Are we on the road to greater things now?

PSV Eindhoven: a failure or a cunning plan?

Where to start! Out of all the games this season I thought the Eindhoven was our best performance, and it

would have been a compelling win if we had won. But we didn’t.

Where did it go wrong? Well, first up, Alderweireld was dispossessed by Lozano, who then found the net for the game's opening goal, with the ball looping in off the Belgian as he got back to make a challenge. Then Lloris was sent off for a stupid tackle (all professionally done, of course). But it was enough for them to get a draw after the Lloris incident. I spoke to officials and fans afterwards, and they all said, to a man (oh… and woman) that Spurs were superior. Superiority doesn’t equate to winning and winning was what we needed. More so with Inter Milan getting their arses kicked by the probable group winners Barcelona. So, in a short few words, you have it. I would rather have PSV as superior and we win (after all, our superiority helped them draw). It is all about three points, goals and league positions. We had 71% of the possession, and we couldn’t win the game. PSV were poor.

So, what is the cunning plan? Well, we are third in the league, 5 points behind Inter Milan… all good so far (or not). A win over Inter Milan at home, who we should have beaten away and then PSV (who are before Inter… hope you are following me so far?); that would be six points. A draw against Barcelona will give us one point, a total of 8, enough to finish second. I told you it was cunning (ok, maybe a bit crazy, but you won’t be laughing if we did it… I might… but then I would do that while wiping the sweat off my brow).

All possible in a dream… but seriously. I think we can do it. I also think we can beat City on Monday night. We’ve steadily got better and our injured players are gradually coming back. Laugh or not, I am an optimist.

We’ve seen that both Inter and PSV are there for the taking and it is not impossible to unravel Barcelona.

As for the trip; I watched the youngsters play PSV to a draw, then moved on to the main event and then chatted to many fans about their hopes and reflections. They felt more confident because we played well (that is the main event), but their anger was directed at Lloris. They said he made too many mistakes and put the whole team in jeopardy. Personally, I don’t think we can blame him for everything, and he is one of the best goalkeepers around, for Christ sake he just won the World Cup, what more do you want?

The other thing that came out, when talking to the fans was that they didn’t feel we missed Alli. He had one great season and since then he has been blowing hot and cold, they said. I can see where they are coming from, but I would like him fit as he gives us options.

Earlier I mentioned City. I believe we can dent their ambitions for another title. We are doing well in the league and only two points behind them. They’ve dropped 4 points while we dropped 6. And they’ve had some close calls.

This weekend Liverpool face Cardiff (and beat them 4-1), Chelsea beat Burnley away, while Palace held Arsenal to a draw. If we beat City we will go fourth and only two points behind league leaders Liverpool, ‘if’! Or… maybe not, but whatever way we look at it we will have a clearer picture on Monday at 10 pm); where we will be either crying, leaping for joy or just pissed. But whatever is running through our minds, we better get a grip fast as we face the Spammers a few days later, followed by Wolves two days after the Ham sandwiches. A “cunning plan” or just shit happening? That is the question; to be or not to be… I would rather it would be.

Don Scully