Writer: BelgianSpur
It’s a very strange time to assess our season so far, given that there is still much left to play for. As always, there will be varying opinions on how we are doing overall (generally, quite well), how we are coping with injuries, how well equipped our squad is to challenge on multiple fronts, etc. I will try to touch on all of these points, but only quickly, at the risk of writing a book (which I’ll try not to do).
I almost titled this article “all or nothing” because I feel that this is the reality of our season. We are only involved in 2 competitions now, given that we have recently crashed out of the 2 domestic cups (more on that later). However, in February we are still firmly in the title race, which is obviously a nice surprise, and in the knockout stages of the CL.
Either we manage to win one of the competitions we’re still involved in, and the season can be nothing but a resounding success. Or we fail to do so, hopefully finish in the top 4, and see another year go by without winning anything and/or progressing much.
Done wrong: labelling a year where we finish in the top 4 “nothing” is harsh. Top 4 is an achievement. But given that this is where we have established the club in recent years, can we really talk about progress? If anything, we should be talking about… consolidation, rather than progress.
Some of the harsher critics will say that “if you’re not moving forward, you’re going backwards” and that’s probably a step too far for me. But I struggle to call a year where we merely finish in the top 4 again “progress”. It’s not better than last year, or the year before.
MP has recently spoken in the press about the fact that our squad was simply not built for/able to cope with multiple competitions. A wave of recent injuries has not helped. Again, this will be a polarising topic.
Some will rightly argue that despite the injuries, we’re not doing badly in the league, and that’s true. However, the other way to look at it is that this wave of injuries has probably been the reason why we have had to field a weakened team in the FA Cup and a makeshift team in the League Cup, which played a part in both eliminations. Again, that’s probably true also. What is indisputable however, is that however MP feels about the domestic cups, they quite simply represent our best shot at a trophy right now, and a credible opportunity for progress (if we are to go by the strict definition of doing/achieving something we have not done recently).
Some will agree with MP and argue that a domestic cup is unlikely to transform the club, while others will contend that winning breeds winning and that winning a small trophy first is usually the first step to winning bigger prizes later, creating a winning mentality. There is evidence to suggest that both views hold some truth. It’s a matter of opinion and who you choose to believe, as knowledgeable football people have defended both views. Whatever the opinion, a cup win would be progress, whereas a top 4 finish would not (if dictionaries are to be believed, that is). I feel that the word “progress” has been misused quite a bit on VS and amongst Spurs fans recently, hence the desire to set the record straight.
Earlier this season, I asked fellow VS posters what they considered to be a good season. If I recall, about 60% of the posters who answered said that they considered a top 4 finish alone a successful season, about 30% suggested that they expected more (top 4 + a cup) and a minority said they’d rather win a trophy than finish in the top 4, if given the choice. While it is agreed that most Spurs fans (if VS is representative, that is) would be content with a top 4 finish this year, how can we consider this progress, instead of merely consolidation?
Keen to hear your thoughts.
(It should also be said that the concepts of progress/consolidation only apply to our results on the pitch. That was the focus of this article. A lot could be said about our progress in financial terms, or the progress (or lack thereof) of our stadium, but those are different topics altogether. If anyone wants to write about those subjects, or if I find enough inspiration to do so, they can be further developed in another article).