Written by Geofspurs
Over the last couple of seasons there have been a few criticisms aimed in the White Hart Lane direction; mainly by rivals hoping they will become fact, or media pundits trying to stir the pot. Is there any truth to these criticisms? Are they fact or fallacy?
Criticism 1: Wembley is a ‘hoodoo’ ground! Really? Has anyone taken notice of the Wembley games this season? This criticism can be consigned to the waste paper basket of a desperate media reporter trying to make a name for himself at the expense of THFC. The theory is; ‘big’ yourself up by putting others down. Sorry, Mate …. it didn’t work! Obviously we can expect more of the same when we relocate to our new stadium. That won’t work either. Verdict: It’s a fallacy!
Criticism 2: Spurs never do well after a European game! Never? A look at the recent fixture and results list strongly suggests otherwise. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t the games after the European matches that were a worry last season; it was the European matches themselves! Our squad has now evolved to the point where we are able to manage concurrent competitions by rotating individual players as required. That bodes extremely well for the future. Verdict: It’s a fallacy!
Criticism 3: Spurs are a one-man-team! No, not Llorente! They mean Harry! The most recent statistic in this regard would suggest the opposite; Spurs had to wait until Harry left the pitch before scoring four goals against Bournemouth. Well, okay, Mr Kane is arguably the most important squad member at this time because of the position he plays in and the way he plays in that position. Most top teams have one or two of those ‘special’ player; Spurs are just lucky that our one is better. Spurs have also played through a couple of relatively lengthy periods without their leading goal scorer over the past three seasons with Son, Dele, and Eriksen accumulating a significant amount of goals on a regular basis. Kane, not playing, doesn’t appear to have had any disastrous effect on our final league position, or even resulted in a noticeable goal drought. As I’ve said before; if Spurs are a one-man team just see how many goals Harry scores if the other players stay in the changing room during the match! I guarantee his new boots won’t have a golden sheen on them at the end of the season. Verdict: It’s a fallacy …. with, at a pinch, a teeny, weeny, microscopic, minute, element of fact to it! But don’t quote me.
Criticism 4: Spurs don’t win enough points against other top five teams. That was true, once. The reality now is that the top teams take points off of each other; the points mostly going to the ‘home’ team on the day. That’s normal, unless it’s this season and we’re talking about Manchester City. A brief look at our results shows that we are now getting a far greater share of the points than used to be the case, even if most of them do come from home games. The road to glory has always had ‘win at home and draw away’ as its bottom line. Verdict: It’s a fallacy!
Criticism 5: Spurs have not won enough trophies in the Premier League era. This is the criticism where all those people born out of wedlock have me over a barrel! They’ve got a point and I’m having trouble putting a spin on it. Verdict: It’s a fact …. but is quite likely to become a fallacy in the near future!
There are other criticisms doing the rounds so feel free to add them to the list.