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Oh dear, how sad, never mind.
Like Jack , love Tanganga even more now though
Fair play, good defensively, good going forward, picked up a yellow and didn't get sent off, 100% our best right back
Had an excellent cross. We just had a Kane shaped hole in the box, otherwise it would have been a near certain goal.
I really see a Wan Bissaka future to him. Possibly even better.
I really see a Wan Bissaka future to him. Possibly even better.
He’ll become a Jedi ?
Would that make him Two Bissaka?
Japhet Tanganga has a dream: ‘I want to make the world a better place’
In an exclusive interview, Tottenham defender vows to thank those who made his career possible
The substitution could not have been timed better. After 83 minutes on the opening weekend against Manchester City, Japhet Tanganga’s number was held up. Playing at right-back on the touchline furthest away from the bench, Tanganga left the pitch and began a slow walk around the turf.
He had done his job, thwarting the fearsome combination of Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling. For all the expensive talent on show, a 22-year-old from Hackney making only his 14th Premier League appearance was named man of the match.
As Tanganga walked behind the goal, three sides of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium rose to their feet to applaud. They chanted his name, cheered when he returned their clap and proclaimed their academy graduate as one of their own. For someone who always dreamed of them without ever being sure if they would be realised, these are the moments that stick.
“It gave me chills,” Tanganga tells i. “I had to contain myself, because I was walking to the bench and the game wasn’t yet over, but to hear people chanting your name and appreciating you is incredible. Clearly my career is far from over and there are lots of things I still want to achieve, but in that moment I achieved one of my goals. To be recognised for a performance by so many people, I cannot think of anything better.”
It is a romanticised cliché to insist that it matters more to players like Japhet, but it’s also probably true. He was born in Hackney in north London, went to school at the Greig City Academy that is a 15-minute drive from the stadium and joined Tottenham’s academy at the age of 10. He discusses the impact of Harry Kane’s rise from academy product to first-team regular to world-class striker as an example for him and other kids to follow. Now there are kids across north London who aspire to be the next Japhet Tanganga.
If that history gives Tanganga a greater bond with Tottenham, those feelings are reciprocal. Those supporters rose to their feet as one not just because their right-back had stymied two of the best attacking talents in the country, not just because of how Tanganga played, but for who he is.
“I’d like to think that there’s a natural connection between us,” Tanganga says. “Tottenham gave me the opportunity to live my dream. They gave me a chance in the Premier League and they looked after me as an academy player from when I was 10 onwards, so the only thing I can do to repay them is to give everything whenever I step onto the field. And the supporters are part of that because they have been brilliant too.
“The hope is that there are season ticket holders who bring their kids to watch the game, or watching at home, and I show them that if they work hard then there is an example in the first team of someone who has done the same. I hope that there are people in my old school who think ‘Japhet went to our school and he is playing in the Premier League; I can do that.’ The foundations and community programmes are great for identifying and working with talent but having an actual example in the first team is always going to provide extra hope.”
It is when discussing his local area that Tanganga is at his most illuminating. It is unfair to suggest that he is alone in recognising his responsibilities as a potential leader of his community, but his candidness when discussing the question of footballers as role models is still striking. It would be more than understandable if a 22-year-old player dealing with the pressures of breaking into a Premier League team and playing in Europe simply chose to focus on football. Tanganga sees it differently; he has bigger plans.
“I think being a professional footballer comes with a responsibility,” he says. “You are a role model to a lot of people, most of them young kids. For me that has created certain aspirations of what I want to do, whether it is charity work or community work or just a desire to help make the world a better place.
“Take my local community: I grew up playing on pitches and in cages. I had my fair share of setbacks, but football was always my bread and butter, my life. Football is what kept me disciplined, what gave me focus, what kept me motivated. Football was always there for me. It calmed me down. Whenever I played football, nothing else mattered. Any problems I might have had, football took them away. So we have to make sure that kids have places to play and lean on football in their lives like I did.”
Tanganga is a religious man, brought up in a Christian family in which faith was deeply important. He discusses the role his family continue to play in his career – he still sees them every day – and is happy to discuss the sacrifices they made to make his dream possible: the countless car journeys, the money spent on boots, clothes and food, the criticism and encouragement that siblings and his Dad offer and his Mum, who he says is a little more squeamish about watching him play because she simply wants her son to be safe.
He sees those three pillars of his life – faith, family and his local community – are not just ingredients in his success but the oxygen of it. Tanganga evidently still has goals to be successful and win trophies and receive standing ovations from his supporters whenever they deem him worthy of them. But those ambitions run alongside a desire to give back to all those who made such dreams less impossible than they once seemed.
“I believe that there is a way of life that tells us to be a good person and help others, and that’s what I strive to do in my life,” he says. “It’s the reason that God has blessed me with this career, but also allowed me to use the advantages that come with it to help other people for the greater good. That could be family members, my friends, the local community in which I was raised or anyone that hopes to achieve any dream. But we do have a responsibility to use our talent, our profile and our rewards to help the world become a better place for everyone. Everything now is about saying thank you.”
Tanganga was speaking at an interactive question and answer session with players on Tottenham Hotspur’s Global Football Programme in Australia. The partnership with University of Wollongong allows players to study for a university qualification while developing their football skills in a professional environment.
He gets forward well & I'm sure his final ball will get better but I adore him
His power and aggression is something we have missed from Spurs for a while now
His power and aggression is something we have missed from Spurs for a while now
.....And so he should; that's no particular smear on Japh.
He was up against that Dennis bloke for most of the game; not Sarr.
This small point is why Tanganga will learn "on the job" with Spurs whilst down the road their youngsters are all collapsing under the intense pressure .....
Tanganga is playing behind two quality midfield players not Xhaka and Odegaard, it's why he can get away with a few mistakes or with being out of position a couple of times, because he knows teammates are good enough and aware enough to cover him ....
Against Wolves he even had Kane covering him at one point, you can't imagine Aubameyang ever doing that ... massive difference.
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Attitude is incredibly important, especially for young players looking to improve.
Beckham, Lampard, Kane are all not entirely gifted, but forged a great career with a right attitude,
When someone that young talks about improving others lives, we want him to do well.
He’ll learn but you can’t lose your marbles like that if he wants to be picked every week. It’s fine smacking Zaha to make a point but you have to switch back to being composed instantly.
Zaha smacked him and JT bit. He grabbed him and after that he was wound up.
The second yellow he did not even touch his opponent but his dander was up.
He was covering for his majesty a lot today and was actually playing very well indeed.
He is young enough to learn but Nuno is old enough not to be picking 2 rookies in your back four.
Yeah, his head was still hot.
Him telling Zaha that he’d “fuck you up, you pussyhole” was the most entertaining aspect of our performance. Sad.
Agreed but he's young enough to learn. At least he has the right mentality, bit of a warrior. Definitely a guy you want in the trenches with you.
He's not the finished product by a long way but he has a lot of upside and is definitely somebody we should get behind as a player.