Article by David LevyI am currently away on holiday in Thailand, basking in sunshine enjoying a bit of all day beer consumption. Following the Man City game this two week break became my focus, my salvation. My thoughts on the two weeks following, as I recharge from a long year are as follows:
Confidence breeds confidence.
There is an undoubted truth to that statement in any walk of life. We had a player last year that oozed confidence from his every pore. He exuded a nearly inhuman ability to consistently score other worldly goals when everyone around him seemed unable to produce the least of what their abilities should have allowed them to do.
The more he scored, the better he played (even going back to the Harry days) - his belief increased in what he was capable of. We all believed.
The debacle at the Ethiad , coupled with the previous lack of consistency and maybe more importantly, goals, had left us all low, bewildered and somewhat negative about the future.
We had very little to go on in terms of footballing prowess so far this season. Flashes of brilliance and goals a rarity and our previously great defensive record shattered in one fell swoop.
Something beyond our footballing abilities and system needed to be changed. Even great players falter and need to dig deep beyond the knowledge of their talent to regain their edge. And even though we have great players in our ranks, potentially more than I've seen before in my spurs supporting years, it is the teams confidence as a whole that appeared to be struggling.
Sometimes AVB doesn't do himself or the team any favours. Persisting with a formation (inverted wingers) that had stagnated after showing some promise in our early games (in all competitions) had perhaps sapped some belief out of the team. He is young and inexperienced and as I and many other people pointed out, he needed to take the next bend in his learning curve and bring himself out of his comfort zone by unleashing the players a bit more.
Sometimes, unfortunately, you need to hit rock bottom before you are truly ready to take those scary steps into the unknown.
Confidence breeds confidence.
The last 3 games we have seen a gradual rebirth of this team. The Man United game was a great first step. We should have won it, we had the possession and the chances in the first half to make it much harder for them to come back at us but we also practically gifted them both goals. What stood out though was our two goals, our confidence, our grit and determination. Lennon typically making Evra look second rate, Paulinho proving he can play in the No.10 role and Sandro being the beast we all know he can be.
It was after the game, however, where the togetherness really shone through. AVB’s post match conference, now forgotten by the media, was bullish and defiant. He stuck up for the club and it showed the respect he had for the players and the fans. Our own players came out in his support and told of how low they were following the Man City game. AVB picked them up, grew up and injected a new life into the team.
Our two following games, Fulham and Sunderland away, while winnable on paper, both had the potential for slip ups from us. Fulham buoyed by a new manager at the helm, Sunderland picking up form and feeling confident on the back of an unlucky result against Chelsea.
Both games saw us go 1-0 down. Both games required our boys to grit their teeth in determination and fight their way through to victory. Both games required a little bit of luck to get us the 3 points.
You could argue that we should have put our more clear cut chances away (Paulinho, I’m looking at you) so as not to require lady luck to caress us with her deft touch and subtle breath but our perseverance and never say die attitude is what put us in a position to capitalise the way that we did.
We deserved to win both games and had enough chances, especially against Sunderland, to romp to a more convincing victory. Those 6 points, 7 including the Man United game have put us back in touching distance with the top group of teams and as of last Sunday our oppositions 18 yard box curse is broken.
Lewis Holtby embodies the ideals I’m trying to put across here. We, the fans, need to learn to have a bit more patience and to stop writing off these young men as soon as they fall short of our misplaced expectations.
He had a bad game against City. They all did. But he has shown what he is capable of since and he has earned our respect by not drifting off into the wilderness and allowing negativity to creep into his being. He stepped up and produced as good a goal (against Fulham) and as good a No.10 performance (against Sunderland) as we have seen all season.
Confidence breeds confidence.
These players we see before us each week are not superhuman and they feel the same way we do. If I believed that they did not care about losing then I wouldn't bother with giving them the time I do, they wouldn't deserve it.
My final thoughts….
We need to stop gifting teams goals. Most of those conceded last week could have been avoided with a little more composure. Hopefully the back to back victories won’t have glossed over the work that needs to be done in terms of our concentration at the back.
Our midfield is extremely versatile and we should feel more and more comfortable with players playing in various positions as the season goes on and as our system continues to morph and adapt to different oppositions.
Dembele, when on top form, is impossible to get the ball off and can be the midfield driver we all know he is capable of being.
I am enjoying Kyle Walker play more as each game passes.
One of our strikers needs to start scoring.
The media can f-off - AVB is going nowhere.
Bring on the ‘pool. Time for this rebirth to be complete.
COYS.
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I hope that we beat Liverpoo so much. That is all. COYS.
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