KANE DISMISSES GUNNERS
Spurs snub changing of the guard to focus on challenge for title
TOTTENHAM have waited so long for this moment that they must have always imagined it would be a day of unbridled celebration, a hugely-significant landmark. For 22 years they have been inferior to Arsenal. Young fans have had nothing else but a lifetime of being dominated by their biggest rivals.
Yet now the day is finally coming for them to surpass Arsene Wenger’s team with a win against them today, it doesn’t seem nearly as important as it has over those 22 years.
Not because it isn’t significant; but simply because Spurs’ improvement is such that petty parochialism is not really high on their agenda. After all, there is a league title to chase down.
Harry Kane puts it succinctly. ‘I think there’s a bigger picture,’ he said.
‘Of course for the fans it would be a great moment to do it by winning against Arsenal. But from our point of view we’ve got bigger things to look forward to. We’ve got to try and win that game and just keep the pressure on as much as we can. We don’t know what Chelsea are going to do, we’ll see what happens when they play on Sunday. We’ll probably be watching it while we’re waiting for our game.
‘But we’ve just got to keep winning our games. It’s a massive one.
‘It shows how far we’ve come. Over the last few years, since the gaffer has been here, he’s changed everything and he’s been fantastic.
‘You see the belief in the squad, you see the way we play. Sometimes we win 4-0 and we play fantastically, then there are nights like Wednesday [against Crystal Palace] when we have to battle, work hard to keep a clean sheet, dig deep and get a 1-0. That’s what we did and that shows we can do both sides of the game.’
In the new order of north London hierarchies, everything has been turned on its head. Selhurst Park on Wednesday was a case in point. It wasn’t a pretty game but Tottenham found a way to win it, through a lovely Christian Eriksen strike, and keep their title hopes alive.
‘If we hadn’t won, it probably would have been game over,’ said Kane. ‘But somehow we found a way and we’ve got to do it for the rest of the season.
‘It looked like it was going to be a 0-0 but Christian, the magician, found a way to pop up with an amazing goal and we just snuck over the line.’
It was most un-Spurs like. For years they have been a pretty team that disliked ugly games. They still remain attractive but they no longer seem lightweight. Something has changed.
‘I think so,’ said Kane. ‘I think since the gaffer has come in he’s really instilled that in us. He’s installed his philosophy with the way we play, the pressing and getting the ball down.
‘But he’s also installed that steel in us that we’ve just got to win, we’ve got to find a way to win.
‘He’s a very passionate manager and that kind of bleeds into the rest of the team. We want to do well for him, we want to do well for the club, we want to do well for each other.’
Of course, there is still work to do. Making up the four-point gap on Chelsea still looks unlikely. And last week’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea again illustrated that there is still a gap between this team and the trophy-winning clubs. But the fact that Tottenham have managed to respond to that disappointment feels significant. ‘Of course we were gutted, because we played well,’ said Kane.
‘But we came in on Sunday for a recovery session and we spoke about it for a bit and just said that we had to bounce back from it at Palace. That’s eight wins in a row now in the Premier League, which is fantastic.’
And it feels different to this time last year, when they were chasing down Leicester. Then, they faltered against West Brom at home and then collapsed emotionally as they threw away a 2-0 lead as they drew at Chelsea to hand Leicester the title. These last few weeks, though, have suggested Spurs are mentally stronger.
‘I feel like we are,’ said Kane. ‘But until we finish the last five games and see where we end up, we won’t really know. We want to obviously win all five. It’s a big game against Arsenal, but we’ve got so many tough games that we’ve got to take it one by one.’
And that is the true measure of their achievement. The north London derby is just another game; finishing above is not the goal. It will be satisfying but it won’t define the season.