Spurs v Gent: The moment you just knew

You knew it. You just bloody knew Thursday would go that way. The focus just wasn't there. 

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino might have spotted it within his much-publicised 50-second rule. But for the rest of us it was made painstakingly clear at a Spurs corner in the 29th minute.

Harry Kane's own goal might have left us needing to score two more in the right end but you still felt Gent were there for the taking, such was the space and license we were being given to play in the final third. 

But when you have just conceded - and are desperate for a quick route back into the match - you expect your players to be switched on. 

Christian Eriksen whipped his corner across the box and totally wrong-footed the Gent defence. 

Dele Alli hurdled the ball, getting the slightest of touches to steer it right across the six-yard box. 

But it wasn't just the Belgian side caught napping as any Spurs players within any sort of reach were oblivious the set-piece had even been taken.

This looked like a training-ground routine gone wrong - executed perfectly by Eriksen - and should have been seized upon and easily turned into the net, even if the move wasn't intentional. 

But Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama were so slow to react the ball was nearly out of play before they saw it.

What's more, if it was a set-piece routine, it is now worthless. Everyone has seen it on national television and Mark Hughes will be preparing Stoke to deal with it on Sunday. As will every other Premier League manager we are left to face this season.

This was not the only instance where Spurs' focus deserted them: Mousa Dembele doing the hard work and beating his man from a short corner, only to turn back into him and commit a foul. 

Kyle Walker, admittedly one of our best players on the night, bombing past the full-back then slicing a near-post effort high into the Wembley gods.

Jan Vertonghen attempting a one-two in an advanced position, only to clatter into the ref. 

Obviously there were far bigger flashpoints that had a more damning effect on the game's outcome. Dele doesn't need any more criticism. Everyone already knows the situation.

But this lack of concentration - which Poch had warned the players about in the build-up to the match - gave the game away that Tottenham were just not switched on enough for a big European night. 

Scratch that, they just weren't switched on enough. Full-stop. Because this should never have been a big European night. It should have been a walk in the park. Gent were rubbish. 

We played Gent off the park in the second half despite being a man down - finding space that no Premier League team would have given us and still wasting chance after chance. That is also something that has to change. 

Dier's mind was again wandering before the goal that killed us off with eight minutes left. 

After two thirds of a season spent rebuilding a reputation shattered in the final weeks of last season.Our mentality is now right back under the spotlight. And with good reason.

How Tony Pulis had Spurs pegged from the start

Tony Pulis knew how to get to Tottenham right from the off. And it wasn't by winding up Dele Alli, doubling up on Harry Kane or by putting 11 men behind the ball.

We all knew West Brom would come to frustrate us and we all knew how good they are at it.

But the first victim of their stifling strategy was not Mousa Dembele's driving runs from deep midfield, nor Danny Rose's link-up with Erik Lamela – and it was not Kyle Walker bombing on down the right.

It was the fans.

White Hart Lane kicked off the evening in good spirits but West Brom set their stall out early.

They took far too long over every throw-in, goal kick and free-kick, letting a few more seconds tick down whenever the occasion arose and pushing the ref to, but never beyond, the limit.

Credit to our players, they weren't fooled and our slick passing game opened up the Baggies time after time. 

Christian Eriksen was agonisingly close with two free-kicks - either side of Kane's effort that Boaz Myhill somehow pushed onto the post. 

But the home support was starting to play into Albion's hands. Huffing and puffing, booing and jeering every carefully crafted stoppage or set-piece delay that Pulis' side was getting away with. 

The Spurs faithful were not directly criticising their own but, once the agitation was flowing, you could see it start to affect the side. 

Spurs players already had every reason to be a bit nervy - Leicester's 4-0 win over Swansea on Sunday meant this was basically win or bust.

With that in mind, a bit of calm from the terraces would not have gone unappreciated. Especially seeing as this side have risen to the task and proven themselves again and again.

Timewasting tactics are schoolyard stuff but Pochettino's blue n white army of followers fell for it - hook, line and absolute stinker. 

We all ask players like Alli to keep their heads in the face of such situations then we all lose ours at the first sign of bother - effing and jeffing with an irrational fear that, somehow, the Baggies might be able to waste the whole game away before we got our noses in front.

When Craig Dawson diverted Eriksen’s free-kick into his own net just after the half hour the damage may already have been done. 

The reaction was that of relief rather than elation and the lads went in at half-time to muted applause rather than all-out encouragement.

Prior to this we had conceded one goal in four games. A 1-0 win would have done just fine. There was no real reason to believe that West Brom should be able to seriously trouble us at the back.

Still we worried, fretted and bit our nails and the lads came out for the second half a shell of the team we have known in recent weeks. 

Apart from a few shining lights in Toby Alderweireld and Dembele, the nerves were taking hold and the tension was rising in the stands - until eventually Dawson got the equaliser we had all been fearing since his own goal at the other end.

It was job done for Pulis and probably job done for Leicester. 

But devastating? Gut-wrenching? Miserable? Not at all. And we certainly did not bottle it.

At the end of January, 12 games ago, we were fourth – five points behind Arsenal who were top of the pile. 

Anyone who thinks we bottled it has an admirable sense of ambition - but no sense of perspective.

Going forward we will no doubt all look for progression from this young team that has showed so much promise. We will all hope they can use this season as a platform and learn from the experience.

Next season we will look for them to demonstrate the composure of title challengers, rather than title hopefuls.

And really, as fans, we should be looking to do the same.

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.

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.

Spurs' Norwich win down to hard work, not just creativity

YOU'LL do well to find a Tottenham article that didn't focus on Christian Eriksen over the weekend.

And well they might. The Dane came in to provide some creation in midfield and two goals from open play swiftly followed.

However, anyone who saw the 2-0 win over Norwich will have noted that individual hard work played just as big a role as creativity - particularly in the latter stages.

Protecting a lead, the final 20 minutes are often somewhat of a concern at Spurs. 

Apprehension sweeps the crowd like wildfire and panic spreads from player to player like an airborne epidemic.

Simple passes become stray balls and defensive positioning begins to look like a freeforall.

But on Saturday Michael Dawson and Jan Vertonghen remained firm and focused and Danny Rose put in as robust a last quarter as you are ever likely to see from a left-back.

Sandro sat on the bench for the best part of 80 minutes but, bang, he was straight to the top of his game when he came on - chasing, harrying and switched on to all runners and potential hazards

Even light-footed sub Erik Lamela chased back and mucked in, winning the ball in the final minutes.

It wasn't a case of being first to every ball but more a case of, "If second to the ball, win it back anyway."

Of course, Spurs fans will still hail Eriksen's performance - he had a blinder.  

Roberto Soldado had been looking increasingly isolated before we found somebody capable of linking the play between the frontman and our solid midfield.

But while the invention and style may be the cake's icing, or the cockerel's doodle-doo, it all has to be underpinned by concentration and unwavering work rate from every player in the side.

Countless times in the past we've done the difficult bit and got our noses in front only for a keeper to make a howler, the midfield to fall asleep or the attack to stop pressing.

Then we're left ruing dropped points that, like May just gone, would prove vital come the end of the season.

Creativity might win you games but it's the groundwork that wins titles and, without that focus from the first minute to the last, regular trophies and top-four finishes are a pipe dream.

Until our tenacious display on Saturday, Norwich had scored nine goals in their first four games of the season. But we reduced them to just a single shot on goal for our fifth clean sheet in six games.

It might only be a start, but it's a bloody good one.