Tag Archives: Tottenham

New stadium, same brainless fans

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Morning all. Hacve we all recovered from Sunday now?

What a day. What a result. One of them that will have us on cloud 9 for some time to come!

I was apprehensive before the game. We had not beaten Spurs away in the league since 2014. That apprehension diminished as I had a few beers and saw the line-ups.

Lots of people do “Combined XI’s” before big games. For me, they are up there with half and half scarves and holding cardboard signs begging for players shirts. Just no.

On seeing the line-ups, it was a struggle to see who from Spurs would get into the Arsenal team. Harry Kane is probably the only one. And even that is debatable as he does not have the legs to press the way Gabriel Jesus or Eddie Nketiah do.

It was the first time at their new ground, and what a fun experience!

Anyone who went to their old ground will know their wierd fans would stand on a street corner to hurl abuse as we did a right onto Park Lane towards the away end. I never really got it. None of them would do anything, and they would just stand behind the line of police giving it large.

I always wondered whether if the police disappeared, they would as well. Not as easy getting brave when no one is there to protect you.

In their new ground, the away end has moved. And it now makes sense to come up via Northumberland Park, walk west down Park Lane and do a right onto Worcester Avenue.

And low and behold, on the junction of Park Lane and Worcester Avenue were their fans, stood again behind police, singing “where the f**k are Arse-en-al?”

It was all very odd, because anyone doing a right onto Worcester Avenue were clearly Arsenal fans. And we certainly did not walk past trying to hide who we supported!

So their “hard men” have moved from the corner of Park Lane and the High Road to another street corner to welcome Arsenal fans whilst being kettled by police. All very strange.

The ground really was not that impressive when inside. Just the 3 levels of corporate seating! It really is designed to maximise that corporate revenue at the sacrifice of common fans. Much worse than the Emirates.

What I would say is the ground does clear quickly. As the final whistle went, their “big stand” was probably 70% empty. Good effort allowing fans to exit so quickly.

We dominated them. We turned up to their house, shagged their wife whilst they watched on in a corner, and then left without cleaning up after ourselves.

The fact their fans were reduced to attempting to assault Aaron Ramsdale, and throwing obsenities behind the police lines does show how backwards they are. Must be something in the water in Middlesex.

After Manchester City’s defeat, we are now favourites to win the league. I am not comfortable with that.

Up next is the inform Manchester United. City play twice before that game, so the 8 point gap may be just 2 before we play next.

We just need to keep taking it one game at a time.

I will not allow myself to dream. Yet. But for now all my dreams are about Sunday!

UTA

Keenos

The apprehension and excitment of Tottenham away

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Morning all and Happy North London Derby Day.

Tottenham away, a game I look forward too and at the same time dread. Today is my first visit to their new ground.

Not much will beat the nervous energy, the antacipation walking down the High Road. With your mates. Us against them, ready for whatever happens.

But White Hart Lane has not been a happy hunting ground for us in recent years. The North London Derby has massively favoured the home teams over the last decade or so.

We have not beaten Tottenham away since the 2015 League Cup, Mathieu Flamini with those two goals. I was there that night, and what a night it was.

Our last league win was 2014, Tomas Rosicky with the only goal.

Before you think “Keenos is a luck omen, glad he is going today”, they are the only two occassions I have seen us win at their place. Three if you include a FA Youth Cup game when Jack Wilshere pulled the strings!

Since Tottenham ended out 21-game unbeaten run against them in 2008, we have won just 2 of 16 away games at White Hart Lane (or Wembley). Both mentioned above.

And in recent years, the away game against that lot have been where our hopes and dreams have crashed and burned.

Last season, a victory against Tottenham with 3 games to go would have guaranteed us a top 4 place, and finishing above them for the first time since 2016. We were turned over 3-0 with Harry Kane opening the scoring with his customary North London Derby penalty.

2019 is also a North London Derby day that bitterly sticks in the memory.

1-1 and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang is bought down for an 89th minute penalty. Our talisman gets up, dusts himself down, and takes tne penalty. SAVED.

And then to add insult to injury, just as Aubameyang looked set to tap into the empty net, Jan Vertonghen makes a last-ditch slide challenge.

Vertonghen had encroached deeply into the area on the penalty but he got away with it. Without that, he would not have been able to make the tackle. And there was no VAR in those days.

Two points dropped, and they ended up being crucial as we finished a single point behind Tottenham, and failed to make the top 4.

So I make no apologies for feeling apprehensive ahead of the game today. Although after a few beers in Islington and that journey to the stadium I will be bang up for it.

It does feel like we are in the middle of our most crucial period of the season.

We have already faced Brighton (A) & Newcastle (H). Both sides in the top 8.

Today it is a trip to Tottenham (5th), followed by a resurgent Manchester United (4th). We then have a tricky away trip to Everton – Goodison Park is never an easy win despite how poor they are.

That is followed by games against Brentford (9th) and Manchester City (2nd).

I have refused to get to embroiled in the title talk. Yes, we are in the race but we are certainly not favourites. The bookied have had Man City odds-on since before the season began. It should not be seen as a failure if Man City overhaul us and we end up 2nd.

If we are still above City after we have hosted them, I might allow a bit of belief to slip in. But even then we have a double header away in the Midlands against Aston Villa and Leicester City.

It is only really in March that it eases up a bit – we have a run of 3 out of 4 games at home , facing Bournemouth, Fulham (A), Crystal Palace and Leeds United.

And then we have the 6 games that will ultimately decide our future – Liverpool (A), West Ham (A), Manchester City (A), Chelsea (H) and Newcastle (A). The only bit of restbite is Southampton at home.

Today is all about getting the 3 points against Tottenham. And I think we will do that if Harry Kane does not get his usual penalty.

We will never hear the end of it if Kane equals, and breaks, Jimmy Greaves goal scoring record against us. But that will never make up for signing their captain for free, 1971 and 2004.

UTA

Keenos

Tottenham fans ‘most deluded in the Premier League’

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We all know Tottenham fans have delusions of grandeur, but I have not stopped laughing at their latest show of petulance.

The only team in the “Big 6” to have not won anything in the 15 years, they have spent the last half a decade telling anyone that would listen how good they were. And how much better and bigger than Arsenal they were.

The old saying is form is temporary, class is permanent. And it was only a matter of time until the class of The Arsenal rose again, and the good form of Spurs (15 on the all-time English champions list) evened itself back down.

But last week their fans go ahead and write a letter to the board “seeking answers to fundamental questions” about how the club is run.

Spurs fans are crying because their team is 5th in the table, 2 points off the Champions League places. 5th or 6th is probably Spurs’ par position. They only slipped out of the top 4 2 games ago.

This season they had their best opening 10 games to a campaign since the Premier League came into existence. The bad run of form they are complaining about is 2 losses in their previous 6 games. They should speak to Chelsea about bad runs.

Since 2019, they have spent €524m on player. And average of €131m a season. That is the 5 highest expenditure in the league, and just €12m less than Arsenal – they have also been very noisy about how much we have spent to top the league.

During that period, they have the 3rd highest net spend in the Premier League (for those that love net spend stats). Only Manchester United and Arsenal have a higher net spend.

Their fans are very loud about them having the World Cup winning goalkeeper. The best centra defender “in the world” (still not sure who they are talking about?). The best footballer Asia has ever seen. And England’s best ever striker.

They have a transfer guru who has secured them some of the “best talent in Europe” in Romero, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Perisic and Richarlison. In the summer they “won” the transfer window.

And they have the best manager in the world (according to them) in Antonio Conte. The Italian much better than the novice in charge of Arsenal.

They have spent so much, on so many top players, all whilst spending £1bn on “the greatest football stadium in the world”.

I don’t really get what they are complaining about.

Spending so much on a new stadium was always going to see them take a backwards step. Did they not see what happened to The Arsenal?

The Emirates had huge implications on our finances. Throw in the credit crunch and we had to sell to service the debt.

Tottenham are in huge debt due to their stadium and have also had to contend with the impact of Covid on their finances. Did they really think they could build a new stadium whilst also spending big on players? They have actually spent a lot more than most of us would have expected.

I am not really sure what their fans want. What they are crying about. What their demands are.

The real reason they are upset is probably because of us. Because we are top of the league.

They are having breakdowns because they have realised the last half a decade has been wasted.

All those seasons finishing above Arsenal came to nothing. And it was all they could hold onto whilst we won FA Cup after FA Cup.

Now we are back on our pedestal, and they are both below us and trophyless, they have lost their minds.

Their issue is not with ENIC, with Levy and how the club is run. It is with KSE, with Arteta, and how we are performing.

Instead of writing a letter for Levy, they should have written one to Josh.

“Dear Josh,

Please stop Arsenal being so good. Them being bad was our only bright light in football.

Thanks

A Spurs Fan.”

They mocked us for our “banter years” but the truth is the last few years have just been a respite from their banter decades.

I bet if we were 6th, and they were 4th, there would be no complaints.

Being top of the league has broken them. Imagine what will happen if we win it?

Spurs fans really are the most delusional in the league.

Keenos