“There once was a man called Andre,
Who had a short West London stay.
But their loss is our gain,
‘cos he came to the Lane.
And his team plays the Tottenham way!”
Hello again, Spurs fans.
I’ve been thinking about so many other clubs around England and Europe. Ones that play supposedly ‘sexy’ football, and I found myself asking; how many of the fans of these clubs would give up the style of football they play for success with scrappy boring 1-0’s? Would Swansea fans give up the sweet controlled passing style they play so well now for a long ball Wimbledon-style game-plan if it pushed them towards the top 6? Would Arsenal fans happily go back to the boring George Graham days to finally land a trophy?
Every team I thought of, I truly believed the answer was a big fat yes. They would trade pretty football for success.
Then I thought about us.
Some of our younger readers may not know that it was then Tottenham manager Arthur Rowe who created the style of football we all know and love today back in 1949. It’s true, Google it! This is the man who devised the push-and-run, the 1-2, the give-and-go, and we romped to two titles in a row playing this way.
Ever since then, we have demanded attractive football from our players. More so than the fans of any other club in the world, I truly believe this. So my question is....Are we demanding too much about the way we play, and not enough about succeeding no matter what?
There are loads and LOADS of Spurs fans out there who wouldn’t give up the style of football we’ve become accustomed to even if it meant an extra win here or there, and I’ll be honest readers, I’m one of them. I’ve seen the hard workers like Sedgely and Samways come and go, but it’s the Ginola’s, the Hoddle’s, the Waddle’s, and the Bale’s we all remember. The most boring manager we’ve had in history, George Graham, actually won us a trophy for the first time in 8 years, but we still didn’t like him. Partly due to the Gooner link, but also because of the sheer tedium of what we were watching.
Are our demands for the beautiful game actually hindering our hopes of challenging at the top, or should we be proud of what we expect from Spurs?
I, for one, would NOT swap the attractive football for a boring, last minute 1-0 win, and I’ll never change my mind about that.
Our demands in the past have led to goals like Hoddle against Watford or Oxford, Ginola against Barnsley, Jurgen’s overhead kick against Everton, and of course Ricky Villa’s moment of magic!
If I’m honest Spurs fans, I expect a lot of you to disagree with what I’ve written (comments welcome below), but I am holding out hope that many of you also see the style of football we play as just as important as the results we get.
As the song says, “It Ain’t What You Do, It’s The Way That You Do It”.
COME ON YOU SPURS!!
Comment on this article below.
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Lies.. you know you want to watch match of the day to see sexy football from Spurs. We're getting closer to that successful playing style and winning matches, take heart and hold faith we will make it.. and soon :)
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