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Tottenham softspur

5 min read
by Paul Krarup
Winning isn't something that just happens, it's about preparation, focus and most of all supreme self-belief and determination. Paul Krarup looks at what Spurs need to start winning when it matters.

Schumacher, Senna, Tyson, Ferguson, Mourinho. What ties them? Winning. Now, the timing of this with Schumacher experiencing such difficulties in his life, may seem slightly heartless – but I assure you that I genuinely love and respect him. If you examine Michael Schumacher’s career, it’s potted with issues of overzealous passes, politicking and single-minded determination to win.

The same can be said of Ayrton Senna, whether flipping his car to make a pass or veering into a rival to secure a title win. He was incredibly charming, affable and a genuine sporting great, but his competitive streak leaves others behind, sometimes wronged.

Mike Tyson, for all of his later problems, was as venomous a fighter that ever boxed. His vicious nature and Brownsville upbringing determined that he would view his opponents as victims. His malicious style was less the ‘Olympic Spirit’ and more ‘Psychotic Madman’.

[linequote]Not all nice guys finish last, but a lot of bad guys finish first – and not only finish first, but also change the landscape of their chosen profession[/linequote]

Sir Alex Ferguson is as famed for his being the most successful manager of all-time, as he is for having kicked a boot into David Beckham’s beautiful face. Fergie once got punched in the knackers at Euston Station by a drunk racist – no-one has seen the offender since. The rumour is that Fergie screamed his head into ash.

After bursting on the managerial scene with Porto, the Special One, has battled with everyone in sight up the ladder to success. He’s spent bug money, he’s arrogant, he’s becoming easier to hate; he’s lost his olive charm, and is now looking more like Gerry Francis circa 1995.

Between these gentlemen there are record breaking world titles, unbelievable winning streaks, timeless legacies, television memories, poetic manifestations of boyhood dreams, and a genuine claim – for each of them – to having been the absolute best at their profession at any given time.

Of course there are many other successful sporting heroes, who were slightly less controversial in character, but they wouldn’t work for the point that I’m trying to make.

Not all nice guys finish last, but a lot of bad guys finish first – and not only finish first, but also change the landscape of their chosen profession. We could argue the merits of their sociopathic credentials all day – but who’s interested in that. The prima facie opinion for the purpose of this article is that a certain amount of ruthlessness is essential for success.

Just to clarify – there are certain endeavours for which ruthlessness is evil. Sport is not one of them.

I have been in a horrific relationship for the last 25 years. I love them, but I doubt they even know who I am. I’ve been watching Tottenham Hotspur since the ’91 cup final and I’ve been hooked ever since. It was the first game of football that I can remember, other than a vague memory of my dad watching Red Star Belgrade vs a team in blue; I wouldn’t want to guess – or even google it, because the lack of detail enhances the memory.

Tottenham have been mine from the moment I saw the lilywhite shirt walking out into the grand, old Wembley Stadium.

On that fateful afternoon, Spurs nearly let it all go, and relied upon a fantastic own goal to see us across the line. I should have known then, that we are a club with a big issue. We have no ruthless streak.

[fullquote]I want to see our players clawing and scratching to win. They often seem too happy to trudge off after a poor result[/fullquote]

Our motto is ‘To Dare Is To Do’. Now without the exhaustive examination into the meanings of this phrase, I’d like it changed – to ‘JUST DO’! To me there is a layer of forgiveness and unwelcome ‘sporting spirit’ in our club maxims. The famous Bill Nicholson quotation allows us to finish a close second and still feel proud.

Daring to do, patently isn’t actually do-ing. Where are the aggressive maxims determining our academy upstarts to strive for excellence, and to strive to win?

Our club is nice. In truth, it’s better than nice – it’s the best club in the country. But for the point at hand – it’s too nice. I want to see our players clawing and scratching to win. They often seem too happy to trudge off after a poor result, knowing that they’ll be playing again next week.

I’d like to see a cynical edge to our play. I’d be happy to see us sailing close to wind regarding our willingness to play clean. Sometimes, I’d like to see our players out-fox opposition player and officials in similar ways that other players have haunted us for years.

Maybe our players are bereft of the intelligence to play games, within the game. But I’d like to at least see some aggression. The odd snarled face, a touch of ‘handbags’ with opposition players. Get in the referee’s face a little bit – Manchester United did that for years.

[linequote]We need to lose our clean streak, and replace it with something far more sinister; and, ultimately, far more successfu[/linequote]

I fear that Spurs are at risk of losing the desire to compete at the very top level. The way football is headed, it could be a two-horse race – Chelsea and Manchester Blue – for the foreseeable future. Tottenham strike me as the sort of club / organisation that would crumble at the prospect of competing with these clubs. Pragmatic senior management will be rationalising our attempts at best-of-the-rest to the rest of the club, and that attitude will spread.

We have Newcastle coming up. Alan Pardew is a tricky manager. He doesn’t mind some of the nastiness that I’d like to see Spurs adopt. In this game, I’d like to see some bite, from Lamela; I’d like to see the ruthlessness in front of goal from Soldado that he spewed upon La Liga; I’d like to see Capoue putting his boots in with the Newcastle midfield to let them know they’re in for a long afternoon.

We need to lose our clean streak, and replace it with something far more sinister; and, ultimately, far more successful.

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.

Paul Krarup

6 Comments

  1. al
    23/10/2014 @ 11:37 am

    Stambouli put in the 3rd most tackles in the french league last season.. i would love to see him get some time over capoue, who doesn’t put his foot in nearly enough, especially considering its part of his job..

  2. al
    23/10/2014 @ 11:38 am

    and tbh the best thing about arsenal away for me was that we picked up 5 yellows, as i thought it meant we were developing that bite… obviously not based on city.

  3. John D
    23/10/2014 @ 12:20 pm

    I agree with you so much it’s almost if I wrote this myself. Instead of 1991 my introduction to this endemic passivity was in 1961. I love Spurs, but like you I just want to see some heart, instead of laughing at us I want to hear other clubs supporters say, we’re playing Spurs today we’re in for a real fight.

    Why can Stoke go to Man City and get a battling win when we go there and crumble? why do teams like West Brom battle for unlikely draws and wins?
    I’m really sick of us crumbling and conceding 4, 5, 6 goals to teams like Liverpool, City etc. We should be up there with them. It’s not talent we lack but fight. Seems as soon as players join our club they leave their courage at the front door. COME ON SPURS FIGHT, just FIGHT.

  4. Nanty
    23/10/2014 @ 12:24 pm

    Some good points in this article.

    I think an issue may be the gap between what footballers view as “winning” and what that word means to us.

    Perhaps for too many, young men earning tens of thousands of pounds each week, with every car and toy they could wish for, stacks of leisure time, tons of attention and party action, te lifestyle is enough to feel that they’ve already “won.”

    Why bust your balls to try harder? Much better to concentrate on looking fashionably cool.

    • Paul Krarup
      23/10/2014 @ 1:17 pm

      Agree. Footballers are ‘Life’s Winners’. It takes a superior, competitive mentality to actually want to achieve glory.

  5. Woodsy
    23/10/2014 @ 12:48 pm

    I agree we could do with being more aggressive and we should be more vocal when others are being cynical against us (it drives me crazy when we stand by when others steal 10 yards at a throw in, every single throw in!!) but I don’t want to see us hounding referees, calling for opposition players to be given cards or diving.

    We all know 10 minutes of watching a Chelsea game will see a referee surrounded several times, Steven Gerard is allowed to dive when others are singled out etc. but however ‘professional’ the sport is, it’s still a sport and winning by any means isn’t for me.

    Perhaps that’s why we don’t win, Ar$enal are relatively sporting too and they don’t win much either…

    So yes, we are too timid and need to mature into a more ruthless outfit but some things are more important than winning, after all, if winning was such a high priority we’d both be ManUre/Citeh/Chavs instead of harping back to the comforting memory of Des Walker’s wonder OG (or Gazza’s free kick in the semi-final, which gives me goose bumps just thinking about it).

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