יום שני, 7 בנובמבר 2011

Tottenham - the top team in London?

Those who have no interest in football in London should click away now, but a question was nagging in my mind after the weekend's matches.

I commentated as Chelsea and Arsenal slugged it out on Saturday, the Gunners won 5-3 at Stamford Bridge, and then watched Spurs take on QPR on Sunday.

It left me wondering whether this may end up being the first season in a long time when Tottenham can genuinely hope to finish as London's top club.

Tottenham have had a lot to celebrate so far this season.

Spurs have been in excellent form and have an awesome midfield. Photo: Getty images

Fifty seasons have come and gone since Bill Nicholson's side completed a glorious double in 1961, when White Hart Lane was unquestionably the home of London's top team. And although this Spurs side are unlikely to match that landmark achievement, they are showing signs of becoming the kings of the capital again.

It's actually 16 seasons since Spurs finished a campaign as the highest placed club in London, but 1994-95 was hardly a vintage year for any of the capital's teams. In fact, Spurs fans probably took more pleasure from seeing their old boy Nayim scored a last-minute winner for Real Zaragoza with a shot from the half-way line against Arsenal in the Cup Winner's Cup final than they did from finishing seventh in the Premier League.

The only other occasion when neither Arsenal nor Chelsea has been London's top side at the end of a Premier League season was when Queens Park Rangers finished fifth in 1992-93.

For the last seven years it's been Chelsea; for the eight before that it was Arsenal.

That's enough history - but it does show just what a major achievement it would be if Tottenham can end up above both their main rivals in London.

Chelsea seem to be entering what Carlo Ancelotti would have called a "difficult moment". The Italian's "moment" lasted from November to January last season and probably cost him his job. Andre Villas-Boas will need to ensure his team's current poor run of results ends at Blackburn on Saturday. Without doubt, it is not just Rovers boss Steve Kean who could do with a win.

Villas-Boas came in to the club insisting that just because he had worked for former Chelsea boss and Portuguese compatriot Jose Mourinho he should not be thought of as a Mourinho mark II. He's right - Chelsea may be attacking a little more freely but they are defending in a way that would have been inconceivable under Mourinho.

The appointment of a manager as young and as inexperienced as the 33-year-old Villas-Boas should have heralded a new era - but Chelsea's midfield is beginning to look distinctly ponderous.

Let's play fantasy football - on current form would any of Chelsea's middle men displace Rafael van der Vaart, Luka Modric, Scott Parker or Gareth Bale from your midfield? Not for me, though Juan Mata would come close.

Meanwhile at Arsenal, Robin van Persie continues look like a footballer of the year in waiting. Arsenal have clearly improved as a team since their awful start to the campaign, but not by leaps and bounds. The major factor in their surge up the table has been Van Persie who, as captain, has led by example.

The problem with Van Persie, his contract negotiations aside, is that he missed three months of last season and six months of the season before. No wonder Arsene Wenger decided not to start with him against Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday - another long injury absence just does not bear thinking about.

Then there's Spurs. Their achievement in qualifying for last season's Champions League overshadowed just about anything they had done in the previous decade or more.

This season I believe they could go one better. Third place, above both Chelsea and Arsenal, is certainly not beyond them.

No wonder Tottenham fans are praying for a swift return to the dugout for Harry Redknapp.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stevewilson/2011/11/tottenham_-_the_top_team_in_lo.html

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