Jay concerns
‘I snubbed Arsenal’
a bit more serious than that – his future after the game, whether he wants to be a coach or going into business.
“He wants to defend it. He’s adamant to me and he hasn’t changed his tune or his statement or anything.
“He has been consistent from the moment he has stepped off the pitch.” Brighton’s Cameroon defender Bong claims Rodriguez said, ‘You’re black and you stink’ in an altercation between the two players, during which Rodriguez pinched his nose and wafted his hand in front of his face.
Despite his concerns, Pardew says he has no qualms about picking Rodriguez to face Chelsea on Monday. IN ONE part of north London, “board games” could be used to describe the strategic high-level negotiations between star players running down their contracts and the Emirates money-men.
Mention “board games” in the Tottenham dressing room, however, and it is likely to spark a free-for-all among players simply keen to engage in hours of collective old-fashioned joy.
And it is such quaint pastimes that are helping to mould Mauricio Pochettino’s team into the tightest-knit group in the Premier League.
On which other team plane is the “fasten seatbelts” sign going off the cue for players to open the backgammon set? Jan Vertonghen, who by his own admission is not so much “one of the old heads” but “the very oldest head”, is generally at the heart of it all.
“Backgammon... there are so many games! I love board games and so do the people around me,” the 30-year-old enthuses ahead of today’s derby. “Although maybe I make myself believe that they do too, because I force them into it!
“Mousa Dembele is my main partner. He is always up there, I know he loves them as well. Actually, there are a lot of players. Whenever we are looking for a few guys, they are all up for it. It is the best thing in the world.
“Settlers of Catan, there is a game called Scotland Yard, which is very cool, and you have some of the old-school ones. I have so many at home.
“There is a game called Werewolf and there was a time when 10 guys would play this by the swimming pool or on a plane. We’d play for hours. With Belgium, it’s worse. I don’t even open my laptop, I just play board games.”
Of course, Premier League players could play Monopoly with real cash and barely blink. However, playing for money is a strict no-no having ripped apart too many dressing rooms in the past. Good news perhaps for Eric Dier, instantly named as the worst board-game player in the squad. “He is shocking, but he is really keen,” Vertonghen adds more kindly.
But just as Don Revie’s allconquering Leeds team used to play carpet bowls to build team spirit, there does seem to be a purpose to all the fun – helping build a strong bond went to Arsenal, and in the end I had to make a choice.
“I chose Spurs. I felt I was joining a great team, with great plans. I had personal chats with people at Spurs and followed my gut feeling.”
At the time, Tottenham were a club in transition. Chairman Daniel Levy chose not to renew manager Harry Redknapp’s between players. “So many players have a history with this club already,” Vertonghen explains. “I’ve been here six seasons and there are guys who have come through the academy. They want to see the next step and that’s the new stadium.”
Away from the pitch, Tottenham has been the environment in which Vertonghen has done much of his growing up since arriving from Ajax as a Premier League rookie who had recently lost his father to a long-term illness.
“Yes, a lot has changed in my personal life,” he says. “I am a dad of two. I have settled. I came in as a new guy and I was in the background a little bit, so in that way I have changed. But I am not doing contract after Spurs were pipped for a Champions League place by the Gunners.
New manager Andre Villas-Boas made £12million Vertonghen one of his first signings and after Mauricio Pochettino took over two years later, Tottenham finished higher in the table than Arsenal for the first time in the Arsene Wenger era.