After we lost at
Stoke I was asked to give my opinions about Spurs to a fans website, Vital
Sunderland, ahead of their club’s visit to White Hart Lane a few days later. I said, as can be read here, that I fully
expected Spurs to compete for a top three finish before the season started, and
that, and more, was also well within our grasp midway through the last two
seasons, although we didn’t capitalise on our opportunity.
Harry Redknapp was
ridiculed in some quarters when he said we could win the League last January,
but he was right. The League was there for the taking, and Sir Alex Ferguson
knew that Spurs were a threat when he came to White Hart Lane happy to get away
with a 0-0, as they hung on to their lead at the top of the league, while we ended
the game with two wingers, two central strikers and Modric and Van Der Vaart in
central midfield.
The top of the league
is much more competitive this year, mainly due to the way Manchester City have
undergone a transformation in the summer, suddenly playing an expansive and
attacking game, lifted not just by the signing of Sergio Augero, but primarily by
winning their first major trophy for 25 years.
It is worth
remembering that until the Carling Cup the season before last under Mark
Hughes, City hadn’t reached a major cup semi-final since we beat them at
Wembley in 1981. In that same period since the ’81 Cup Final, we have seriously
challenged for the title (most notably in 1982 and 1985), reached a further 17
semi-finals, playing in nine more cup finals and winning another five
trophies.
We are much more used
to success, although you wouldn’t think it judging by the sniggers (until very recently
at least) by TV presenters, journalists and pundits whenever the topic of Spurs
as title contenders has been forced upon them due to our form and position
in the table. Sadly the same is true for
some Spurs fans, including those who trolled my answers to the Sunderland site,
who suggested we would be “lucky” to finish in the top four.
Of course, it is not
the history of the last thirty years that is going to be the most significant
factor (although confidence, pressure and mentality are factors, and which I
will come onto later), but performances and results. Anyone who thinks we are
lucky to be in the top four, clearly either hasn’t watched much football in the
last twelve months (by either ourselves, Chelsea or Liverpool), unless they have
a very different interpretation of the game to me.
Chelsea started last
season off phenomenally, but soon got in a rut, and for over 12 months now have
failed to look convincing to the extent that they struggle to break teams down
at home in the League, and are can be put under the cosh for periods, both home
and away.
Liverpool put a few
teams away in the second half of last season, but were found out when they
played us at Anfield in May. We outclassed them, dominating the midfield (just
as we had at Chelsea a few weeks earlier), and beat them
comfortably. They strengthened the squad in the summer, but in truth only Jose
Enriquie could challenge for a place in our best XI; when not suspended, Luis
Suarez’s goalscoring record is poor in comparison to the sometimes wasteful Adebayor,
which puts their star player’s worth into perspective against our much better team.
I said many weeks ago
I thought we had the best XI in the league. City though, have the best squad.
They also have the points on the board, a far superior goal difference, and
have won their two six-pointers away at White Hart Lane and Old Trafford.
So, the League at the
top is much more competitive than it has been for the last two seasons at the
turn of the year. However, as is surely evident to all, we have also
now also improved. We added a real quality player in Rafa Van Der Vaart last August,
and since then have at times blown good teams away, as best exemplified by our
great European experience last season. This term, we finally got Scott Parker,
the leader in midfielder we needed, as well as in Adebayor, the presence we lacked right up top in the last campaign.
I wrote last May that
we had shown a winning mentality last season, on four occasions winning a game
after we had missed a penalty, and transparent in comments from the players and
the manager. Only at the end of last season, after our slump in form and when Redknapp
seemed to find his v-neck jumper, duffle coat and previously thick skin was
failing him, did he show any signs of doubt, with his silly “this is as good as
it gets” comments.
No doubt he has got
his ambition back in order this time round, after the signings of Parker and
Adebayor at least - if we finish two
points behind City he may regret his white-flag selection of Kranjcar in the
middle of a 4-4-2 at home to City for years to come; but his end-of-season
wobble can now be seen as an aberration, and almost forgivable.
And even though we
were heavily beaten by City in the end, we were on top to start with and
created chances. Had we got the first goal City may have struggled to get back
in the game (even with our emptied midfield), as they did when they went behind
in Europe. It looked until recently only European teams had sussed out how to
play City, but Roy Hodgsen frustrated them and troubled them in equal measure on
Boxing Day, and as even Chelsea showed against them, any team can let in two
goals in a short space of time when put under a spell of pressure.
And the key to
catching City could be pressure. Just a few weeks ago they were openly talking
about winning the Champions League. The ten day spell in January when they play
two legs of a semi-final against a desperate Liverpool, and the 3rd
Round of the FA Cup against a motivated Manchester United, could be crucial. If
they go out of those competitions, suddenly they only have an awkward
distraction of the Europa League, with all their eggs firmly in the basket of a
Championship race they are expected to win.
Which is why, from
Tottenham’s perspective, it is not a bad thing Man Utd have stayed close to
them in the League. United have accumulated much more points than their form
has suggested, and many more points than at this stage of the season the last
two times they one their title. They have also shown in their last two games,
how to cash-in against teams they are dominating, which may be crucial if the
League is decided on goal difference. But their defeats by Basel, Crystal
Palace and City, show they are far from an all concurring team.
Spurs look as good as
any side in the League, and have done for a while now. As well as playing
excellent passing and moving football, we also have a cutting edge to win
matches, and can play in different formations. In the pub after the Chelsea
last week, where we played 4-3-3 to great effect in the first half, I said I
thought Bale was good enough to play up-front if needed, so good was his current
form, coupled with his all round attributes, summarized well by Redknapp,
post-Norwich, and surely obvious to all.
Against Norwich, we employed
4-3-3 again, with all of the front three fluid in their movement, both
full-backs pushed up, and a central midfield three that dominated the game. Against
Villa, Liverpool and QPR, some of our football was stunning at times. Bale also
moved inside well in that second half against QPR, with Lennon adding width on
the left, and Walker on the right. We played three at the back with wing backs
in a good second half against Stoke, and in the second half against Sunderland,
effectively played a diamond, with Van Der Vaart in the hole behind two
strikers, and both full-backs high up the pitch again. (That shape allowed Van
Der Vaart to play two stunning balls out to the pushed on Ekotto, the second on the
half-volley, which Glenn Hoddle would have been proud of. No higher praise in
my book).
And as well as
playing excellent football, and changing our shape at will, we are making a
habit of winning games.
We could do with
strengthening the squad in January though, regardless of what the club say publicly
– a top quality signing could well take us to another level, but just as important
is having two sets of eleven players who can comfortably play in the biggest
games of the season, as City have. We have a strong squad, but there are a
couple of positions that look vulnerable if we are hit by injury or suspension.
But being a few
points of the pace is not a bad place to be, with the burden of expectation on
City. Anything can happen, and we may drop some points in a busy January, where
all games continue to be winnable, including the six-pointer at City where,
last season apart, we have an excellent record. The hardest test may come if we
were to go top before February is out. But the aim has got to be to win each
game. And have the resilience to bounce back when we don’t.
The Spurs fans who
trolled the piece I wrote for Vital Sunderland were most scathing in the
response to my hope that we would finish 1st this season. But being lucky
enough to be a kid in the eighties, I didn’t just have the benefit of seeing
the best years of Grange Hill, and hearing Adam Ant, I also saw a Spurs team
that played brilliant football, winning trophies and challenging for the title.
This Spurs side looks as good, it just needs to win things to fulfill its potential.
MG
MG
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