It has been talked about for years and years. And indeed years and years before that. This is the year when Tottenham will finally come out on top – at least on top in terms of ending the season above Arsenal.
They came so very close last year. All it needed was a draw against an already relegated club, and yet they still couldn’t quite climb that summit.
Of course Tottenham are not the only team to slip up in this way – many teams succumb to pressure at the last moment, and such events remind us that winning teams not only have top players, they also have that combined belief that says, “We will do this no matter what.”
The recent Arsenal game against Middlesbrough caused many commentators to write about Arsenal’s match against the same team in 2004, in which Arsenal equalled Nottingham Forest’s record of 42 games unbeaten.
It was thought at the time that no top division team would ever equal that record but, because, it was said, the league was now so much tougher than it was in Forest’s day under Clough.
And true to the predictions, Arsenal went 3-1 down, but then the sheer belief that they would not throw the record away at the last hurdle led they went on to a 5-3 victory, and ultimately to the 49.
Certainly that determination is what Tottenham seemed to lack on the last day of last season when Newcastle thumped them 5-1 in May. But to be fair it can happen to anyone, and it has certainly happened to Arsenal.
Take 1980 for example. Arsenal were cup holders, and as the season’s climax approached were looking at three targets: the Cup Winners’ Cup, the FA Cup, and a top three finish (which would also secure a European place).
On May 10 Arsenal lost the FA Cup final unexpectedly to West Ham 0-1. On May 14 Arsenal lost the Cup Winners’ Cup Final to Valencia on penalties. That left Arsenal with two matches left in the league which they needed to win in order to secure 3rd place and a Uefa Cup spot. On 16 May Arsenal beat Wolverhampton 2-1, but then on 19 May, in the very last game, Arsenal lost 0-5 away to Middlesbrough.
Two chances at trophies and a chance to get into the Uefa Cup, and all three blown in a matter of nine days.
These days it is what we call “winning mentality” – a bit of a misnomer, but it’s the only phrase we have to suggest that belief among the whole team that no matter what, we will get through.
Tottenham’s problem could be seen in this regard. The last time Tottenham won something was in 2008, eight years ago, when they won the League Cup. Prior to that it was again the League Cup in 1999. The last time they won any trophy other than the League Cup was 1991, 25 years ago.
With such a long gap since winning one of the more serious trophies (by which I mean a Euro title, the top division in England or the FA Cup) one can well understand why attention is turned elsewhere – such as to the League Cup, or indeed simply to ending up above Arsenal.
It is not just that Tottenham have not finished above Arsenal since 1994/5, some 21 and a half years ago. It is not just that they have not built a superb new stadium in the meantime. It is not just that during those 21 years they have ended up without winning anything other than a couple of League Cups. It is not that during that time they have had so many managers and interim managers it is hard to keep count. It is not just that during this period they have often finished in the lower parts of the league (14th in 1998 being their lowest so far).
No, it is not any of that. It is the fact that during this whole long spell of Arsenal dominance, the media has kept talking Tottenham up as a big club, a club endlessly on the verge of winning trophies. A club always about to overtake Arsenal.
Thus the expectation, year after year, grows. And year after year, the tension builds. And then explodes.
There seriously are a lot of people around who, not being particular followers of the detail of football, think Tottenham and Arsenal are equivalent clubs. And many so-called Arsenal supporters have aided the creation of the myth by endlessly putting Arsenal down with their “no trophies for x years” talk and “Fourth is not a trophy” and “Qualification for the knock out stages (of the Champions League) is not a trophy” chatter. Even when Arsenal won the FA Cup two years running they kept it up, by suddenly inventing the notion that the FA Cup was not a trophy.
But there are Tottenham supporters who would give their eye teeth for an FA Cup win, and probably sell their granny for anything approaching a record such as Arsenal has in the last quarter century. And indeed for a stadium such as Arsenal’s to be already built, so they don’t have to go through a whole season of playing at Wembley next year.
I don’t mind saying, as a fervent Arsenal man, that Tottenham have a very good team at the moment. But I also think they (and their chums in the media) are their own worst enemies. Sometimes you can believe and expect too much – and indeed want too much. That’s when it can all come tumbling down at the last minute.