England comeback stirred emotions that have long been dormant

The England supporter in me was broken a long time ago - so much so I feared I may have left it behind for good.

But Harry Kane n Co put on the perfect show on Saturday night to stir some long-dormant emotions.

The 3-2 comeback win against Germany in Berlin might have just been one of those results. You know the sort that happen in friendlies but never major tournaments?

But, with the manner of the win, it could be one of those moments so often falsely attributed to Three Lions teams - a turning point.

Regardless what it turns out to be, it was entertaining and it was fun. And, in years gone by, that was what being an England fan was all about.

It was about running over the park to recreate Gazza's goal – and his celebration.

It was being in the pub at 10am surrounded by flags and boozed up fun-time Frankies.

It was precocious young stars like Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen scoring goals you didn’t see coming. 

But for me that all changed during the 2006 World Cup. We had just beaten Ecuador in the last 16 as a Becks free-kick swept another drab performance under the carpet.

I was stood in the middle of a packed out, bleary-eyed and hug-happy Yates's bar. Everyone else was toasting our progression to another quarter-final. But all I remember thinking was, "That wasn't football. It just wasn't very good."

Drunken friends put their arm around me and wailed in my ear: "We won the game mate, that's all that matters."

But it wasn’t. This was International football. It was meant to be the pinnacle and I was struggling to enthuse over a side whose inspiration stretched only to sideways passes, long balls and 25-yard free-kicks.

It proved to be the start of a national loss of faith and patience as the entertainment was sapped out of being an England fan.

It was now about mega-rich players going through the motions. It was about the FA throwing money at managers then undermining them when it mattered.

It was big names being “bored" at a World Cup and Rooney shouting at the fans down a TV camera. 

It was tuning in for countless walkover qualifiers knowing your evening could be better spent.

This wasn't supporting England. This was a right royal stress. 

But last night was different. We had good honest hard-working stars from the Premier League's top two teams scoring terrific goals in a performance that lasted 90 minutes and then some.

We may have had to come from 2-0 down but we were the better team from start to finish. 

Rather than hanging our hopes on one or two stars, we have talent willing to step up all over the pitch.

Dele Alli was brilliant and Harry scored a fantastic goal that even paid tribute to the late, great Johan Cruyff and Eric Dier got the winner. What more could a Spurs fan ask for? Jamie Vardy’s equaliser wasn’t bad either.

It might not have meant anything in the grand scheme of things and it might not set us on the road to Euro 2016 glory. But it was what supporting your national team should be all about – just a bloody brilliant night.

And what’s more it gave me hope that my inner England fan might not be dead and buried after all.

Easter internationals lacking in eggcitement

Easter has long been the forgotten son of the festive family but this year it's really out on its ear.

Never a beneficiary of the turkey roast or the gifts of Christmas, never about the booze-fuelled all-night revelry of New Year.

And always lacking the American high-school promotion drive that has seen Halloween make such a comeback.

Easter did at least have the football. And that kept us all coming back.

True there are also the chocolate eggs and the Easter bunny - but once you are old enough to understand Playboy and Donnie Darko, even fictional rabbits lose their innocence.

I suppose Easter's biggest problem is that you can never quite tie it to a regular date. 

The movable feast is like that flaky mate who never texts back and is hard to pin down for a catch-up in the pub. 

But all this time at least it had two glorious full fixture lists where we would all reunite over a quick-fire double bank holiday and battle for grid positions before the end-of-season run-in.

No sooner have the papers finished their follow-ups to Good Friday's action-packed programme, they would be previewing the Easter Monday line-up as campaigns hurtle toward their conclusion.

Whether you hoped your team could prolong a title chase, mount a last-ditch play-off charge or steer away from a relegation scrap - by the end of the Easter double header you knew where you stood.

This year is different. This year it's internationals. Not just that but, as far as Europe is concerned, international friendlies. And it's just not fair.

They can't even play them all on the same days. Wales drew 1-1 with Northern Ireland last night. Nobody noticed.

The Republic of Ireland play tonight and England play tomorrow. 

It may be a designated Fifa international week - but with Euro 2016 coming in June, does UEFA really have to follow suit? 

England may be playing Germany then Holland but it's scant consolation. Since when have these big pre-tournament friendlies ever told us anything about the progress of our national team?

Prior to Germany 2006, England beat Argentina 3-2. Did it help? Did it 'eck! 

It may have meant we could beat the Argies but it didn't mean we knew how to take penalties and out we went to Portugal in a quarter-final shootout.

Again in late 2011, we won a tight backs-to-the-wall friendly with Spain 1-0. Come Euro 2012 we still could not take a penalty and again crashed out in a shootout to Italy.

Maybe instead of booking these high-profile international friendlies, players could spend the weekend at home practising penalties in the garden. That would probably do us more good.

Or just crack on, get the season done, finish a week early and give the national teams an extra week together over summer - wouldn't that be more beneficial?

I suppose it's nice that the two-week delay in Spurs' next league game means our title charge will last into April. And then who knows?

When all's said and done there is one thing this Easter offers that Christmas, New Year and Halloween could never dream of... 

The clocks go forward tomorrow as we kiss goodbye to the long cold nights. No other festival can promise warmer temperatures and more daylight can it!

So screw you winter, with your popular public holidays. And screw you Fifa, with your immovable international breaks!

Because summer is coming and, especially as far as Spurs go, the future is bright.

From here on in, it's all about nerve - and nerves.

THE focus of the season for Premier League fans has now changed from who will step up and push for the title, to who will slip up and surrender the title. 

Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are proving themselves to be more consistent and reliable than any Spurs side I have known.

But over the weekend the enjoyment that has this season come from watching a fluid team play attractive attacking football AND win games, was replaced by undeniable pre-match tension.

And for once it seems the players are coping with it better than the fans!

The lads made it very easy for us all yesterday. Two quick Harry Kane goals to kill off Bournemouth early on and a clean sheet to ensure it was never in doubt.

We're used to the situation at least being made a bit difficult... a lapse in concentration, a wobble, a goal conceded. that sort of thing. 

So, really, it was hugely encouraging - and the biggest indicator yet that we could stay the course and push Leicester right til the end.

But it didn't stop me being a bag of nerves.

With Arsenal winning early on Saturday then Leicester nicking another 1-0 win against Crystal Palace, all the pressure was piled upon us to get a result. 

Draw, and pretty much hand the Foxes the title - lose and leave Arsenal within striking distance. 

The conclusion? Playing last is horrible. Knowing those other results for 24 hours before you start is not for the faint of heart. 

I had a nice family weekend planned, no tickets, no match on telly. But still found myself clock-watching from the moment the full-time whistle went at Selhurst Park.

And it's not going to get any easier is it? On four occasions over our final seven games, we kick off after the rest of the top three have finished.

That includes a huge Sunday clash with Man United - as well as difficult Monday-night games against Stoke, West Brom and Chelsea. 

That's three, yes THREE, Monday games in a month. Outrageous, had I not seen how spectacularly it backfired for Jose Mourinho, I would be tempted to accuse people of plotting a "campaign" against us.

It means potentially we will all have to stew on other results for more than 48 hours. Whether those results have gone in our favour or not is irrelevant, either way my brain is in danger of melting.

Manchester United players always used to say that success breeds success because winning is addictive. 

And that no sooner had they won something, they were already looking for the next trophy.

If Spurs can just, somehow, bring home a first title since 1961, then that's enough for me, that will do. I'll cope with mediocrity forever more if needs be.

Sustained success is a lovely idea but I don't think my brain, my nails, or my blood pressure could cope with it.

Don't be fooled Spurs fans - Arsenal ain't done yet

IT may be tempting to revel in Arsenal's Champions League exit but don't be fooled into thinking their season is over. 

Arsene Wenger's band of gaffe-prone Gooners may well be out of Europe and have already surrendered their FA Cup crown.

They may be six points behind us and a whopping 11 off leaders Leicester in the league.

And all the pundits may be saying it's now just Spurs and Leicester in the title race. 

But don't take the bait - not for a few more weeks at least. Arsenal have a nasty habit of pulling irons out of fires, rabbits out of hats and points out of nowhere in the run-in.

In 2013-14 they recovered from a 6-0 thrashing at Chelsea and a 3-0 defeat at Everton to win their last five on the bounce and tear away from us and the Toffees in the race for fourth.

The season before, we beat them 2-1 at White Hart Lane at the start of March. It stretched our lead over them to seven points and should have been a crushing blow.

That was it, everyone said, the balance of power had shifted. North London was ours.

But from March 16, Wenger's side went ten games unbeaten, winning eight, to pip us at the post - dumping us out of the top four in the process.

Arsenal are well so used to what is required they seem capable of rescuing from the brink on a regular basis.

That may well go some way towards explaining why they have found it tough to raise their game this season.

With "only" Spurs and Leicester above them - and 18 straight years of Champions League qualification behind them - Olivier Giroud and co could be forgiven for thinking the season and the title might fall into their lap.

But push has now come to shove and with the wealth of attacking players they have you would not put it past them pulling something out of the bag - especially as the Premier League really is now their last chance saloon.

Anything but a title looks like it may well be Wenger's swan song. 

So, far as it being too late for them, just do not go there - not yet anyway.

If in two weeks' time they have two more bad results under their belt then yes, maybe we can all start photoshopping the Mind the Gap posters. 

But if they do get it together then - with names like Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez - they are well capable of winning every game. And if they do that, I fear it is even enough to nick the title.

Firstly, our six-point cushion is a red herring. They have a game in hand to pull it back to three and we have some very tough games coming up.

Liverpool away, Manchester United at home, Chelsea away. Even battling Bournemouth next up at White Hart Lane are no pushover. They have won their last three on the bounce and need just one more win to surely secure safety.

Then there is Leicester, well, with that game in hand an 11-point gap becomes 8 and anyone who saw the back end of Leicester's 1-0 win over Newcastle will know that come the last 15 minutes, the Foxes had the shakes.

The King Power stadium roared the arrival of the final whistle as if that was that. A big statement. 

But if those nerves are now an ever-present for Claudio Ranieri's leaders, then they are going to struggle to close out games. 

That's if they can even get the lead at all. They only had one shot on target against the Toon - and their last three wins have all been by 1-0. Hardly resounding victories against Norwich, Watford and Newcastle.

Tottenham, of course, could also benefit from their downfall. And I'm not saying I don't have faith in us giving this title thing a right good go. 

But as far as mocking the old enemy and rubbing salt in their wounds, let's at least make sure it's not going to come back and bite us on the Arsenal yet again.

Kane and Alli are not Spurs' only deadly duo

HARRY KANE and Dele Alli have hit the headlines in a big way today - but they are not the only partnership paying off for Spurs.

The Sun puts the Kane-Alli effect down to "telepathy", the Guardian credits friendship and Gary Lineker insists it is good news for England.

But Pochettino's players are actually pairing up all over the field and it all points to an effective system that the squad are buying into.

At Everton and West Brom it was Toby Alderweireld that Alli combined with before tidy finishes.

At Manchester City it was Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen as the latter scored a vital winning goal.

Lamela is also hitting it off with Kyle Walker and the link-up love-in even extends to the defence, where Kevin Wimmer has stepped in almost seamlessly to partner Toby in the absence of the injured Jan Vertonghen.

The big Austrian saved our bacon in the dying moments against Arsenal.

True, both Kane's goals at Villa Park were set up by Alli and this is not intended to take anything away from the quick-thinking 19-year-old.

The £5million man from MK Dons has been an absolute revelation and just how big his future can be is anybody's guess. But that is a different article for a different day.

The positioning of our forward players throughout the Villa game highlighted that the attacking roles are interchangeable. No matter who puts the ball in, Spurs have all the major danger areas covered.

For Kane's first goal, a minute before half-time, he produced a difficult finish across keeper Brad Guzan. Nothing is left to chance, though, and in support he has two men ready for either the pass or the rebound - Lamela on the penalty spot and Walker at the back post

The latter had bust a gut to catch up 50 yards after Alli's quick set-piece found Kane.

Kane’s second saw Alli race onto the ball in the channel - usually a move undertaken by Danny Rose.

If his pass is a split second earlier, it finds Lamela at the front post but as it is Kane steered it into the top corner – with Walker lurking in the background.

But it’s not always Alli doing the creating. In the 23rd minute, Kane fed Rose without even having to look up. He just knew the full-back would be bombing on. 

Once again Spurs flood the box with Lamela at the front post, Kane on the penalty spot and Eriksen at the back. This time the ball found Kane, whose effort was saved by Guzan.

It was even more impressive seven minutes later when Walker cut the ball back for Lamela, whose clever side-foot was turned onto the post by Brad Guzan.

It was Toby's ball out wide that found the right-back racing forward. The same three took the same spots in the box but in that instance Rose and Alli provided another bank of threat running in on the edge of the box should Walker’s cross slip through.

I remember the frustration from watching Spurs teams routinely let rebounds and loose balls go begging – be it through lack of support or worse still lack of effort. It left us relying on the talents of one or two star performers to do the unexpected.

But this team and this system are starting to come together. It is hugely encouraging to see a group of players working so hard to help each other out and, when it works, it leaves very little to chance. 

Spurs face long road to follow Dortmund model

IF Dortmund are the blueprint then Tottenham now have a brutal indication of just how far there is to go. 

People can point fingers at the manager, the line-up and the fitness levels all they want but there was nothing that a few changes would have helped in last night's 3-0 drubbing at the Westfalenstadion - this was men versus boys. 

Our lads were outpassed, outpressed and outworked by a slick, efficient and endlessly fit Dortmund side that could have been out of sight by half-time.

It might feel like scant encouragement but this is the side that Spurs aspire to emulate - with possessive-yet-potent attacking football, homegrown talent and even a huge behind-the-goal kop. 

Who knows, maybe even reasonable ticket prices!

A bigger concern has to be the poor reflection it casts on the current status of the English game.

Yes, we are all enjoying a fantastic and unpredictable season in which any one of four, maybe five, teams could still lift the title.

Yes, we've had some incredible stories, upsets and seen some brilliant goals. 

But should a team second in the Premier League really be so comprehensively outclassed by their Bundesliga equivalent?

You certainly wouldn't back Leicester to give German leaders Bayern Munich a run for their money either.

Seeing our big sides flounder makes entertaining viewing but this was the biggest indication yet that those who have replaced them at the top this season are not raising the bar, just making the most of an opportunity.

On the night it was a painful defeat but at least those on the pitch, the bench, sat in the stands and watching on the box now have a yardstick.

This is what can be created if we stick on the path we have started. 

Mauricio Pochettino's squad are 18 months into a philosophy that Dortmund have had drilled into them since 2009. 

Their boss Thomas Tuchel joined last summer and is continuing the hi-octane, high-pressing work introduced by Jurgen Klopp seven years ago.

Interestingly enough, Tuchel also managed Mainz shortly after Klopp, quickly surpassing the now-Liverpool manager's success.

Where Klopp got Mainz promoted, Tuchel took them into the Europa League.

Where Klopp took Dortmund to back-to-back league titles and the 2012-13 Champions League final, Tuchel has them again chasing down Bayern at the top and they must now be favourites for the Europa League.

It all comes together for one nasty bump back down to earth for Spurs but an impressive lesson to go with it. 

The improved fitness levels, the demanding pressing game and the flowing attacks can all go up a notch. Our players now have first hand experience of it. For some, it will be an encouragement, for others a kick up the ass.

If this Dortmund side is a glimpse of where hard work and a well-drilled philosophy can lead you, then we should be very excited about our chosen path.

Tough week could help Spurs hang in there

ONE point from two huge games was not what everyone wanted but bear with me while I argue that it might do us a favour.

Wins over West Ham and Arsenal would have left us top by two points - but can a team that has not won a title in 55 years really be expected to lead from the front with nine games to go?

The pressure, focus and searing hot spotlight that comes from being frontrunners is surely too much for a club stalked by its own shadow of late-season stutters.

We have a history of easing off the gas from good positions, so let Leicester take the weight of responsibility for the time being.

With 27 points left to fight for, a five-point gap at this stage is hardly unassailable and 
there is no sense in making ourselves the team to beat at the start of March. 

We are safer riding Leicester's coat-tails as they attract the limelight and deflect attention. 

Apart from anything else, my blood pressure could do with a rest from the nerve-shredding tension of our last two games. How the players must have felt is anybody's guess.

If the Foxes do win the title from here then they damn well deserve it and we should all stand up and applaud rather than picking apart our own supposed shortcomings.

But to put that feat into perspective, they have never won nine top-flight games in a row in their history.

It's a nervy time of year and everyone is dropping points. City lost to Liverpool, United at West Brom, and Arsenal haven't won in four.

Leicester's final two fixtures are Everton at home and Chelsea away. That's a tough enough finish in itself but in the meantime, if panic does finally strike Claudio Ranieri's squad, then any match becomes a banana skin and five points can disappear very quickly indeed.

Our final two games are home to Southampton and away at struggling Newcastle. Although by then they could well be "relegated Newcastle".

With that in mind, the main aim should be to stay within striking distance of the top, keep your fingers crossed we can hang in there and give ourselves a chance come May.

But many Spurs fans are starting to bite their fingernails not just over whether we will be fighting for the title come May, but whether we will still be in contention for the top four.

In 2011-12 we surrendered a 10-point lead over Arsenal in barely a month, the season before we won just one league game in ten from late February, including a home defeat to Blackpool. 

Both seasons we had put ourselves in the driving seat with regards to a Champions League finish. 

Yet in 2009-10 we got it right and beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in a run-in that saw us nick fourth. 

The difference being that season we were underdogs right until the penultimate game, where a shock 1-0 win at City sealed it a game early.

And that is why we shouldn't be too disheartened heading into another crucial week on the back of two disappointing results.

On Sunday it's Aston Villa away, followed by Bournemouth at home a week later. 

Both matches present sides fighting for their lives and, given our recent history at this stage of the season, I'm happier to be going into it with a little less expectation on our shoulders.

Same old Tottenham? What a load of nonsense

WHATEVER your interpretation of the defeat at Upton Park, one thing is for sure - it was not “same old Tottenham”.

How could it possibly be same old Tottenham when it is not even same old West Ham?

Our East London rivals are a completely different prospect this season - able to scrap like dogs with the grit left over from Sam Allardyce's reign and now able bamboozle defences with the added wow factor of one of the season's star performers - Dimitri Payet.

The 1-0 victory moved Slaven Bilic’s side just one point off the Champions League spots and you might remember they also beat Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City away from home as well as beating Chelsea at the Boleyn ground. All before Christmas.

Even so, our defeat had the doubters and naysayers questioning Spurs’ backbone, bottle  and character.

Well, Mauricio Pochettino's squad had already given the answers to those questions on a run of six league wins, 12 unbeaten away from home and rising to second in the Premier League table. 

True, Spurs have a recent history of blowing top-four hopes in the run-in and of allowing commanding leads over teams below us to slip. But this is a new manager, with new methods and a host of young, homegrown players.

They do not deserve to have their reputation brought under scrutiny it all over again just because they lost one game - away from home - to a side fighting tooth and nail to prove their top-four credentials.

What's worse, is that the accusations of a "gutless", "typical" and even "Spursy" performance were being bandied about moments after Michail Antonio had put the Irons 1-0 up - with just seven minutes gone!

"Here we go again," said some. "This is where our season falls apart", others panicked.

Remarkably people were willing to write off 83 remaining minutes even though we have fought back to win more points from losing positions than anyone else this season (17) - and it came just three days after we had recovered from falling behind early to beat Swansea.

Admittedly, it wasn’t everyone. Large numbers of Tottenham fans are displaying untold levels of belief and positivity. You can hear that just by listening to the crowd on matchday. The noise has gone up a notch and is really starting to rival some of those Champions League nights in 2010-11.

But if you are one of those belting the side’s backbone or fight, then you might take a moment to consider that maybe football is not for you. Just what will it take for the beautiful game to entertain you?

The worst thing for these folk who are just waiting for everything to go wrong is that if it is all downhill from here, then they will not have given themselves a chance to get excited about one of the most enjoyable seasons in Tottenham’s recent history.

Same old Spurs? Definitely not. But maybe it’s just the same old people making the fans look bad.

The rest of you: sing up and smile - we have a North London Derby to win.

A welcome return to form - and hopefully not just for Tottenham

Strange things are happening in the Premier League - and the best thing about that is some of them are happening at White Hart Lane.

It’s March. Former title favourites Chelsea are still in the bottom half, former relegation candidates Leicester are top of the tree and English football’s former rulers Manchester United are still lurching weekly between progress and catastrophe.

Manchester City’s mind is already on next season, Arsenal are suffering severe deja vu and Tottenham, well, let’s just say things are looking up.

The maths started to stack up a few weeks ago. Then we beat City and the media - plus the teams around us - took notice. Now, having come from behind to beat Swansea on Sunday, even the fans are starting to believe. Some fans anyway.

That’s where I come in. My last blog post was just over two years ago before a new job sapped my spare time and, regretfully, this website fell onto the dreaded backburner. Now a proud dad of a newborn, I’m even busier than ever.

But with this amazing season taking twist after turn, week after week. And the faintest hope that maybe, just maybe, it might turn into something very, very special indeed, I just had to have my say.

There is a long way to go and a lot of tough games - each one of them our own Cup final. We have to go to Liverpool and Chelsea, not to mention West Ham tomorrow. Then there is what must be one of the biggest North London Derbies in a generation at lunchtime on Saturday.

However unlikely or difficult you see the possibility of us lifting the League Championship come May, Spurs fans would be foolish not to be getting just a little bit excited. 

Many in my generation (born 1983) would have felt that the club’s existence nowadays was purely geared at the top four and that resting on the summit after 38 games was for the real rich kids and oligarchs. To find ourselves in this position at this stage of the season was unthinkable, a pipe dream. But what is the point in football if you can’t dream once in a while? 

This run of form, this focus on the Academy, this brand of football has all come together to shake even the most miserly of fans from their slumbers and, as for me, well I wasn’t going to let it pass me by without getting my thoughts down. 

I will endeavour to keep the blog up do date from here on in and see where that takes me. Whether you savour it, snub it, comment on it, condemn it, rave about it, rant or even recommend it, I’m not concerned. I suppose feedback is always nice but as long as I've got something on record to show another little Spurs fan sometime down the line, then that will do for me. 

Although a Premier League title would be nice as well.