Growing pains

This is our year. And we all know it. Let’s face it, a year ago we had a tiny fraction of the class we have now. The days of William Gallas being, well, William Gallas are over, Tom Huddlestone and all of his lethargic afro-wearing is gone, and JD and Ade aren’t playing a game of hide and seek on the pitch any longer. Whether you enjoyed the absolute reliance on Gareth and watching “Bale out” football week after week is unrelated. Because for even all of his pure majesty on the pitch, we came up short. Again. This new side looks magnificent, but they are exactly that. New. Growing pains are always going to happen, and quite frankly we’ve largely avoided them up to this point. Each of our new signings has shown glimpses, if not more, of the reasons why we bought them. Eriksen has shown brilliance linking up with Gylfi, Soldado’s movement is clever and witty, and Lamela on the ball is a downright sexy prospect. Not to mention Andros and Danny really flying out of the gates. So why is our home defeat to West Ham so concerning? The answer is that it shouldn’t be.

For all of the criticism that this West Ham travesty has caused, we must not take it out of proportion. The scoreline does inspire the sense of a proper shlacking, fine, but anyone who watched the match would say 1-0 would’ve been a more fair result. Hell, we could’ve even won the game had JD been able to be finish his chance at the start of the 2nd half. At some point during the year, we were bound to lose a game we shouldn’t have. Arsenal has already done it to Villa, United has done it against West Brom, and City has done it against Cardiff. Lets not forget how last year we took 1 point from a possible 6 against Wigan.

A relegated team beat us at home 1-0 and we still ended up with a record point total. If this West Ham game has anything to show it’s that we missed Danny and his crucial work ethic and width on the left, Soldado should’ve started, and most of all, that the way we played against a brutally compact Hammers side is not even close to our potential. AVB could’ve maybe spruced the game up by bringing on Lamela, Holtby, or Soldado earlier, but after unluckily falling 1-0 down, it was never going to be easy to get a result facing a side that deployed essentially a 4-6-0. But even after our loss it still comes naturally to say I like this team. In fact, I’m head over heels in love with this team, and I’d be mighty surprised if you weren’t. Our depth is probably the best in the league and we finally have quality in every position, especially the manager.

Slip ups happen, and if this year has shown us anything in its first 7 games, its that the race for Champions League qualification is going to be tight. But despair we should not, because this year is going to be different. Tottenham look through and through a classy contender, brimming with talent and young potential. But challenging for trophies doesn’t happen overnight. And that’s where we come in, as Spurs supporters. To get behind our lads through the inevitable growing pains they must face and to cheer them onto greatness, the greatness we all know they’re capable of. COYS