What hopes do you have for the season? What do you expect Tottenham to do? What do you want to see from our players? Dan Rattigan puts his hopes and dreams for 2014/15 on the table.
Rising expectations, rising blood pressure
Funny old thing, football (always start with a cliché, as David Brent said – always get their attention). I’m in that odd purgatory before the start of the season where I don’t know what to expect. I vividly remember watching us take Roma to pieces at the Lane in 2008, with Darren Bent firing and David Bentley pulling the strings, and thinking “yeah, maybe this could be our year”.
We’d beaten Chelsea at Wembley, had a highly-rated Spanish manager, signed the next Beckham and one of the hottest properties at Barcelona. Why not? Keane was a shock, but Berbatov will see the light won’t he? I’d blocked out March-May the previous season. I’d forgotten how utterly pony Bent was. I overlooked what a monumental bell I’d thought Bentley was at Blackburn.
We all know how that panned out. I still shudder.
Summer has this curious hold over the modern football fan as journalists, agents, clubs and players conspire together to cook up a copious amount of gibberish that sends my Twitter feed and Whatsapp into a spin. I’m as guilty as buying into it as anyone. “We’re signing Player X? Look at those stats, on a graph no less! He’s the most highly rated player in Patagonia! He nutmegged three people on youtube! Xavi said his biggest regret is never getting to play with him.”
[linequote]I’ve now got an unhealthy desire to see Soldado succeed, like some sort of wounded bird I’m trying to nurse back to health[/linequote]
But I’m fatigued now. I just want the thing to bloody start. I genuinely don’t care if we ever sign another player. The World Cup may have acted like a palate-cleanser after that season, but it’s not really proper football is it? Even England’s miserable failure just isn’t as compelling as Spurs’.
We’ve got a new manager, a new left back, Hugo signed a new deal and we got £8m for Jake Livermore (£8m?!). By Spurs standards this is a sensible, sober, efficient summer. Yet there still seems to be a hive of negativity (it’s entirely possible I’m following the wrong people on Twitter, my feed is a blend between Spurs fans and political journalists, with David Aaronovitch slap bang in the middle of that Venn diagram… one for the nerds, that). But I thought, if only for my own historical record, why not chart down some of my hopes for the season? At least that way if it all goes wrong, I’ll remember the more innocent times.
Soldado to score some goals.
This is a pretty standard one, but there were times last season when I felt depressed for the bloke. I couldn’t even bear to look at him, it was just all so sad. God knows how he felt. The look on his face when he scored against Cardiff, that mixture of anger and relief, could have melted the heart of even the most jaded Spurs fan. I’ve now got an unhealthy desire to see him succeed, like some sort of wounded bird I’m trying to nurse back to health. Come on Bobby, fly, do it for me if you won’t do it for yourself.
Andros Townsend to do something.
I see us linked with a ream of (no doubt) classy and cultured players from around Europe. Someone like Depay for instance, the kind of guy who crops up in FIFA career mode five years down the line with an overall rating of 90 and takes your all conquering Spurs team to pieces, as you throw the controller across the room and your girlfriend silently wonders if she could have done better for herself. But I can’t be alone in wanting Andros to succeed?
[linequote]The 0-1 at home to Woolwich was arguably worse than Liverpool or City, they turned up, scored early and sat on their hands for 89 minutes[/linequote]
He’s got pace, can use both feet, a powerful (if erratic) shot and some tricks in his locker. Good coaching should get him through, shouldn’t it? I’m not having it that Roy Hodgson and a broken Harry (at QPR) can get more out of the lad than a string of Spurs managers.
Beat some of our rivals.
Any of them will do. And I’m not talking about Europa League place ‘rivals’ like Everton. Why not start with West Ham away? The thought of starting the season by beating that lot, with new addition Carl ‘The Archbishop of Banterbury’ Jenkinson, at home on the first day of the season has me going a bit loopy. The 0-1 at home to Woolwich was arguably worse than Liverpool or City; they turned up, scored early and sat on their hands for 89 minutes while we huffed and puffed like me trying desperately trying to swing for The Rock’s chin while he easily holds me off. Let’s do them this year, yeah?
The Europa League.
It gets a bad press, but European nights at the Lane (by the way, saw West Ham advertising their friendly at home to Sampdoria as a night of European football. Come on lads). Europe makes this season instantly better than 60% (note – check stat on squawka or ask Siri) of the seasons I’ve been supporting Spurs. The Benfica home last season was awful. Genuinely awful. Just sat there watching the defence lump it to Adebayor and Kane, lose the ball and repeat. But how good were their fans?
[linequote]The Benfica home last season was awful. Genuinely awful. Just sat there watching the defence lump it to Adebayor and Kane[/linequote]
Pogo-ing, flares, smoke bombs, chanting. A welcome reminder during a dark season that football could and should be fun. I’ll take that with me. Oh and The Drum is back. And it’s £20. And Block 35 will be free until the Quarters.
But most of all I hope for glory. Any glory. I’ll even take glorious failure after the tedium and uncertainty of the last 12 months. Let’s just enjoy it?
All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.
17 Comments
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10/08/2014 @ 9:37 am
Ditto
10/08/2014 @ 10:03 am
I know EXACTLY what you mean about an I health obsession with wanting Soldado to succeed. I’m desperate for him to bang in 15-20 this season.
10/08/2014 @ 10:20 am
Maybe we are expecting too much again? we have high expectations and that’s where the disappointment comes in! looking at the game yesterday there are good things but the team is still not playing fluid passing football where we can keep possession while working our way forward as we still seem a bit dis jointed with players not on the same wavelenth , time is needed again because once again we have a new manager, new players still bedding in from last season and new players joining for this season so maybe we need a reality check? Levi keeps setting us back by sacking manager’s too quick, we aim for top 4 every season but we have continuity and big spending like the Chelsea’s or Man City’s how are we going to consistantly get into the top 4 unless Poch is a miracle worker? unless we are going to give a manager time we will always be back to square one time and again! a week to go and we need to sell 5 player’s! last minute again and i still feel we need a midfield general and a striker, Dier looks like a real find, Davies had his first game but will get better, Soldado and Lamela need to step up! maybe we need to change our mentality and aim for top 6 to take the pressure off us, then if we do well we might creep into that top 4 with a lot of luck and good wins against the top 4 teams which we always fail to do! Coys!
10/08/2014 @ 10:26 am
Should of said– we need to have continuity
10/08/2014 @ 11:07 am
I agree to the above that we need continuity for consistency and to progress as a club and for the players/manager.
The team still needs some time to gel and perform properly to MoPo’s new philosophy. I understand it had been a year but the likes of Lamela, Soldado, Holtby, Vertonghen, Davies, Towsnend, Chadli, Walker have rarely played together against real competitors.
The 7 new recruits rarely started due to injuries and both AVB and TS didn’t favour to start them.
Well, only Eriksen and Paulinho saw a good amount of game time. So in reality MoPo has a lot of work to do to bed in our 7 new players.
On the wing IMO when Chadli gets back he may provide better competition to Townsend and Lennon. So far both players have been quite similar in terms of the output they’ve provided. But Chadli has a better finishing, height than those two. He’s like a combination of Townsend and Lennon together.
We also need to sell players to bring in more players. Defence is looking great with a hot prospect of Dier, but only Kaboul and Vertonghen is fit. Vlad is unknown, and Dawson is playing injured to avoid being sold. We need 1 more CB as Kaboul is injury prone.
My expectations for this year is 5th place but most importantly is for the new boys and old to bond and build on MoPo’s philosophy. Also hoping we best Arsenal home and away.
10/08/2014 @ 11:11 am
It looks to me that we have a good enough squad as long as we add an experienced centre back and a proven 15-20 goal striker, I’d take Hernandez. The biggest problem Poch will have is choosing his first 11. Dier looks like a good prospect. We just need to move a few on, Daws, Naughton, Sandro ( he is no longer the Beast and Capoue looks like the player I thought he was) and Chiriches.
If he can get them playing like a team and not a bunch of individuals it should be a better season. Just wish Bobby could get going or I’d let him go as well!
10/08/2014 @ 11:14 am
Reason’s to be thankful.
We now have a manager with a planB
We are now getting a balanced team with cover in all departments.
The depression has now lifted and we should not allow ourselves to be rolled over by the so called big teams.
And I believe the lane will become a fortress.
Get behind the team.
We are super tottenham.
50 years a fan, paxton rd lower.
10/08/2014 @ 11:28 am
@mark
Actually MoPo is not known for his ‘plan B’, in fact he’s been criticised for not having a planning B. A lot of Saints fans and analyst mentioned this before.
A great example is Spurs vs Southampton, they were winning 2-0 then Spurs came back and won. This happened twice, and multiple occasions against other clubs for Southampton.
I hope MoPo can learn from his mistakes and react accordingly, because his weakness is suffering to react against teams that has turned the momentum against you.
10/08/2014 @ 12:42 pm
Excellent point, well made, Billy. mark is ignoring the facts. Wishful thinking on hispart I’m afraid. In fact MoPo himself has recently stated that Spurs will play the same way, WHATEVER the calibre of the opposition! It doesn’t matter if it’s Real Madrid! His words!
10/08/2014 @ 12:11 pm
Coys
Agree with a lot of that mate, expectations in the title more in reference to the silly season before it starts and just not knowing what to expect.
For me, I couldn’t care where we finish, I just want to enjoy it all a bit more than last season. I have faith in the manager, and that won’t change no matter how badly we start, and faith in the players (especially the 7 from last year).
Seems to be a bit of negativity left over from last year, hope it fades.
10/08/2014 @ 12:45 pm
Did anyone notice the pitch advertising?? Another LEVY sell out – in case you missed it our shirt sponsors proudly announced their association with our famous club by writing the message in RED letters. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR was written in RED. NEVER RED!??? MY ARSE. LEVY you are a disgrace!
10/08/2014 @ 5:33 pm
Not sure what to expect this season but then again have started each season for the last fifty years with expectation of a good one. all I would love this year is for the so called supporters to support the team instead of this constant search for something to criticise.
I never go on forums but have decided this year to try and start something positive going. Putting the word Tottenham before you name dosen’t mean a thing if your intent is to drag down the club that you love.
I had a great day again yesterday at the Lane and strangely enough I went there to watch a football match not worry about a bit of advertising.
COYS
10/08/2014 @ 1:05 pm
@ultrapunch
I’ve read that too, in regards of MoPo having the same philosophy against any team Spurs will face.
I think that’s great. Providing the players with one single target: win and collect all 3 points.
Quite often we see Spurs underperform against minor teams, and last year we didn’t even perform against the top teams above and around us –and we usually do quite well against them over the past several years ago.
Consistency is key, and what I like most is MoPo have removed/reduces a lot of the lacklustre performances from our players. Although we’ll see how that may turn out in the first 5-10 games in the PL under MoPo as preseason cannot be used to provide an accurate judgement on the team.
10/08/2014 @ 1:24 pm
I ‘m not sure where all this Poncho is the answer to our prayers business has come from.Saints played quite good football ,but got 11 less points,finished 8th leaked 5 less goals than us and also didnt do very well against the top 4 .We by all accounts had shitty season but still finished better than our present managers team .
10/08/2014 @ 2:48 pm
Wonderful mixture of speculation and hope. My opinion look no further than Hernandez at Man United. Pay the cash and reap the rewards of goals galore. Keep Soldado let him rome much like Rooney does. This will be our re entry into the champions league. Just hit the ground witt a string of good results starting with West Ham.
11/08/2014 @ 11:36 am
good read, but I’d certainly add to that, watching Erik Lamela blossom, so I can give it back to the “what a waste of money” twats that I have had to work with for the last year… The boy is class, we just need to convince the rest of the premiership… Come on Erik, don’t let me down son !!
11/08/2014 @ 5:12 pm
is Vertonghen waiting for you know who…to qualify for the CL before he commits to a new deal with us?