Corporate, Dier, losing to Norwich and the future

Corporate, Dier, losing to Norwich and the future

I don’t know if you read my article  “The Tottenham Stadium: is this the future, fact, or just fiction?”  but it is interesting to note that after the Dier incident Mourinho voiced his concerns over the corporate area.

I am not in the corporate or Premium section, but I do have friends that are there, and they tell me that there is a mixture of Spurs supporters, opposition supporters and toffs, that are there for just an expensive luxury day out. A hodgepodge of trouble waiting to happen. Eric Dier overreacted, but if it hadn't been him, it would eventually have been somebody else, it was an incident waiting to explode in the designers and owners faces.

The Stadium, with its distinctive badge/ emblem, is a separate entity to the football on the pitch (which has a proud cockerel as its motif), and is there to market and take profits from rugby, American football, boxing, concerts, Executive meeting venues, etc., with a little part of that being the football. It will be a cash cow, but not for the football team, but those that will benefit the most, the directors. Anyway, you may see it differently. To the game.

The team selection was beyond comprehension, and the result backs it up. I still hope that that result, and a few others, were just a blip, but over the next couple of days, our fears aren’t going to ease any day soon, as we’ve got Burnley and Leipzig away, next.

As for the game, the possession was even, and so was shots on goal (roughly). But saying that, I think you could see it coming (the result). The match reminded me of our game against Colchester, even though Pochettino had an excuse, he didn’t like the FA or League cups (so was prepared to ditch both for higher rewards). Mourinho is a different kettle of fish. He challenges for everything, sadly, in this case, he didn’t have the tools to do anything about it. The result, therefore, in both cases, saw the supporters suffer again. They/ we have become like a long-suffering wife, always there, but continue to take the abuse.

The shock sacking of Mauricio Pochettino in November should have paved the way of some hope and success. Instead, we seem to have moved one step forward and 4 back. Mourinho was supposed to take the club to the next level by delivering trophies, it certainly won’t now be this season (if it ever happens at all)… unless we do win the Champions League, but then again I have high hopes of dating Marilyn Monroe, two problems here, one is she is dead, and the other is that Spurs are close to death in the champions league, but then again, nothing is certain until two deaths equal total eradication.

Our trophy cabinet has been left intact for the past 12 years, our most recent silverware was back 2008, and that was the Micky Mouse Cup  (League Cup), while we would have to go back to 1991 when we last won a proper trophy, FA Cup. This season is another season further away from the smell of a trophy from 2008.

Mourinho sides are traditionally renowned for being strong defensively, but we failed to hold on to our lead, again,  and have now kept just two clean sheets in 13 matches under the Portuguese magician.

Teenager midfielder Oliver Skipp kept the ball ticking in the middle of the park by completing 91% of his 65 passes, while Lo Celso beside him also impressed, highlighting why Spurs paid £27m to sign the Argentine on a permanent deal. But that was all we could speak off.

With time ebbing away, Lo Celso could have won it for us but saw his low drive at the near post kept out by Krul and Fernandes blazed over from a promising position.

Now for the bleeding bloody obvious, without the availability of skipper Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, we lack bite in attack and failed to find a winner even after the introduction of teenage striker Troy Parrott in extra time. Why we didn’t buy when we could have, is beyond me… you’d have to ask Daniel Levy, the most prosperous Premier league director, for that answer.

As a manager, while in charge of English clubs, Jose Mourinho has now lost on each of the seven occasions his sides have taken part in a penalty shootout (5x Chelsea, 1x Man Utd, 1x Spurs). We were involved in a penalty shootout in the FA Cup for the first time since 1996 against Nottingham Forest, which we also went on to lose.

We’ve also kept just two clean sheets in our 13 home matches under Jose Mourinho, with none of those coming in cup competitions (five games).

As for Jan Vertonghen, well, he has scored two goals in six home appearances in the FA Cup - one more than in 113 Premier League games on home turf.

So, who was the winner, apart from Norwich City? It was the stadium, as it continues to pack itself with loads of profitable money-making schemes. The loser is and has been for several years, Tottenham Hotspur FC, and I can’t see that changing any day soon.

Very Disheartened