A whirlwind of results.
So we won, but let us not get too excited. We’ve still got a hill to climb. Liverpool are undefeated and are running ahead. City thrashed Cardiff 5-0 to stay in second position, while both United and Chelsea dropped points (hurray!).
Next Saturday Liverpool faces Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, therefore, we must go for a Chelsea win to slow down Liverpool. If not a win then a draw is a must. City faces Brighton, while we face Huddersfield. Those are the crucial games for us. Arsenal and United are catching up, with Arsenal on the same points as us (we are ahead on goal difference) and United two points below both teams. So we can’t afford any more slip-ups.
We got the result we wanted at Brighton, now we can breathe a bit easier. Sadly we are still in the same position, league-wise, as we were before the Brighton game, but hopefully, that will change.
As for team selection, I thought it was ok. Alli didn’t look 100%. Lloris is still out, but Gazzaniga was a better substitute than the
injured Vorm. Kane still isn’t firing on all cylinders.
Just a matter of interest; under Pochettino we haven’t taken the league cup seriously, but this season I think he should. It is still a bit of silverware, and that would be a lot better than nothing again. As we stand at the moment, we will have a bloody hard fight on our hands to finish in the top four. Cup matches are basically the luck of the draw and the rub of the green.
What next? Well, we travel to Milton Keynes to face Watford. This is laughably called a “home” match, a second venue for us this season. If we get to the new stadium, then that could be our third different home venue. That must be a first!? Depending on Watford’s team they must be confident as they’ve already beaten us and are higher in the league (by one point). However, I believe we can turn it around and win this match. Then we travel to Huddersfield who hasn’t won a game yet. They sit at the bottom of the league table propping everybody else up (that position used to be held by the Spammers, until they started gaining points). But don’t let that fool you. Bottom of the table clubs have a strange habit of beating those that inhabit high positions in the league. This is going to be a more tricky one than the Brighton game. If we are not careful, we could be kicked in the balls quite hard and lose this game.
I was sitting not that far from Pochettino, and I saw our win at Brighton lift him out of his gloom. He felt the pressure easing, but it did not vanish entirely (that will come with time). Three defeats last week in a row was the worst he has had while at this club. He doesn’t want to see that again, and nor do we. Great men have experienced setbacks when climbing to the peak, but such hindrances encourage them even more. Pochettino must take those defeats as a learning curve so that he can come back stronger, better and wiser.
Pochettino must look to the future, but learn from the past.
Let us end on a positive. I’ve recently had a look at our new stadium, and it is coming on nicely. No sign of coke sniffing, or wide-eyed workmen, or disunity, just full steam ahead. Even though there is no actual date set yet, I have been informed that it will be sooner rather than later that we will be in our new home. As for the tittle-tattle, we must remember that those that work at the stadium are not necessarily Spurs minded people. I do know that there are a variety of supporters, who support clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool etc., who are employed for their skills, not by the team they support. So it is not surprising that false rumours and leaks escape through the walls and into journalists’ laps. Allegiance to one's club can rise above loyalty to one's job. But then again, can you blame them?
Once we’ve got our new stadium up and running, it will be other clubs that will be looking up to the heavens to see us hobnobbing with the elite.
Don Scully
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