The awakening

A brief respite, before we head into battle again. We are at the end of an intense 12 game, 6 week period, starting against Manchester United on December 28th at the Lane, finishing against Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday.

Two huge derby wins, qualification for a cup final, some fine football played and us looking like we can have a crack at the top 4 after all, it’s hard to believe we ever doubted ourselves. Patience, eh. We all know we need it, but how many actually have it?

We came into the north London derby with the tally of 9 games to 3, but if there was any fatigue, it certainly didn’t show. Once more, as against Chelsea at home, we were a goal down, and once again, we came back to win, in what must be the most impressive display by us against them since the 5-1. Arsenal simply could not live with our intensity and commitment. And once again, a brace from Harry Kane. We were in dreamland.

[linequote]Once more, as against Chelsea at home, we were a goal down, and once again, we came back to win[/linequote]

The look on Kane’s face when he scores is probably the look any one of us would have if we were in his position. At the North London Derby it was a mix of joy, adrenaline and disbelief. He couldn’t be happier, and he couldn’t believe his luck, to be doing what he’s doing. He looks almost tearful with joy. His team had come from 1-0 down to win the derby, and not only that, he was playing, and he had scored the goals to win it. He’s doing what we’d all love to be able to do. And he’s loving it.

Kane was described in the press after one game – Villa I think – when he’d come on as sub – as being ‘effervescent, his energy spreading throughout the team, lifting them, driving them on’. It’s true. He does it to the crowd as well. His post-match tweets loving Spurs, loving the fans, loving the atmosphere. He scores when we win, he scores when we don’t. Even when he doesn’t score, he never stops running. He gives his all, no matter the opposition. If only they all had his commitment.

The thing is, a lot of them do. They may not score the goals, but the energy and commitment from pretty much the whole team cannot be questioned. Players like Eriksen and Lamela, the mercurial, flair players who traditionally may not be ones to count on when the chips are down, are racking up the kilometres, pressing from the front. Mason and Bentaleb are in there, snapping at the opposition midfield, driving, running.

[fullquote]Eriksen and Lamela, the mercurial, flair players who traditionally may not be ones to count on when the chips are down, are racking up the kilometres, pressing from the front[/fullquote]

Dembele is finding form. Chadli, Walker, Rose, Vertonghen – you could list them all. When we lose the ball we are fighting to win it back, every inch of the way. Remember Scott Parker, that season he was playing like Superman?

Now we’ve got a whole team doing it. The difference being that they don’t all look like they’re going to die at the end of the match. The punishing fitness regime of Pochettino is paying dividends. I guess it ain’t rocket science. We’ve got a lot of games and we need to be able to run around a lot. Best train harder.

The amount of home grown talent making the first eleven is unheard of. Kane, Mason, Bentaleb and Townsend are all getting regular game time. Rose and Walker, who’ve been in there long enough it feels like we brought them through. Dier may yet prove to be the same. Others on the brink of the first team such as Winks, Veljkovic and Onomah must take heart from this, knowing that if they work hard and are good enough, they will get a chance. It must be an exciting time to be at the Spurs academy.

Against Liverpool we lost. Perhaps it was a match too far just now, but we gave it everything, it was a hell of a game, and it could have been won or drawn just as easily. A vast improvement on our previous three performances against them, and they are also finding form. So perhaps it’s a good time to have over a week off. Rest, reflect, and move along.

Weaknesses?

We have had a few below par performances against the smaller sides. Sheffield United ran us far closer than they should have (though we did at least beat them before extra time, which surely would’ve been the true Spurs way), and we tumbled out of the FA cup in abysmal fashion. The result of rotation? Fatigue? Difficulty breaking them down? Or is it down to our mentality against smaller teams?

[fullquote]Hugo has saved us more than a few times, the benefit of having a world class keeper, but it would feel much better if he didn’t have quite so much to do[/fullquote]

The performance against West Brom might suggest otherwise. Against Palace we also lost, a pretty poor performance, but did you see the reaction of the players as we were going down? They were seriously pissed off. Loads of niggling fouls as we went down swinging, a very bad tempered end to the game. Which is exactly what I want to see from our players if we’re losing. As long as they don’t get sent off.

And we do still look shaky at the back. Once teams break through our high press it all gets a bit haphazard. A better header by Koscielny, for example, would’ve seen us 2-1 down when we should’ve been out of sight.

Hugo has saved us more than a few times, the benefit of having a world class keeper, but it would feel much better if he didn’t have quite so much to do. You could try to put it down to the quality of the opposition in some cases – Arsenal and Liverpool do have an array of attacking talent, you’d expect them to cause us problems, but Palace, Leicester and Sheffield United? Not so much so.

We are far from the finished article but this six week period could prove to be a defining one. We now have a break. For once, we’ll be resting while the rest of the league battle on. Hostilities resume at the lane next Thursday. A European campaign, a cup final and a race for the top 4 are all on the horizon. Good times.

[linequote]We might lose the final, go out of Europe to Fiorentina, and fall agonisingly short of Champion’s League football again. For once, it matters little[/linequote]

But it’s much more than that. Last year we were disjointed, broken. Exploited by our chairman, embarrassed by our manager(s), disconnected from our club. It doesn’t feel like that now. Our hearts are back in it. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Its return is most welcome. How to explain it?

Is it the style of football, fitting with the traditions of our club, and the fact we are competitive playing this way? The fact that so many of our first eleven came through the ranks, inextricably linking them to our club, our fans? That the manager has shown the door to those who weren’t committed to the cause? Is it just as shallow as winning a few games? Or all of the above?

We might lose the final, go out of Europe to Fiorentina, and fall agonisingly short of Champion’s League football again. For once, it matters little. What’s been achieved this last six weeks runs deeper than that. We have the joy of following our football club back. An awakening of something we thought was lost.