It was John Lennon who pithily remarked: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
In so many ways that poignant sentiment is only too true. So often we forget ourselves in a tunnel vision of reality whilst amazing things are happening in the periphery of our consciousness.
It’s as apt in football as anywhere else. We are forever fixated with the bold font headline, whilst the real story is happening in the margins. Before you know it, one era is over and another has begun. And you wonder how and when it happened.
On Sunday, Manchester United lost 3-0 to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. For the final half hour of the game, Manchester United were atrocious. There will serious questions asked about the future of the Manchester United manager.
Oh, and Tottenham won again. So yeah, there’s that too.
United may have lost at Spurs for the first time in the league since 2001, but it was more a case of Spurs beating United after a long 14 year wait. Both teams were under par on the day, but it was the North Londoners who had that extra gear to prevail.
Roy Keane’s famous anecdote about a three-word team talk has oft been repeated to reemphasise the very essence of Spurs. In case you’ve missed it, it goes thus:
“I thought I knew what the group might need, that we didn’t need a big team talk. It was Tottenham at home. I thought please don’t go on about Tottenham, we all know what Tottenham is about, they are nice and tidy but we’ll f*cking do them. [Sir Alex Ferguson] came in and said: ‘Lads, it’s Tottenham’, and that was it. Brilliant.”
So ingrained in the collective footballing psyche is Spurs’ lack of real substance when it really matters that they even have a widely used adjective coined in their honour:
Via Urban Dictionary
Cruel and disrespectful? Of course. Accurate? Painfully so…until now.
Whilst everyone has quite rightly been raving about Leicester’s miracle season, Arsenal’s trademark annual collapse, Man United’s continued fall from grace, and the Klopp factor at Anfield, Spurs have quietly stopped being Spurs.
When people ask what Mauricio Pochettino has achieved in his still fledgling management career, they scoff at his lack of honours. That is perceived as a blank CV. But what a barren Wikipedia section doesn’t cover is the reinvention of a football club.
Spurs were destined to forever remain a pleasant rival. They had their place in the natural order of things and credit to them for self-awareness, they absolutely committed to the bit.
Outside of the normal local rivalries in London, Tottenham were always a nice side to face. They would always contest the game in the ‘right spirit’, and allow you to ‘play your own game’. It would generally be a ‘thoroughly entertaining’ affair. And they’d usually gift you three points.
But whilst everyone was looking at Leicester City, Mauricio’s metamorphosis happened. Now Spurs are strong, determined, and more often than not, just better than you. There’s a belief in every player – and increasingly each fan – that the soft centre has now galvanised into something real.
They play with order, focus and resilience. Rarely have Tottenham panicked this season, even when going behind in a match or experiencing a dip in form. They fundamentally believe in their game plan and know who they are – even if it’s unrecognisable to us.
White Hart Lane is no longer a stepping stone for the likes of Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne, Luka Modric or Gareth Bale. They are now Harry Kane and Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen and Hugo Lloris and Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier. They’ve gone from the national joke to England’s goldmine.
Perhaps, when Spurs next play the famous Man United, it will their place to dish out the three word team talks. Maybe that will be on the way to a major honour or two. Imagine Tottenham Hotspur winning the league – it’s easy if you try.
