the ends only justify the means if the ends are shed loads of big trophies. Even then, watching us play with an inferiority complex week-in week-out just isn’t for me if it ends up with a league cup and 6th in the league.

If we all think back to why we all fell in love with Tottenham, it certainly wasn’t for the trophy count. Glory hunting and supporting a club based on trophy wins is for those weird kids at school who chose a team miles from where they lived, and with zero family links. You don’t get to pick your football team.

When I think of Spurs, it always tinged with romance, nostalgia and emotion. Not the trophy count or the ability to point score with opposition fan bases. I couldn’t give less of a monkey’s about any of that. Tottenham is my relationship with my dad. It is seeing the same friends and family every week, that sense of connection, identity and belonging. Maybe it is the pandemic, but the sense of Tottenham identity does not run through this team. I don’t feel that same connection that we had under Pochettino. Just because something is immeasurable, that does not mean it is not valuable.

“Spurs have scored over 100 goals this season” I hear the twitter accounts with a Mourinho avi cry. That is proof we are exciting and play attacking football! Unfortunately, it is not. The number of goals is not a perfect metric for excitement and joy at football. There is not the same “edge of the seat” factor that we usually love with Spurs. Unfortunately, there is no space for this kind of discussion anymore, especially not on social media. Everyone is speaking, but no one is listening.

The amount of games where we have scored first and subsequently sat back is infuriating. The worst thing about this is that only when we inevitably concede a late equaliser, do we kick into gear and take the game by the scruff of the neck. It is insulting. It shows that we can play that way, but choose not to. I never see Mourinho getting off the bench encouraging the players forward, or to press when we go 1-0 up. The fact that we do not play to our strengths has to be a criticism laid firmly at Jose’s door.

“It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom”. Too right. No doubt we all remember Harry Redknapp’s tenure much more fondly than that of George Graham. Why? The man in the raincoat won more for us than ‘Arry! The crux of this debate is a question of identity. Tottenham are going through an identity crisis and Jose Mourinho is the manifestation of this. Do we want to sell out on our long culture of doing things in style and the “echoes of glory” for the sake of trophies and twitter point scoring.

I don’t, but maybe my view of football is just a little too naive and romantic.

Just to be clear, I really want Jose to succeed at Spurs. I think it would be a fantastic redemption arc if he won us a trophy. A big part of me would enjoy him trashing his ‘Chelsea legend’ status by winning something for us too. However, we need to be honest with ourselves in appraising his performance. Has he made the whole greater than the sum of its parts? Has he got the team over-performing their capabilities like any great manager does? Does he get it tactically right more often than not? Anyone who says yes to all three questions is not being honest with themselves. Judge him on his merits as Spurs manager, not on his history elsewhere.

As Pochettino prophesied, we needed a painful rebuild. I hoped this would be a process that we could all get behind and hopefully enjoy. There were always going to be growing pains as we transitioned from mid-table mediocrity to “challenger”. For this to work we need a shared vision and an identity we can all unite under. Can Jose give us that? You make up your own mind…​

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

Sam Marlow

4 Comments

  1. Chris Clifton
    19/03/2021 @ 10:29 pm

    In agreement that he probably is not the right man but Lewis & Levy are not the right owners. Over the past decade they have spent 160m net on player, nothing. Yes we have a new stadium but are 1.1 billion in debt as a football club, that isn’t ENIC’s debt. We pay poorly in the wage department too. The last paragraph of the piece sums this ownership up. Nearly 2 years ago we needed a rebuild, but the owners sacked instead of backing Poch. Time for ENIC to put the club up for sale, no manager can bring top 4 every season with the lack of money this ownership provides

  2. Roger Julian Jenkin
    19/03/2021 @ 10:45 pm

    Pochettino had a terrible last 8 months as Manager in the League.
    Maybe if he hadn’t batted his eyelids at every big club or said things like – I am only a coach!, it is possible that he could still be there.
    But I felt the squad had gone stale under him.
    I have never been a great fan of Mourinho, but I feel that he should have a chance to play his side in front of fans.
    I think he should at least get a chance to start next season with one or seven of the present squad replaced.

  3. Layton Garrett
    20/03/2021 @ 3:23 am

    I am firmly in the middle on this dividing line. We need to always play to our strengths which is our offense. Kane , Son, and Bale recently are our only stars. Dier and Sanchez together are the absolute worst. No manager could win with those 2 fools. So while Mourinho needs to let our atttacking players attack, he also needs new center backs. Those 2 guys, and Sissoko and Winks are all sub par compared to anyone’s middle of the field players. Hoping we can at least get back in the Europa, because with those poor defenders, eve ourattack can’t get us top 4. Lloris has also taken a big step back since 2021 rolled around. Mouinho deserves some of the blame, but he cannot play on the field for those mediocre players I mentioned.

  4. George
    28/03/2021 @ 10:43 pm

    Hi everybody. I am a spurs fan from Greece . The reason that I choose Tottenham to support is Pochetino. I was really impressed by the brave style of play. It was really amazing. No big investment in players in contrast with the competition , possecion football ,attacking spirit and what a beautiful sum of players , what a team with the real meaning of the word. I am not an English citizen but I think that a lot of people around the world became spurs fan during Pochetino’s term.
    I have also searched the history of Spurs and I understood that brave and attacking football characterises the team . So many wonderful players : Jimy Greaves, Ardiles, Hoddle, Gazza etc. I agree that taking titles is something wonderful but that in football is not the only aim.
    The problem with Murinio is that he loves defensive football. Is anyone proud for the win of first round against Arsenal ? We had two chances and two goals. After that we played wonderfull defensive football. I turned off the tv. I also do not like the management of the players. It is a shame after the lost match of the Zagreb, to accuse the players. It a shame to say that you have the best management team in the Premier League It is a shame that players like Dele and Winks do not find a role in the team. It is a shame that apart of four or five players the other players do not evolute. It is a shame to lose from the most of the top 8 .
    Management of the teams in the modern football is very complicated affair that comprises a lot of factors and mainly economical factors but I think that holding Murinio destroys the character of the team and especially our nerves. COYS.

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