“I compliment the boys for what they did – great work rate. Not only that but we played away from home. We didn’t have the support that we should have had in a game that we needed a win,” AVB told Sky Sports.
3 wins in just over a week, 3 clean sheets and 3 points off the top. Despite this impressive record over the last 8 days, our man in charge has to come out and say this. In my opinion he is utterly justified in doing so.
A game lasts 90 minutes and when we are playing at home we need to be that 12th man and urge every attack into the back of the net, not shift our frustrations and anxiety onto the shoulders of whatever 11 may be on the field. There is understandably some post-traumatic stress after losing to such a poor West Ham team but this was merely a blip in what has been a pretty decent start. In fact it is our best start to a Premier League season, with as many clean sheets already as we achieved last year and a number of players still bedding into the squad and returning from injury.
I hope that AVB has made some of our fickle fans realize the negative impact they have when they vent like this and don’t support the team as they should. Patience is required when playing inferior opposition that set up to frustrate. I have seen the negativity too often at the Lane in these situations and it’s one of the reasons the vicious cycle of anxiety and out of character losses occurs. The home game against Fulham last year for example.
A change of attitude and determination to bring the same vocal and passionate support to these games that we do when play the bigger clubs is needed. There are so many reasons to be positive right now. The squad and AVB are capable of achieving great things; look at where they are now at such an early time in their development. Players are picked on form, not reputation and good performances are rewarded with more starts. Something that I wish Redknapp had done more of. The attacking is not as free flowing but the set up and organization is so much better. Just look at the clean sheet stat again. 12 from 15 games.
As Spurs fans we are used to disappointment and we pay more than most supporters to enjoy the privilege of being disappointed but how can we help the team achieve and prevent that disappointment? Let’s start by listening to AVB. Get behind the boys for 90 minutes and be that support we are when we play away and in the big games at the Lane. In AVB I trust, do you?
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