London Calling is weekly column covering football in the English capital
LONDON CALLING – The end of St Totteringham’s Day?
There’s been a battle waging since (what seems like) time began in North London between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Not since the 1994/1995 Premier League season has Tottenham finished above their neighbours, but with a stroke of Harry Kane’s right foot, and later with a nod of his head, Tottenham beat Arsenal 2-1 to move ahead of the Gunners in the Barclays Premier League.
Arsenal and Tottenham have been jostling for position all season. For seven of the last nine seasons Tottenham have finished within one place of their North London rivals — not to mention above every other team in the Premier League at least once — but for 20 years Arsenal have always found a way to come out on top.
Their dominance has been so complete that Arsenal fans now celebrate St Totteringham’s Day which falls on the day that Spurs can no longer statistically finish ahead Arsenal in the league.
In previous years you could argue that Arsenal have simply had better, deeper squads, and in Arsene Wenger a better manager too.
Since 2005, though, each club has won just one trophy: Arsenal the FA Cup in 2014, and Tottenham the League Cup in 2008, Arsene Wenger last year even alluded that to finish 4th in the Premier League was a trophy in itself. This is Arsenal’s main problem — an obsession with finishing fourth, an obsession with finishing above Tottenham Hotspur. Soccer-Gods forbid Arsenal should go all out to win something and come up short to Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal want to finish higher than Tottenham, sure, but it seems as though a team like Arsenal who have just spend around £90 million (that’s about $145 million) between players like Alexis Sanchez, Callum Chambers, Danny Welbeck, Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina, and most recently Gabriel Paulista, should be more ambitious in their goals for the Premier League.
Pair the above players with Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud, Jack Wilshere, and Aaron Ramsey and it’s a wonder that all they are seemingly interested in is finishing fourth.
Fourth = Champions League football, but not guaranteed. Fourth = Less prize money (than 1st, 2nd, and 3rd), but it seems that for Arsenal fourth = At least one place above Tottenham. The problem is, though, is that all that is about to change.
Harry Kane’s winner for Tottenham at White Hart Lane sparked Spurs to release a video of the fan reactions to beating Arsenal for only the 7th time in 45 derby matches that Arsene Wenger has been in-charge of.
On the day, Tottenham went behind 1-0 after Mesut Ozil scored in the 11th minute. “Here we go again,” Tottenham fans must have groaned — but there is something that feels different about this team. Tottenham have been the “nearly men” for too long.
Many lament the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, but Daniel Levy has been wise with re-investing that into the club. Tottenham did not just simply buy replacements, or splash £50 million on one player, they spent it on young players, on developing what they already had.
This Tottenham team has confidence — it beat, and completely outclassed, Premier League leaders by 7 points Chelsea 5-3 — and moreover, this Tottenham team has the ability to see it out when it matters.
Are they on a par with Chelsea and Manchester City? No, of course not. But where Arsenal seemingly lack the gumption to hold on to a result when they need it, Tottenham have developed the “winning mentality” that managers like Jose Mourinho talk so much about.
Spearheading this new-look Tottenham side is the meteoric rise of Harry Kane.
Harry Kane is an enigma. Kane has bounced around on loan for years, most notably at Millwall where he scored 9 goals in 24 total appearances. Never before has Harry Kane scored more than that in his professional career, with 22 goals in all competitions this season he has cemented his place in the Tottenham team as somebody to rely on, and Roy Hodgson would surely face immense backlash if he did not include him in his next England squad. Kane has the grit, determination, and footballing intelligence that Tottenham hasn’t realistically seen in a striker since Teddy Sheringham.
There have been calls for Kane to get a cap for England
Photo: THFC
The sky is the limit for Harry Kane, and for Tottenham Hotspur. With players like Hugo Lloris, Christian Eriksen, Jan Verthonghen, Kyle Walker, Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Moussa Dembele Tottenham have created an experienced backbone for the likes of Harry Kane, Erik Dier, Danny Rose, Nabil Bentaleb, and Ryan Mason to flourish.
Mauricio Pochettino has been instrumental in this. His time at Southampton a resounding success, work-ethic and creating a winning mentality are his philosophies. Maybe it’s time for the mercurial Arsene Wenger to lift a page from his Argentinian neighbour’s book. After all, the best people in any kind of profession are the ones who refuse to stop learning (see Sir Alex Ferguson, and Jose Mourinho).
Seven of the last nine seasons Tottenham has come within just a few points of finishing above the Gunners, and with Pochettino at the helm, Kane scoring goals, and a winning mentality instilled in the squad, there has never been a more likely time for power to swing to Tottenham’s side of North London.
