Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, ROUND OF 16 GOLDEN BOOT New Wall of sound to lift ‘magic’ Mo
WAS this a taste of what Tottenham have got to look forward to?
It certainly should be enough to persuade Mauricio Pochettino to stay at the club for one more season at least.
Spurs have made no secret about the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund being the inspiration behind the redevelopment of White Hart Lane.
The new south stand may only hold 17,500 as opposed to the 25,000 fans who formed the impressive Yellow Wall (below) last night.
But in the same way as the seats climb high into the German sky, so the stands at the new White Hart Lane have been designed to be the steepest that health and safety experts will permit.
The fans will be as close as possible, as they are here, to make it a solid barrier of noise.
And boy did those German fans go out of their way to show how valuable an asset like this can be to a home side.
Giant yellow flags swirled up and down the full slope – and that was just when the players came out to warm up.
By kick-off time, the volume was pumped to the max, the German club’s own version of You’ll Never Walk Alone making way for the Champions League anthem.
Eventually, the Westfalenstadion fell silent. Harry Kane had done it again.
And from the silence, a more familiar refrain began to emerge.
“He’s one of our own! He’s one of our own!” Just one corner of travelling supporters putting the entire Yellow Wall to shame. “Are you watching, Arsenal?” and “Mauricio Pochettino, he’s magic, you know!”
Now imagine those Spurs supporters filling a stadium.
Pochettino feels every game this season has been an away game, whereas a full house of 62,020 in Spurs’ final five Premier League fixtures could mean 15 points in the bank.
And having shown their resilience last night, this is a team of individuals who might just start winning things sooner than Pochettino thinks.