I’m getting on a bit now. April next year, my 50^th anniversary at White Hart Lane. Football’s changed, watching the game even more so, but I haven’t, not really. Lose and it affects my mood for several days. A good win in a big game, nothing like it. Nothing, because this is a grand old team to see. If anything my connection with Spurs is deeper than it’s ever been. It’s not a fashionable view, because fans are drifting away from the game, and I get it, I see why. It’s just that I’ve had my crisis of faith several years ago when logic demanded I should loosen the ties, but I couldn’t, instinctively couldn’t, and wouldn’t.

I’m old. I don’t have unrealistic expectations or the sense of entitlement that characterises a generation of support brought up on Super Sunday, the holy grail of the anointed Top Four or a history that begins in 1992. I just want them to give a right good go, league and cup. Be contenders, be something, win something. And I’ve been let down.

Last night Spurs slipped out of the Champions League, unnoticed and unmourned, not with a bang but with a whimper. Monaco beat us home and away. They are a neat, decent side well set up to make the most of their talents and, in both games, Tottenham’s deficiencies. But that’s not the point. What matters is, it didn’t matter. Not apparently to the players who did not give of their best not just last night but in the whole tournament, nor to the manager.

Pochettino expressed anger about the performance in his post-match quotes but throughout he has been unwilling to put out a full-strength side. Yesterday in a match we had to win to stay in the CL, he left out Vertonghen, Eriksen and Walker, Sissoko too, compounded by fiddling around with the formation to a sort of 4-3-2-1. He didn’t want it and this fed through to the players.

I don’t like it and I don’t get it. Well, I do, in that the manager’s message is that the Premier League is the main target and nothing else matters very much. Bu this is the Champion’s League. We toiled long and hard to get there, surely it’s worth more than this. Prestige. Money. Glory. Choose any one of those and you have a reason to be motivated. We opted for none of the above.

Stay in the competition at least to the knock-out stages and even more money comes rolling in. Far be it from me, old-fashioned, living in the past, to say that glory in taking on Europe’s best is motivation enough. Giving supporters a treat, those supporters who formed the biggest ever British crowd for a club game and promptly beat it three weeks later, far be it from me to suggest we could have some fun, get behind the team, all in white and take them all on.

I admire Pochettino and his team hugely. They are as committed and as motivated as any Spurs side I have ever seen and the manager has worked wonders at the club. With this decision, he is wrong. It’s a waste. This is the Champions League not the League Whatever It’s Called This Year Cup 2^nd round. Never mind the good old days of Europe under lights at the Lane, Benfica, Gornik, Anderlecht, Barca, Milan, I’ll take those memories to my grave with me and alongside them will be the outstanding football this young side played last season. I love this team. And for what? Losing I can deal with, the lack of interest I cannot.

So what’s the plan? Finish on the top four to qualify for a tournament we won’t try in because we want to concentrate on finishing in the top four to qualify for a tournament we won’t try in. Repeat to fade.

Last night Lloris played them on his own. Heroic Hugo saved a penalty and produced a string of top class saves including one astounding reaction leap than defied the laws of nature. Sadly it failed to inspire those in front of him. The back four was constantly stretched. Although Wanyama dropped in between the two centre halves, the full-backs had no protection from the midfield and were exposed, or rather the space behind them was, a fertile breeding ground for opposition attacks.

From one cross, our back four lined up on the 6 yard box as if they were zonal marking for a corner. The Monaco attackers stood off and were all unmarked. One headed it in, the others had the freedom of the box. Back in the game after Kane’s penalty, we conceded straight from the kick-off. What were they thinking? Nothing, apparently. This was a mug’s goal. Spurs stalwart and friend of the blog Adam Powley tweeted that the team of the early 80s, after they scored they either got possession or fouled within three opposition touches. We need some of that nouse.

One more example sums up the game. Loose ball, edge of the box. Wanyama takes a wild slice, misses. On Saturday, I praised Dier for the immaculate way he shepherded Payet to safety, nullifying a dangerous break without even tackling him. Yesterday he too took a wild clumsy heave at this same ball, nowhere near it and conceding a penalty. It’s all in the mind and their minds were somewhere else.

I’m disappointed and numb. This is so out of character. This is the team that gives everything, 100% commitment, that’s their trademark. I know Spurs weren’t going to win the Champion’s League but I wanted Europe to see how good we are, to see some of that flowing, effortless football, how we take the game to the opposition and don’t sit back and wait for the other side to die of boredom. I wanted people to see proper Tottenham because I’m proud of them. Even that was denied me, me and all the other proud Spurs supporters. Newsnow filter out articles containing swearwords, so here is reader participation – insert your expletives of choice here. I’m truly hacked off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modern football’s greed and rampant consumerism threatens to drive fans away from the game they love but if any of those departing paused to look back over their shoulder, Harry Winks’ goal celebration on Saturday would melt the hardest of hearts. Janssen’s fierce shot was beaten away by the keeper and up Winks popped to thump the bouncing ball home from close range, whereupon he dashed joyfully to the touchline and into the arms of the manager who had given him his chance.

Nothing rehearsed, no in-jokes but wild youthful exuberance from a player delighted just to be out there, for whom pulling on the white shirt is a privilege. I say youthful but he’s actually 20 but looks younger. Compared with the others, with his fresh face and hair carefully parted, he’s somebody’s young brother who has sneaked into the party. Local boy makes good after manager from halfway round the world reckons he can play. The rest of the side piled in, pleased for him.

And play he can. He’s a fine player, willing to take responsibility, always play the ball forward quickly and has the right weight on his passes. Switched to a more central role in the second half, he shone, playing without fear in a fearsome, frantic derby atmosphere. Highly impressive.

His team-mates celebrated the goal with him but, and let’s fall to earth here, their pleasure was mixed with relief because up until then, Spurs were second best. The first half belonged to Slaven Bilic. His set-up gave West Ham the edge all over the pitch. He had three at the back and two wing-backs in Creswell and Antonio suited for that system, i.e. not converted midfielders, plus one up front. Against that, Pochettino went 4-1-3-2, with Kane and Janssen up front, as opposed to like for like after the success of our three at the back versus Arsenal.

Our strikers were still outnumbered while our full-backs could not get forward. Also the forward three, Dembele, Winks and Eriksen, are all essentially central players, so they drifted in and we had no width. Repeatedly our opponents were first to the ball, no more so than when Antonio picked up a loose ball from a corner to open the scoring. That passage of play – two corners in succession – came after we gave away possession playing it from the back. Kicking the ball long can give it way too but we put unnecessary pressure on ourselves and gave away the initiative.

This was a cracking game for the neutral, full of high-speed attacking football and complete commitment from both sides. The only problem is, I’m not neutral, so enjoyment was to be had only after the final whistle (but that made up for the rest, mind). Four games in one, as Spurs lost it, looked like they would win it, threw it way then improbably but joyously pinched not one goal and a point, which I would have settled for, but two and three respectively.

At half-time I couldn’t see anything changing. Then Winks’ goal changed everything. Never mind the tactics. I enjoy the sophisticated analysis that people like Spurs Fanatic and TTT Tactics do superbly on twitter and on their sites, it’s fascinating. However, nothing compares with scoring a goal. Spurs were rejuvenated, winning tackles all of a sudden and putting some useful passing moves together. Any passing move was an improvement on what had gone before.

Tactics though – yep. Rose was finding a way through on the left. Once more he was outstanding. He’s among the best full-backs in Europe now and if there is a player who has improved his game more in the middle part of his career then I’ve yet to see him. First to the byline for the cross to set up the equaliser then from deeper he found Dier, whose header was well-saved low down but he really should not have given the keeper the chance to get near it.

At this point Spurs had the Hammers rocking, Winks leading from the back, comfortable again in front of the back four, then from a corner Janssen blatantly fouled Reid, penalty. Back on our heels again, no ideas or creativity, ten yard passes had become too much again. Vertonghen’s tackle on Payet was perfect and saved a certain goal, making up for his ineffective marking at the corner that put them one up. Later, when Payet was belatedly a danger, Dier jockeyed him to safety in a manner that suggested he is a centre half born and bred.

Son came on to give us width. Instead he provided tragi-comedy, perhaps the worst, least-impactful 10 minutes possible, running into defenders and kicking it at them at every opportunity. Switched left, transformed. Few minutes left, low cross to Kane, touched in. Unexpected even by the most optimistic and missed by the many who had already left in exasperation.

Son again, on the left, going away from goal then going down after a clumsy tackle. Kane, calm, bottom corner, bedlam. Lost and won then lost, now won, didn’t see that coming, unexpected and all the sweeter for it. A game to savour more on the way home than during the 90 minutes.

My mantra – enjoy it while you can. But while we defended well – Lloris had little to do again – for extended periods we showed little creativity and the tempo was slow. The problems we have had all season in making chances, let alone scoring goals, were evident again and Pochettino was outmanoeuvred in the first half after a fine ‘performance’ last week. But this was Harry’s game – Winks that is. he’ll remember his debut until the day he dies and who knows, in twenty years fans may be saying, ‘Winks, I was there when he made his debut you know…’

So victory in the Lop-sided Derby – their cup final, we’re indifferent. It’s an odd relationship, one which if not unique then can’t be repeated in too many towns and cities across the country. Bilic himself said this was their most important match of the season and I have no doubt they despise us with a passion, but it’s not reciprocated, at least not to the same extent. Derbies have to have a balance of feeling on both sides, surely.

The stadium business cranked up the anger. To me Stratford is W Ham territory, no question, and I don’t blame them, I would get wound up at the very thought of another club muscling onto our patch. 1913 was bad enough…. Again though, it wasn’t reciprocated because most Spurs fans didn’t want to go there and we delighted when we stayed in N17. When in the lead, the Hammers’ fans taunted us with ‘it’s happening again.’ I’m duty bound to ask, what exactly? They won the last match, 1-0 and fully deserved it, in the process forgetting their 4-1 defeat at the Lane and the series of late goals that have given us a point or three in recent times. Kane’s 95^th minute penalty rebound winner, Bale’s glorious top-corner winner, Stalteri’s late tap in or Dier’s cultured touch round the keeper. Odd.

 

 

Those of us of a certain age are fond of rolling back the years to the glory glory nights, where memories are rich and warm, where the lights were bright but none shone as brilliantly as the stars in all white. Against Bayer Leverkusen, Spurs went back in time to a reality most of us prefer to shift out of the way to gather dust in a dark corner, the cupboard under the stairs of the mind. Instead of rising to the challenge, Spurs sank without trace.

Spurs stunk the place out. The stench lingered longer than the queue for Wembley Park. Back to the bad old days. No purpose or ambition, no passing or basic team play. No idea.

I really thought we had got past this, that even under par we could make a good fist of things. The combination of the inexact science of the NHS appointments system and southeast London’s totally inadequate transport system meant that I missed this one. For once I was almost glad I was spared the gloom of the Wembley queue.  The second half was utterly atrocious.

A first half hour high in effort and low on opportunities was punctuated by absurd methods of giving the ball away when under pressure, Lloris’s fluffed passes and Eriksen’s crossfield pass being the two most notable examples. We could not keep the ball for any length of time but neither side were dominant. The Germans looked more dangerous with runners sliding into the channels, something we conspicuously failed to achieve at the other end. When we did so on a rare break, Eriksen ignored four other options in favour of a shot from distance.

I can’t recall a proper chance in this period. Later, Spurs roused themselves briefly around the hour mark with Walker leaving four men in his wake then shooting wide from an angle, while a cross drifted past Janssen. Otherwise we were too narrow, missing Rose on the left and Sissoko keen to drift inside without linking effectively with Walker to the outside. Son was peripheral and when he had the ball he returned to his old habit of running well then kicking it straight at the defender in front of him.

Everyone’s decision-taking was poor. This meant we had no possession and promising moves quickly ended with a misplaced pass, a tackle because we were hesitant or simply trying to pass or run the ball into a space where none existed. Sissoko and Dele were especially guilty of this. I’m talking basic stuff here, 10 yard passes became worthy of applause by the end such was their rarity.

This rather implies we had some sort of plan. I’m sure we did but it was not evident to anyone in the English record crowd for a club game of over 85,000. Pochettino fumed on the touchline. The defence, our rock this season, was stupefyingly awful. Leverkusen could easily have scored four or five. In the first half Vertonghen blocked and Lloris saved when a score seemed certain. There were several other great opportunities in the second.

How can players fall apart in this way? Kyle Walker: a case study. He’s been outstanding this season, without reservation, going forward and, given his previous positional frailties, remarkable at the back. At least some good came from England’s Euro 16 debacle – Walker had matured. Last night it was as if he’d been exposed to that memory eraser from Men in Black. Failed clearances, caught on the ball near the box, hope rather than judgement conditioning his response to a ball on the byline. He lost it and the Germans somehow contrived not to score. His expression turned from the determined professional we’ve seen all season to the bewildered nervous schoolboy of times past. What was he thinking?

I could go on but it makes me sad. Sad and disappointed, not angry. What a waste of the opportunity. Spurs fans thrilled by the availability of cheap seats and CL football, sent home desperately disenchanted.

The team have let themselves down and left fans frustrated once more. We earned a place in the CL: I wanted Spurs to show Europe how good we could be. That’s all – get out of the group and see what happens, we weren’t going to win it. Probably. Not a lot to ask. Hardly unrealistic expectations, yet unfulfilled.

The Wembley effect: compare and contrast. Playing at Wembley may inspire opponents – it can inspire Tottenham too, but doesn’t. The pitch is bigger than White Hart Lane and again that’s something we could turn to our advantage. Instead, we seem overawed and frankly out of our depth. The CL is one thing, an entire season like this quite another. If we can’t play at Wembley, pointless entering the cups then.

Any focus on changing circumstances conceals the sobering reality of continuing issues that have been bubbling under since the season began. This is still a developing squad without concerted experience playing as a team at Champions League level. Teams who do well in this competition depend on experience. Summer purchases by and large were made with an eye to the future rather than instant gratification. Wanyama has taken a big step up while Janssen may be an international but is only part way through his second season playing in top-flight football. It shows.

Without Kane and Alderweireld, the spine of the team was weakened and we chose not to buy one or two seasoned professionals who could have conveyed their experience to the others. Last night there were no leaders on the pitch. I don’t mean fist pumping gobshites but men able to assert themselves when things are going wrong. This applies as much in respect of their influence on their team-mates as over the opposition.

The squad is just not deep enough. Harry Winks is a fine prospect but with all respect to him, we should not have to bring on a player yet to start in the Premier League to add creativity to a side chasing the game.

Also, this may be dull and obvious but we have several players not at the top of their game. On Saturday we ground to a halt in the last fifteen minutes, devoid of ideas, players shrugging their shoulders at each other, bickering, something I’ve not seen for many, many matches. Eriksen is busy but remains an actor who knows the words but is searching for the plot. Janssen is up for the battle but loses the ball too often, Dembele is hesitantly groping for fitness and form, while Dele’s habit of leaving a touch to the last second is getting him into trouble more often than it creates opportunities. Sissoko has not had a proper pre-season and clearly has yet to grasp what is expected of him. All players need time to settle so I will leave it there, although long-term issues are surfacing about where and how he fits the way we play. We embraced Son and his goals but perhaps our enthusiasm understandably obscured these underlying problems. The City performance, as good as anything I’ve seen in decades, was heralded as a sign of a step-change in progress. Now it looks like the outlier, a hint of what might be but last night showed how much there is still to do.

 

This is starting to bother me. Since beating City at the beginning of the month, Spurs have scored a single goal from open play and only three points from a possible nine in the league. It’s not as if we’ve been making and missing a hatful of chances either, although some shot stats I saw yesterday suggest shooting practice is in order.

Against Leicester we hit the bar twice while at the other end Lloris barely had a save to make, their equaliser coming from a rare Wanyama error. Yet this is no demonstration of superiority. Rather, the game always felt it was in the balance because of their threat on the counter and because we had so much of the ball without getting anywhere. I’m delighted that once more our defence impressed, with Vertonghen covering everything and Dier’s best performance of the season, a strong, composed centre half again. It’s just disconcerting for a Tottenham fan of my vintage to be relying on a solid back line. While we’ve had some great defenders in my time, it’s always been a case of we’ll score one more than you.

What worries me most is that on Saturday, for the first time this season the team did not convince themselves. The familiar patterns were in place but the players couldn’t join the dots. Janssen pushed up on the centre backs, the midfield interchanged, Dele swayed up and back, the full-backs were herculean in their efforts in attack and defence, Wanyama the midfield lynchpin. All of which led to little end product. By the final quarter, movement had slowed and the players started shrugging at each other. They had run out of ideas and no one had the spark or leadership to change it.

If these patterns are familiar to us, then they are well-known in the Premier League. Teams know how to play against us. Fall back, cut out the space, crowd the centre. Sure enough, time and again our on-twos were ineffective, bayonets against concrete bunkers. The Leicester back four did exactly what they had planned for, stayed stock still and beat away almost every effort.

It’s all relative. We remain unbeaten with the best defence in the league and within touching distance of the leaders. So no panic. But I don’t think we do enough to pull these defences out of shape. Son was ineffective – their defence just watched him run about a bit – while Janssen is intent on winning a personal old-school battle with his centre-half rather than trying to slip away from him and into some space. Three times in the first five minutes Janssen bored into Morgan as the ball was played up to him, three times Morgan won it. With the ball we push up early to have three men up on their back four but it is too easy for them to be marked especially if as on Saturday the build-up is slow. Drop back, interchange, push midfielders into the gaps, give opponents something to think about.

City came to attack, therefore they left more space for us when they lost the ball and we could exploit them on the counter. It’s no coincidence that our best move on Saturday came on the break when Leicester had pushed up, Walker’s run and cross came to Dele who thundered a first time shot against the bar. It was a brilliant piece of football, a shining light as the performance descended into gloom.

Later, Janssen finally got some change out of Huth and Morgan. First he touched the ball back and therefore away from the tackle to slide a shot just wide, then another header just behind him hit the bar too. He has a lot to give but his team-mates do not combine with him.

Alderweireld is not merely absent from our defence, we also miss his play from the back, be it keeping the ball on the go, his forays into space left behind as opponents drop or those long balls for Dele. Fine margins, all make a difference.

In a tight game goals were bound to come from penalties and mistakes. We had the pen, Janssen manhandled by Huth. I’ve not seen a replay. On the day it looked a foul but could have been dismissed as an over-reaction as the Dutchman fell. It seemed a case of a referee whose poor officiating put him under pressure. Amidst the tugging and shirt-pulling he asserted himself by giving this one after failing to see others, on both sides I may add. Spurs were playing on it, going down on every challenge.

The mistake was ours too. Early in the second half Wanyama’s uncommitted pass back was intercepted and ended up being bundled in at the far post. He’s been excellent this season – before the restart he hung not just his head but his body in shame and despair.

Rose and Walker were outstanding once more. Walker’s maturity since the Euros is remarkable, beyond anything anyone could have hoped for. If only he was a more reliable crosser of the ball. Vertonghen did well again. For the past few games he’s defended on his own almost, covering everything, blocking everything. On Saturday Dier was imposing in his own right, a welcome return to form. One first-half tackle on Vardy as he was clear was terrific, a potential match-saver.

On the down side. Eriksen’s afternoon was summed up by his three free-kicks – weak and unconvincing. Son and Dele were ineffective, Dembele easing his way back to fitness and from but too deep to threaten. Winks came on late and produced the only throughball of our afternoon, which was encapsulated in two free-kicks in the las quarter. Both were in their half. One was played backwards across our back four, the other was knocked forward with both centre halves firmly rooted on the halfway line.

As a postscript, Spurs deserve a major bollixing over their decision to move the Burnley home fixture from Saturday 17^th to the Sunday. It’s the start of the Christmas period which for many people signals the commencement of finely tuned advanced planning to get things done. It gives us an extra day’s preparation, fine, but there’s no excuse for making the move well after the TV fixture changes have been announced. It’s not been done for TV but that makes it worse – the delay will cost a lot of people a lot of money, and there’s no excuse.

And don’t forget – how could you – A People’s History of Tottenham Hotspur by him and me, a groundbreaking history of Spurs support and supporters. Amazon here, including Kindle and Amazon.com currently less than a tenner. I mean honestly.