those that shout the loudest

It’s amazing how quickly the collective mood can change.

Tottenham's Gareth Bale
isn’t the rule that if gareth looks this forlorn, the rest of us should too?

A month ago, I and my fellow Spurs supporters were ready to celebrate the club’s best season in the modern era. Tottenham were on pace for a third place finish, were arguably the favorite’s in the Europa League and we were trying not to talk about the points gap that seemed to be widening weekly between ourselves and the Goons. But now, we were bumped out of Europe by the measly FC Basel, we languish in fifth place in the league, and could be four points behind the scum before the end of the night.

Where did it all go wrong? What can Spurs do to save their season? And most importantly, who can we blame?

First and foremost, fire AVB. He’s supposedly leaving in the summer anyway. The club should sack him because he’s not blowing Redknapp’s results from last season out of the water, despite no longer having two of the club’s best players from last season and implementing a new system. #AVBout, right?

And how about that putrid Emmanuel Adebayor: he’s a lazy son of a bitch, isn’t he? Now that the Togolese “striker” has secured his permanent move to White Hart Lane, there’s no need to work any longer. He did the same thing at Arsenal and City, you know. It might be different if he contributed more goals than he has, but he’s basically contributed nothing aside from a paltry six goals this season. That’s why I boo him when everyone else does.

Sure, Bale has been great. A revelation even. And while the Welshman is burying goals at an elite pace, it drives me crazy that Bale is always playing through the middle. Isn’t that what we bought Gylfi/Dempsey/Holtby for? Not that it really matters. He’ll be off in the summer, auctioned for a ludicrous sum that chairman Daniel Levy will do nothing more than add to the massive pile of cash that doubles as the throne in his N17 office.

Speaking of Levy, that guy is clearly running this club into the floor. How else can you explain the lack of signings even though we’ve desperately needed a striker? Who cares if we’re trying to build a new stadium and compete with clubs with vastly larger resources than our own, he should have broken the wage ceiling and paid through the nose to sign a difference-maker like Loïc Rémy/Fernando Llorente/Lionel Messi.

I can’t believe they loaned out Andros Townsend when they knew we were thin on the wings. That guy Clint Dempsey: he’s shit. Kyle Walker seems like he’s nothing more than a one-season wonder. Stephen Freund doesn’t seem like he could beat up as many people as Joe Jordan. And yeah, the season isn’t over yet, but it might as well be. We may as well start planning for Thursday Eruopa League match nights next season, because there’s no way we’ll be playing on Tuesdays or Wednesdays in the Champions League. The physios can’t keep anyone fit (Ex: Kaboul, Sandro, Lennon, Bale, Gallas). In short: this was little more than disastrous season.

…at least that’s what everyone seems to be shouting.

Tottenham's Emmanuel Adebayor
even though we know adebayor’s play is affected by his confidence, let’s boo him anyway.

Why don’t all of you just calm down out there in murky depths of Twitter and the message boards. This situation isn’t quite as dire as you’re painting it.

Thank God Spurs had the weekend off. Depending on how the now-rescheduled Chelsea match would have gone, it’s entirely possible that a significant portion of the support would have gone into full meltdown mode. They would have burnt down White Hart Lane and driven Levy from his castle so they could lynch him up at Seven Sisters for everyone to see. It might still happen this weekend after the City match, so don’t hold your breath quite yet.

Yes, the run in is difficult. Yes, Spurs are short cover in a number of key spots on the field. Yes, they should have strengthened more than they did in January. And yes, a few of the complaints above can hold some water.

That said, the season’s not nearly over yet. Arsenal could drop some points, and so could Chelsea. Our strikers could find form. Bale and Lennon seems like they’re recovering well from their injuries. AVB is a resourceful manager, who has done a marvelous job almost completely retooling the side after summer departures and arrivals.

This may seem like the same old Spurs — faltering in the final stretch — but time and time again this year, they’ve proven that they’re not. They’ve shown an ability to claw their way back to victory, or at least take a point from losing positions, something Tottenham don’t normally do. We’ve shown a steely resolve on the road, another trait that’s very uncharacteristic in Lillywhite. This could just be a dip in form, and we may yet return to firing on full cylinders.

There’s time to turn this thing around, and all this negativity is doing nothing to help the situation. Hell, a little bit of hope may even shoot some karma in the team’s direction.

In the mean time, save your bitching, booing and brawling for when things are truly done and dusted. In time, you may find you won’t even need to do so.

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1 Comment

  1. Read it over! Watch out for grammatical and spelling errors! It’ll give your article a worse reception than it deserves!

    Like

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