Typical Spurs? No, they’re the real deal
TYPICAL Tottenham. As news filtered through on Wednesday that Mauricio Pochettino’s side had lost against West Ham, many will have said those two words.
That is what happens to Tottenham, isn’t it? They get into a great position, they threaten to achieve something significant but, when it comes to the crunch, they fluff their lines. A 1-0 defeat at Upton Park, then, was a result plenty would have felt was in keeping with tradition.
The thing is, there is nothing typical about this Tottenham side, and that was their first away defeat in the league since the opening day of the season against Manchester United. Now, as they go into the most significant north London derby since the 1991 FA Cup semi-final, Pochettino remains on target to pull off what would be the greatest managerial job in Premier League history.
We have, for good reason, been swept along with the story of Leicester City. If they were to be crowned champions in May, it would have to go down as the greatest achievement in English football.
But the attention Leicester have commanded has taken some of the spotlight away from the remarkable results Pochettino has masterminded. What we have seen from the Argentine is a success story for coaching, one that could take his team to the pinnacle of the domestic game.
This performance would be the greatest I’ve seen in the Premier League because you don’t associate Tottenham with being anywhere near the title. Yes, they are one of England’s biggest clubs but they have been champions only twice in 133 years (1950-51 and 1960-61).
Never mind the defeat by West Ham — anything can happen in a derby — Tottenham, with the best defensive record in the Premier League and the second highest scorers, look ready to be in there fighting until the end.
So much about them impresses me. If I were a manager, I would want my team to play the way Pochettino’s team does. They are powerful and relentless, with a great balance between defence and attack. It is what Jurgen Klopp is striving for at Liverpool.
Pochettino is a coach who improves players. Harry Kane, Jan Vertonghen, Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Mousa Dembele: they were all at White Hart Lane before Pochettino arrived but they have thrived under his guidance.
Young players respond to him, too. Look at the strides Dele Alli has made since he arrived from MK Dons. Look at the way Eric Dier, who was a central defender, has been reinvented as a midfielder; Tom Carroll, meanwhile, is starting to fulfil his potential.
Then, above all, there is the balance sheet. Tottenham are £6.5million in profit for the last four transfer windows, since they lured Pochettino from Southampton and followed that up by appointing Paul Mitchell, who worked with Pochettino at St Mary’s, as head of recruitment. A title challenger in the black? In an era when clubs invest vast sums just to retain topflight status, for Pochettino to have Spurs placed to attack in the final straight is one of the most remarkable achievements you will see. Leicester have spent £48.75m in the same period.
It is why Tottenham are on the cusp of outstripping the other champions since 1992. Blackburn, in 1994-95, would perhaps come closest in terms of a story. They, though, can’t compare to Tottenham.
It is a myth that they bought the title, as Graeme Le Saux, Colin Hendry, Stuart Ripley, Tim Sherwood and Jason Wilcox were signed for next to nothing.
Yet Blackburn twice smashed the British transfer record for Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, while Tim Flowers became Britain’s most expensive goalkeeper. They spent when required to bolster their squad, something f rom which Pochettino has refrained.
Chelsea had waited 50 years before they became champions in 2004-05 but Jose Mourinho spent huge money to get them over the line and the blocks had been put in place for years before, starting under Ruud Gullit. And 12 months before they won the title, Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea finished second.
What Arsene Wenger achieved in 1998 with the Double was phenomenal, as he did not spend big to recruit Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit and Nicolas Anelka, but he inherited the defence from George Graham’s era — men who knew how to win a title — and a genius in Dennis Bergkamp.
KNOW HOW might be an issue when it comes to the crunch as this Tottenham squad enter new territory with regards to pressure. It will be intriguing to see how they handle the intensity of today’s clash with their neighbours.
Pochettino is working to remove the inferiority complex Tottenham have had about Arsenal and maybe Kane’s double in the corresponding match last season will help change the dynamic around this fixture. This group, in this contest at least, can’t be weighed down by history. Now Tottenham have the chance to make history. Though they still have the Europa League on their agenda, being out of the FA Cup is a blessing for them as they would not have been able to juggle the demands of three competitions.
With the energy Tottenham put into every game, a fixture pile-up would have seen something crack and had a serious impact on their title hopes. They now have an opportunity that might not come around again for 20 years or more.
Tottenham are the sixth biggest club in England. This has been the campaign in which the five above them — Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City — have all had problems and change but there is no way they will all underperform in 2016-17.
Even i f Tottenham win the Premier League this season, the best they could hope for in 12 months is finishing in the top four again, so it gives you a sense of what it is at stake and how well Pochettino has done to get them here. If he pulls it off, it will be the best success of the modern era.