Yesterday afternoon Spurs won 2-1 with a late goal from Christian Eriksen. It so happened Sunderland were the victims but insert the name of many other teams below us in the league and the sentence works. 2014-5 is Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 season.

Spurs have snuggled down in their comfortable two-onesie, one size fits all. Seven out of our last eight league wins have been by the same score. That period also includes three 2-1 defeats and it encapsulates, as did this game, where we are right now: we’ll score but are never safe because we always concede. Good football and, even better, the number of late goals means there’s hope, but fine margins and the niggles of doubt remain, tapping you on the shoulder, whispering in your ear, a reminder of the frailty of the growing, developing side that I wrote about earlier this week. A long way from the finished article, if 2-1 to Spurs means one step back and two forward, I’ll take that.

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This win had a couple of other features of our season so far. Scoring early through Vertonghen’s deflected shot, we failed to capitalise fully and allowed Sunderland back into the game, conceding possession through a series of unnecessary free-kicks, one of which Larsson popped over the wall and into the top corner. Dominating the second half, it looked as if our efforts were in vain then Eriksen stroked home the winner, yet still we relied on a combination of Lloris’s excellence and wasteful finishing by our opponents who should not have been given a sniff of goal let alone match-winning opportunities.

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Spurs’ positive start was boosted by a third minute goal, Vertonghen pouncing on a mishit clearance. His ungainly-struck shot struck a defender and sailed into the opposite corner. With two up front and Johnson behind them, Sunderland’s 3-5-2 offered admirable attacking intent but it gave us space in midfield throughout. Instead of pushing on however, it’s a peculiarity of this team that we fight to dictate the play then, once in charge, allow the tempo to drop. We don’t do slow very well.

Our two best players, Stambouli and Rose, tried to inject some urgency whenever they got on the ball. Rose was on top form going forward in the first half. One move was outstanding. Under pressure from a dodgy Lloris throw, he turned danger into attack with a first-time flick facing his own goal then in an instant was 15 yards further down the touchline to receive the return ball. His cross found Eriksen who missed the chance.

These forays weren’t typical of a stodgy first half performance. We, I say we, Dembele mostly, conceded a number of free-kicks, although in his defence Chris Foy is a referee who thinks physical contact is no longer part of the game. The most pointless of these, a ludicrously late challenge by Vertonghen on Defoe when any danger had passed, let Sunderland back in the match with a perfect top corner curler.

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Generosity extended to one of our own – ex-striker trains in the off-season to stay fit. Only at Spurs could he then sign for our very next opponents, bringing with him intimate behind-the-scenes knowledge of our plans. Defoe always scores on his debut, except this time he didn’t. He’s always offside however, and in this he was true to type. Unnecessary to look for that edge as in the first half it seemed like he had the drop on Dier, drafted in to cover at centreback and looking terribly young. Poyet was desperate to play him yet Sunderland didn’t give him a decent through-ball all game.

Eriksen had another shot saved and Kane, quiet by his standards, hit the post with one of his now trademark low shots from just outside the box. Yet we were sloppy and sluggish for the most part, mainly because Pochettino tinkered with the formation of Kane up front and Eriksen in the middle that has been balanced and effective during our recent good run. To accommodate an admittedly attacking line up with Soldado up front, Kane had been moved back to centre attacking mid with Eriksen on the right. As a result he was less involved. We bucked up noticeably when he came inside later in the game. We’re not mature enough yet as a team to handle those changes.

Also, Chadli returned to his ineffectual, seven-touches-where-two-will-do early season persona. A new dairy-free diet has apparently turned his fortunes around. Perhaps he’s fallen off the wagon and guzzled a pint or two of best Jersey gold-top.

Second half, Spurs upped the tempo, pushing Dembele further forward secure in the knowledge that Stambouli could cope on his own. The Frenchman looks like an old-fashioned midfield destroyer, a gimlet-eyed and round-shouldered muscular sentry in front of the back four. Until now he’s been hunting the man, yesterday he hunted down the ball. Alert to every Sunderland move and keen to pass forward once he breaks up a move, he played really well.

A long period of Spurs’ second-half superiority created little. Optimism turned to frustration. Kane was more involved now and came close. Walker pushed up and Eriksen tried to create in the centre. Townsend came on to generate width and momentum, with Adebayor emerging from the Tottenham Room 101, undeserving of the boos despite his questionable commitment. Mostly it looked like the only thing that had changed in his absence was that his socks were pulled over his knees. However, he ran about a bit later, and ran in the right places. His problem was being too static in the box, waiting for a cross rather than seeking space, but the same could be said for many in the cluttered area. Say what you like about him, if we don’t sign a striker in the next couple of weeks we could be grateful for his experience and involvement later in a season where we are playing 9 games in January alone.

Still, we did keep going and although many of the crosses were cleared, at least they came in from different angles and we did get to the byline on several occasions, which can’t be said for Spurs’ efforts in the past. At the back, a word of praise for Dier who improved as the match went on, clever enough not to get sucked into reckless challenges by Defoe and atoning for his one big error by a saving tackle moments after he had given the ball away. Alongside him Vertonghen continued his current of good form that has made a major contribution to our recent results.

Then the winner. Sunderland were victims of their attacking instincts. Late on, their number 3 pushed right into our box. He didn’t quite get to the ball but Townsend did, whereupon he launched into a 60 yard run into the space where the defender should have been. In a classic Bloke Behind Me moment, someone a couple of rows back was abusing him for wasting the ball even as his perfect crossfield pass was being stroked into the bottom corner by Christian Eriksen. A lovely goal. Talking of which…

Even then we failed to shut up shop. Danny Graham, Sunderland’s cut-price version of Soldado (the striker who can’t score) brought a fine low save from Hugo when he should have scored. Then in the last minute, a crazy incident. You know how when the keeper comes up for a late corner, the opposition never scores despite an empty net? This time with Pantellimon stranded, Vertonghen burst from the back onto a perfect through ball from Paulinho and rolled the ball into the gaping goal. Bewilderment more than anger in the stands as it was turned down after the players had completed their celebration and the announcer had given the goalscorer!

We were right in line. Clearly onside. I questioned my own waning powers of observation and understanding as I left the ground. Perhaps the strain and stresses of watching Spurs all these years has taken its toll and I’m finally slipping slowly into pleasant delirium. It was disallowed by a cocky linesman because with the keeper upfield there was only one defender between Verts and the goal. Except he was in his own half when the ball was played to him. Diabolical decision but reassuring that I retain a tenuous grasp on my sanity.

 

Beat the league leaders in glorious style then sink against Palace, 1 point out of 6 from them this season and that was dead lucky. So Spurs, so Spursy as COYS social media shrugged in collective resignation on Saturday night.

You could be forgiven for that because we’ve seen it all before. However, in this case it was less about our inglorious inconsistency and more about something many teams have in common. Tottenham suffered the classic growing pains of a developing team and I’m afraid we are just going to have to put up with it for some time to come.

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Always enjoy a win, even more so when it’s accomplished by playing such good football. Last week I stretched out in celebration on Tottenham On My Mind and judging by the positive comments and number of page views, that’s what you wanted to do too.

However, there was nothing in that piece on the Chelsea victory about what it meant for the future, and that was deliberate. The win showed the potential of the side, to us supporters and even more importantly to the players themselves. But that remains aspiration because we are a long way from achieving that week in week out. So without ignoring Palace and while the feelgood memories of Chelsea still linger, let’s take stock.

First the good news. We’re 6th in the table, and although that flatters us somewhat, this season is one where you feel you have a chance against most teams as few seem impregnable. None below us, save Liverpool, are favourites to make a concerted move upwards. Win a few, lose a few seems to be the way for many sides. Still in the Cup and Europa League, semis of the League Cup.

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That’s a good place to be to make changes in a gradual, organic way. Those are the changes that last, they embed themselves in a squad, forming a culture that becomes instinctive. That has to be our aim. Change under pressure can work, witness Redknapp’s  ‘2 points from 8 games’ becoming ‘2 points from the top of the league’. However, that involved considerable horsetrading and expense in the market and arguably the team was never fully developed.

Spurs fans are fond of saying that the media are negative towards us. In my dotage, I have to come to dull but accurate conclusion that every supporter says the same about the media and their own side. Nevertheless we’ve been helped by the media focus on the problems at Arsenal (if only I had their problems…CL for 87 consecutive seasons must be sheer hell), Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool. It shouldn’t make a difference but it does, it eases the pressure in the same way that Redknapp’s cosy cosy relationship with the media twice protected him and us during end of season slumps. It gives us time and that’s what Pochettino needs.

Pochettino has played the media well too. He keeps his head down, staying polite and available without saying very much. Post-match interviewers give up after a while as his apparent lack of both English and interest means he’s not going to say much, but I reckon that’s part of his game. It’s refreshing not to read a Spurs manager him in the papers every other day.

On the field, Pochettino is getting his message through to the players, although some remain hard of hearing. Notwithstanding some barren spells in games and flat-out luck – a 90 second compilation video of our opponents’ misses this season would be X rated – a growing proportion of the squad are fit enough to sustain the energy levels he insists upon and have bought in to the key elements of his approach – high tempo, keep the ball moving, get it forward quickly, get compact and press when we lose possession. Note this has been achieved without many injuries in contrast with teams like Everton and Manchester United. Kudos to the fitness coaches and medical team. Time a factor again – rush this process and injuries are certain.

Earlier this season I bemoaned the apparent lack of motivation after a series of lacklustre, sluggish performances. Largely that’s not a concern now, partly because the players have discovered that if they do what their manager says, it works, partly because Pochettino has weeded out those who don’t fit. It’s noticeable that the young players have readily bought into his philosophy. They realise he will give them a chance and make them better players. Kane has exceeded all expectations, even I suspect his own, but it’s the engine room of Bentaleb and Mason who have really taken the team forward. They’ve freed up Eriksen to play his best football for us so far, consistently, in the middle where he belongs, Without both against Palace, the team looked open and directionless for all of Stambouli’s and Dembele’s sweat and toil. Bentaleb has what it takes to be a top class footballer.

Time has been a vital resource also because our manager tends to give players a chance. He gave Kaboul and Capoue a run of games before deciding, rightly, that they didn’t fit. Mason and Kane have repaid their manager’s trust. Lamela is learning, slowly, but we shouldn’t give up easily on a talent like that. Chadli and Rose both had a run, were left out when it wasn’t working and have now forced their way back into the reckoning again. Neither are perfect, and in Chadli’s case he may not be what we want, but more saliently their efforts show the players feel it is worth making the effort to play for Tottenham Hotspur, not to put their energies into getting a move away.

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Hugo Lloris. Not sure what endears him more to me, his elastic, committed goalkeeping or his utterly crestfallen expression when he makes a mistake. I care about the club, so does he and our Hugo is earning the right to be one of our own.

But. Playing 4-2-3-1, high tempo, pressing puts a great onus on the forwards, that 3. They have to get up and back, covering and getting past the frontman into the box to score goals. Our problem is on the right and left of that 3. A lot of fuss about ‘inverted wingers’. I’m not keen but the real problem is not the ‘inverted’, it’s the ‘wingers’. To make this system work, you don’t want wingers, however entrancing their flying feet and weaving runs may be. You need mobility, strength, hard work. The ability to pass is more significant than the ability to beat a man. It gives me little pleasure to say this but it’s true.

We don’t have the right players for that role. Chadli is a fine athletic player, so skilled. Blink and you miss his subtle touches but he does not work hard enough when we don’t have the ball. Lamela runs hard but his positional play without the ball is a liability. Townsend is like a schoolboy eager to please his new teacher – he’s trying too hard. He needs to stop and think and I’m not sure he can. He’s a left winger and should be used there when we need it. Lennon is so in and out, either through lack of fitness or his manager doesn’t rate him, it’s as if he’s not in contention.

We also lack depth in key positions. We have a skipfull of midfielders ready for recycling. Capoue is a natural DM but too slow for his manager. Paulinho in 2013 was a tailor-made box to box midfielder who had his best years ahead of him. Then he came to Tottenham and like many before him saw his career crumble. At least he has comfort in knowing that after not making the bench for an EL game, the only way is up. Dembele is not and has never been a defensive midfielder and I cannot for the life of me see why a series of managers have played him there.

The lack of strikers has been a scandal for several years. Nothing more to add about that. I respect Soldado for his attitude but he can’t score in navy blue and white and it’s not going to happen now. He deserves another go, somewhere else. Adebayor is bored with us now.

At centreback, another pair have benefited from Pochettino’s policy of giving players a run. Vertonghen has been playing his best football for at least a year, while Fazio is settling. Any defender looks vulnerable if forwards are allowed to get at them but he looks especially vulnerable unless he’s protected. Mighty in the box but get him on the run and we look shaky.

That protection has not been evident. No coincidence that 2 of our 3 best performances this season, away to Arsenal plus Chelsea at home have come off the back of prodigious effort from the front 6. The third, versus QPR, well, they were poor.

Pressing is less about making tackles and more about controlling space. We still have to learn that lesson. Palace was the latest game this season where they had far too much room in our half. It’s like when Poch says, ‘create space’, they think he means ‘create space between ourselves.’ Looks like players are fit enough now to run, now they need to learn about where they go.

Time. Patience. A plan. We’re doing OK but there’s a long way to go. We know what the problem is: in recent years Daniel Levy has failed to create let alone implement a coherent strategy.  Spurs cannot settle because of the turnover of managers and, just as importantly, of Directors of Football because they should be responsible for medium and long-term player policy and development. Given that Joe Lewis is a billionaire owner not prepared to lavish his fortune on a football club, player and team development is the only route to progress.

The absence of a plan represents a chronic failure at the top, compounded by an apparently wilful lack of investment at crucial times in each of the last three summers, when surely buying two or three quality players to add to the able, developing squad would have transformed a good team into real challengers. Three seasons at least now without a proper strikeforce, or backing for new managers in the market as opposed to appointing them then leaving them unsupported.

If the problem is long-term, the conclusion is that the solution is long-term too. That may be unpalatable for some but that is the only way forward and with Pochettino as coach. He has inherited a squad lacking balance with too many players who do not fit his pressing, high-tempo tactical approach.  My assessment above is basically him spending half a season sorting it out. We simply cannot keep sacking the manager, Levy owes it to him and especially to us the paying public to give him a decent chance. That means we have to build again, and that takes time.

Not again. Another “transitional season”, the Spurs’ euphemism for we don’t know what we’re doing. Never mind managerial churn, the thought of it makes my stomach churn. Bale’s fortune wasted, the Champions League quarter-final a distant memory. Yet there’s no alternative. We have to say to the manager – what sort of team do you envisage in two years’ time? That’s how long it will take and we have to rein in our expectations accordingly, however distasteful the prospect.

The transfer window is now open, a time to think about those plans. Not to take anything away from the progress made by team, manager and many players but the lack of depth leaves us exposed. Short-term, half a team of internationals have no long-term future here: Chiriches, Paulinho, Capoue, Adebayor, Soldado, Kaboul maybe, plus Naughton (a decent little full-back by the way). But we can’t sell unless we have replacements and quality is hard to come by in January.

Say Kane and Vertonghen get injured. Christ on a bike, quite frankly. And then there’s the summer. All the attention in the window is on buying players but team-building depends on keeping the good ones. Lloris is one of Europe’s best keepers. Did he stay for one more season because he was promised a move? Eriksen and Vertonghen by all accounts declined new contracts earlier this season. Contracts of course don’t stop a transfer but it indicates that they were prepared to forgo thousands of pounds a week extra in order to make a summer move easier, should they so wish.

Don’t mean to end on a downer but this is Spurs’ reality. The only way forward is to make a long-term decision to support this manager and buy players he wants. Hopefully the arrival of Paul Mitchell from Southampton signals that this support will be forthcoming. Otherwise it will be typical Tottenham – one step up and two steps back.

 

Didn’t see that coming but boy, it felt good to see it.

From kick-off, this young Spurs team looked our illustrious opponents in the eye and did not flinch until the final whistle. We took them on, time and again. Every forward movement, some stunning goals, crunching tackles and last-ditch interceptions, we took them on and beat them. This was joy so real, it thumps you on the back and knocks the breath from your lungs.

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Pochettino’s bravery in taking the game to our opponents rather than choosing the easy option of sitting back was justified in full by the magnificent, wholehearted response from all his players. It could so easily have backfired, especially when Tottenham went a goal down and then the ball hit Vertonghen’s hand as he fell his own box. Yet for the first time this season, you felt that the team were not going to allow the strategy to fail. They kept going. At the end, they extracted every last ounce of warm appreciation from an ecstatic crowd, and how they earned it.

When a team is on song, the football flows as if it is the most natural thing in the world but we Spurs know this is something so rare and precious, it’s carried by kings who follow a star. These are games you sense and feel, that rush by in blurred delirium. Close my eyes and I can still see visions in white and navy blue, fluid grace gliding through blue.

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I looked on in joyous slack-jawed stupefaction. As the goals piled in, rather than explode in celebration, instinct compelled me to look around for a fraction of a second, seeking confirmation that this was really happening. It was you know.

Not just a superlative performance, Harry Kane produced unforgettable moments of wonder and delight. His first goal: I was willing him, out loud, just to hang on to the ball as he traversed the field. I never imagined a shot, let alone a goal but he saw the gap and drilled it low into the bottom corner from 25 yards. A great equalizer just when Spurs needed a lift, transformed into magic by the thrill of the unexpected, when you can see the whole pitch, the position of every player yet the man under the most pressure sees something you can’t. It’s the mark of greatness.

This inaugurated a period of play that was simply fabulous. Pochettino’s plan was take them on and by half-time Chelsea were on the run, stragglers fleeing to the rearguard to regroup, swamped by the onrushing rampant Spurs cavalry.

Before and after half-time, Eriksen was stunning in his movement and ingenuity. The redoubtable Chelsea defence crumbled. Matic, by far the best defensive midfielder in the league, was befuddled. Eriksen found a willing helper in Chadli. He made the runs in between the back four, Eriksen found him. Through on goal, the Belgian hit the post and Rose dashed 60 yards to be on the end of the rebound, which he calmly placed into the corner despite being cleaned out by Cahill.

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This unpunished tackle injured Rose, who later had to go off, but he took the crowd’s plaudits first before getting treatment, and why not. Much maligned, partly at fault for Chelsea’s opener when he hesitated, appealing for a throw in and allowing Hazard space to dash through to set up a tap-in for Costa. Rose was excellent for an hour and limped back onto the pitch at the final whistle to join the celebrations. Pleased for him, he deserved it.

Then all in a rush, Kane tripped by an increasingly desperate Cahill and Townsend placed the perfect penalty into the bottom right hand corner. Not the natural first choice as penalty-taker, judging by the groans and fearful looks around me as he stepped up, but he successfully backed his own ability.

Half-time, this can’t continue, but it did. Eriksen outstanding again, Chadli on the move, and Kane, always Kane. A lovely move at top speed from our half, Kane slipped past his man with the deftest of touches and passed it into the far corner.  Some great strikers are defined not by grand gestures but by delicate brushstrokes. The shimmy half-turn to beat his marker was sublime.

So a glorious evening if not quite a glory glory night, and this was the best period. It’s always good to be a Spurs fan but this felt an especially good time to be alive. Tottenham were 4-1 up and Chelsea had no response. We were in control.

Up front, a young man who cost the club nothing fearlessly drove on against four international defenders in one of the costliest teams in the world. Kane dashed into a cluster of blue shirts and produced a cross that could, should have been blown in. They could not cope. Cahill was shattered by the end, furiously kicking Our Harry in the back as he lay on the ground. Take it as a compliment, Harry. It was all Cahill had left. Just before, Chelsea were reduced to not throwing the ball back to Spurs when we kicked it off to allow treatment to one of their men. How low can you get? We made them wallow in the depths.

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Giddy on a mixture of elation and stomach-churning fear that it would all go to ruin, the crowd played every ball and lifted the player’s efforts. Then suddenly Fazio gave away the ball and Hazard rushed on to pull one back, significant less in terms of the score, more in needlessly conceding the initiative Spurs had toiled so hard to create. There was now a spring in the Chelsea step and sub Rameriez gave them a momentum that they had not looked capable of creating themselves. Lloris’s full-length save low to his left at 4-2 meant almost as much as any of our goals.

Spurs then broke. Chadli cut in from the left and his right-foot shot was deflected in. Cue bedlam in the stands, ‘we want six!’ Again sloppiness allowed a reply, Terry tapping in at the far post and I wore out the clock just by looking at it but Fazio and Vertonghen saw to it that Hugo was protected to the point where he could easily save anything that came his way.

A thumping win against the odds, London derby, played in a riotous atmosphere: January 1st and it can’t get much better than that. Or can it…?

As you will have gathered if you have bothered to read this far, not a match where I’m able to provide any reasoned analysis. Those of you who watched on TV will have a better idea of that. In no particular order, Chadli (not my favourite) had by far his best game for Spurs. If I had the chance, I’d take him to one side and say, ‘That’s how good you can be if you put the work in.” He got on the ball because he made the right runs consistently and he worked back enough to play his part.

Vertonghen was excellent at the back and Bentaleb had a fine game sweeping up in front of the back four and getting the ball forward when he could. He’s not a natural defender but filled in the gaps and celebrated the goals like no other. He wants to play for us so badly. Dembele scandalously took 5 minutes to get to ready to come on as an early sub for Mason. You’re a sub, you’ve only got one thing to do and that’s have your boots on! But his strength and ability to hold the ball came in handy. We gave the ball away too frequently – must sort that out – but on the other hand we also got to more second/loose balls than usual.

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I’m not going to dignify Mourinho’s post-matching whining with a response, although there is real pleasure in seeing him and his coaching team dancing in futile, furious mania as the backdrop as Spurs swept past them in attack. The last two games proved we were fitter than both United and Chelsea, a level of fitness that has been attained without many injuries, unlike United, so credit Poch again here.

I’m in it for life so win or lose I’ll be back for more, but we need nights like these to remind us why we do it. Every penny, all the disappointment, worth it when the fourth went in, worth feeling this way today. That and gibbering foaming at the mouth disjointed over-excitement from a supporter old enough to know better. But then, nights like these have a timeless, enduring fascination. Total commitment in the stands and on the pitch. Glorious.

Spurs against Manchester United remains one of the grand fixtures, especially to an old fogey like me. A noon kick-off left everyone struggling to get in on time and in the right frame of mind. Halfway through the second half it was very different. Full-blooded and rumbustious, the Spurs players had got stuck in and so had the crowd. It felt good to be part of it; the anger and exhilaration meant the blood was flowing as Tottenham finished the stronger.

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Finishing on such an optimistic note feels good and that feeling lasts. In the interests of objectivity however, Spurs could, should have been at least two down after an hour. Despite the quality and fame of their players, the managers remain the dominant influence over their respective sides and in the tactical battle, Van Gaal came out on top in the first half.

Width was the key, as it so often is. Spurs had Townsend and Chadli as the wide men of our forward midfield in our customary 4-2-3-1, no contest against the wingbacks in United’s 3-5-2. Time and again the Mancs cleverly drew play to one side before switching to Young on our right who usually had time to take a deep breath, scratch his bum and get comfortable before Townsend got anywhere near him. Chiriches is a mistake waiting to happen at the best of times and left so exposed, he stood little chance.

For his part, Pochettino drew a picture in his mind of our wide men pressuring the wingbacks so they could not get forward and also exploiting the space to either side that is the potential weakness of any back three. However, that proved to be a delusion that stems from his admittedly admirable attacking instincts as neither Townsend nor Chadli would commit to their defensive duties or in the latter’s case, matching the hard work of their opposite numbers.

As a result, Young was being waved through and Pochettino did nothing to change it. With Kane increasingly isolated versus three central defenders, our attacks became so rare they were worthy of a valuation on the Antiques Roadshow. It didn’t help that we developed a new free-kick routine – pass it to a man under pressure then lose it. Yet amidst this rank stupidity there was just a niggle that United were not all that if they could be put under pressure.

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And then there was Hugo. United made a series of chances throughout the half but Lloris kept them at bay. In so doing he showed the full range of his magnificence. At point-blank range he pushed out a header then perfectly timed his knee-high tackle to deny Van Persie in the act of shooting. The best was a gravity-defying leap to spear wide Young’s far-post curler that was destined for the top corner. Twice he got down and dirty, everything behind the ball as we improbably scrambled the ball away from deep inside our 6 yard box. After one save he held the ball aloft in triumph as if it were a prized trophy. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude, not just for yesterday but for a series of outstanding performances this season.

The back four showed application and spirit throughout. Vertonghen made several good tackles, Fazio was typically strong in the air and credit to Chiriches for three vital blocks, two in quick succession right after kick-off before his team-mates were awake and one off the line. However, we relied to a bottom-clenching extent on the defensive strategy that has served us so well lately, the cunning ‘let’s wait for the other team to miss’ ploy. This was seen in full effect away to Leicester, where we stood back and watched the bottom side in the league create chance after chance. Fortunately they contrived to miss them, but this is United, and you don’t expect Falcao, Van Persie and Mata to fluff their lines. Falcao was clear through, it seemed to take an age when the evening replay showed he had in fact only a fraction of a second to react, but his shot was closer to a toddler kicking a balloon in the living room. It gently plopped into Hugo’s hands.

A couple of those misses were early in the second half but gradually, imperceptibly Spurs gained the initiative. Mason and Stambouli worked extremely hard with the latter showing a positional discipline that has been absent until now. We stopped United’s supply at source, preventing them from using the ball efficiently and limiting the wingbacks’ attacking influence.

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Without doing anything spectacular, Spurs had position and possession. Now when the ball was in midfield, more often than not we came away with it. Kane was outstanding. Outnumbered up front on his own, he was tireless and intelligent. Always available, when the ball reached him he was never content just to be there but tried to move it on, often taking it towards the United defence and taking on three of four defenders in the process. It did not always work but that’s not the point – United could never settle because of him. In a fine season, his best performance so far.

Eriksen used to start brightly and fade. Now he comes into his own in the second half. I would have got the subs on earlier, Dembele’s strength would have been handy.

Our best chance encapsulated our second half in a single move. Kane carried the ball onwards against the odds and slid it through to the onrushing Mason, who came from nowhere it seemed. In fact he must have run fully 70 yards from deep in our half to get on the end of it. He blasted over and beat the ground in frustration but he was there.

More evidence of progress. The effort and application, a settled centreback pairing paying dividends, coming on strong at the end. Yet we remain a team of contradictions. Ludicrously giving the ball away at free-kicks, a lack of protection for our full-backs in particular and the back four in general, we should not have to rely on the opposition missing so often. I didn’t do a boxing day match report, but read Villa, Hull and Swansea only more so. We defended diabolically. Odd to stress this given our recent good run of results but it has to be said.

It’s where we are, a side in development, some good things, some bad. We finished the hungrier and more ambitious, our fitness levels carrying the momentum until the end. I strongly suspect United came off the park envious of that commitment and that’s not something I could have written at any point in the past about this fixture. That was absent earlier in the season. It’s the foundation for the success of any side and that’s got to be a very good thing indeed.