European dreams
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 2:43PM guestblog by Chris King
It’s the 23rd May. The Year is 1984.
A nine year old boy is watching his mates run around on the stage at the Curzon Cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue. His Mum leans in to him, nudging him on the arm. She asks why he is not up there playing with his mates; why he looks so serious, on this his birthday. She offers popcorn, sweets and a sip of fizzy pop, but nothing seems to wake him from his near trance.
“Come on” she says. “Don’t be sad, do you not want to see the film?”
“It’s not that Mum”
“Well, what is it then?”
“Mum. How are we going to stop Enzo Scifo?”
Some of that has been Hollywoodized for the narrative to introduce this piece, but I did spend the afternoon of my ninth birthday watching the Fox and Hounds at the Curzon. I can’t really recall much about the film, it wasn’t until I saw it on video some months later that I realised the fox…. Well, I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it.
Only one memory burns bright from that day, and “If you know your history” the opening sentence to this piece will tell you everything you need to know.
It’s been all too easy to think of negative things to write about Spurs for my contributions to this site over the last month or so. I don’t get down to as many games as Spooky, so compiling match previews or reports is a bit of an ask, given that we often have to rely on the incomprehensible ‘Mers’ on Soccer Saturday, to fill in the blanks in the wilds of the North.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t change tack. To look both forwards and back; to be like a nine year old again – both anxious and giddy with emotions at the prospect of another massive European night of football for the Spurs.
"It's magnificent to be in Europe and this club - a club like Tottenham Hotspur - if we're not in Europe.... we're nothing. We’re nothing."
That quote comes directly from Bill Nicholson. He’s right. Some would say he was always right where Spurs were concerned. The year after that majestic night in 1984, we had another good run – falling agonisingly short to the eventual champions Real Madrid by the odd goal in the Quarter-Final. We’ve had some moments since then, including the Inter Milan game at home this year – but they have been all too few and far between. We’ve been hopeless in both getting in to Europe, and re-establishing our place once we get there. But it used to be all so different.
There will be people reading this that weren’t born in 1984, let alone got to see that penalty shoot out – who will remember Tony Parks the player rather than the goalkeeping coach. A player, much like Newcastle’s Steve Harper, who spent eight fairly unproductive years as back up keeper – amassing the sort of game time Gomes will do in a less than a season this term. But no one cares about that. All those that saw the game can remember is his one great game. The sight of him diving to his right, getting both hands to substitute Arnór Guðjohnsen’s penalty and pushing it out towards the west stand; reeling off with both hands in the air, before being mobbed by his team mates.
It was our third major cup success in four years (to add to the 1981 and 1982 FA Cups) and I couldn’t imagine it being any different as a Spurs fan. How wrong could I be? Thanks first to Heysel and then one poor mid-table side after another, we only managed two further appearances in Europe in the nineties – neither of which amounted to much; especially given the own goal Stephen Carr conceded in the last minute to send us out away to Kaiserslautern.
Since then we’ve had a couple of decent runs in the now defunct UEFA Cup; but the Jol era aside, it has never really felt as though we were really 100% committed to the task in hand.
That is until this season.
A terrible start to the campaign seems to have shaped our season a touch – hopeless in the opening phase of the first half away from home. But at home, in front of our fans – what a joy it has been to watch European football again at the Lane. Young boys, Twente, Internazionale and Werder Bremen - all blown away by the sort of attacking, entertaining and heart lifting football we’ve craved since those Glory, Glory nights of the 60s, 70s and 80s. We’ve played with a spirit that shows we fear no one, even during those calamitous passages of play – but do pray to whatever sporting or religious deities you hold dear, that no on dives in for a reckless challenge in our box in the opening 10 minutes tonight.
To have the chance to play AC Milan, at the Giuseppe Meazza on one of our biggest European nights since that fateful birthday back in 1984, I can’t but help paraphrase Bill Nicholson’s quote. For it is magnificent to be in Europe, and this club – a club like Tottenham Hotspur to be playing the Italian league Leader in Europe without fear proves we’re something. For even though the internet appears to have written our chances off for tonight at least, especially with the absence of key players – for once, we as fans still all seem to believe. How great is that!
So today, as I sit at work – slightly fed up, slightly distant – looking south east out of the window towards Milan I can’t but help being transported back to that cinema seat in 1984. As my mum leans in, nudges me on the arm and asks why I’ve not completed the Project Plan I should have had done by lunch time…
“Come on” she says. “Can’t you do your work?”
“It’s not that Mum.”
“Well, what is it then?”
“Mum. Let me tell you how we’re going to stop Zlatan Ibrahimovic…”
Reader Comments (88)
Nights like this are meant to unite the factions.
Let's leave development, rebuilding/moving and our dislike for all things small and dictatorial until the morning.
Spot on Chris, spot on.
A fantastic night and whilst I had doubts previously, I believe we are the real deal now.
Some of the above comments need ammending I feel. 'Falmini, once a gooner, always a c**t'.
I hope uefa manage to wrangle a spurious second yellow somehow.
Gatusso is finished now.
Thought Harry and Jamie were going to cry at the post-match interviews.
Every one of them from 2MP through to the new boy sandro, gave 100%, next up Blackpool's delights.
Highlights on Skysports 1 in 3 minutes!
Souness summed gattuso up, he's a dog, never rated him. Class. His reaction after the game made him seem like a spurs fan. Mind you, was'nt he on the books once?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the life of me, I will never understand or be able to describe how sometimes a girly drama queen can be transform into a grandly protective granite rock.
Ok, Paul F, you can relax and rejoice now. And you, dpa73, can now come out of hiding behind your sofa. :)
Fucking ace.
Unbelievable stuff. I was hoping for a Spurs side that can be disciplined in defense and not get jittery on the big stage and sure enough they gave me all that and more. Wonderful performance. We talk about depth and you look at the lineup today it is large short by a few players yet we out played Meelan on their own turf. Meelan in the first half was more afraid of our threat going forward they opted to sit back and soak up the pressure.
Tonight is a night that we all can be proud to known as a Yid. Tonight is the night 'Arry has punched his ticket to be the next England manager anytime he wants it.
Feel bad for loosing Charlie, hopefully not for long. Him and Azza are much better combo that Hutton and Azza. Few Charlie’s through balls for Azza were sublime.
IMO, in Sandro, we got a world winner. His composure, quickness, tackling toughness, aerial game, vision, passing, stamina, is just amazing. And he’s only 21? OMG! He has all attributes to be greater player than Viera ever was. Palacios’ game seems to elevate his game while playing beside Sandro. Together, they broke down most of AC’s actions before they became a real danger for our back4 and Gomes. This is great news as we are entering the final stretch of games in PL.
Surprisingly for his size, Mr. Beanpole showed great stamina. He covered at least 3x more miles than Ibra and Robinho together. Also, he showed great professionalism and discipline for not taking any of many baits from Gatusso the Cock. Instead, he upended him from behind a few times. Good job, Crouchy.
Back 4 and Gomes, with two effective lionhearted destroyers ahead of them, were Chinese Wall for the AC Milan.
Raffa, Azza and Pienaar were tirelessly harassing AC’s midfield and braking down hopeful runs of the AC’s attacking wing-backs.
Luka, Niko and Woody seamlessly entered the fray and did what substituted players did before; kept and effectively passed the ball and defended well.
HR made correct and timely substitutions. Also, it’s obvious that he excellently prepared the team for this heroic showing.
I’m proud of every single one of them.
COYS
Holy Shit, did that really happen? What a night, what a game, what a result!!
Tricky, I'd reserve that "once a gooner always a cunt" thing for every one of them except our Willie Gallas, loved his bicycle kick clearance tonight!
Amazing, just amazing play by every member of the team.
When I first saw the pairing of Sandro and Wilson I wasn't sure how it would work, but it was perfect for tonight. Of course Wilson had his moments of giving the ball away needlessly but the dynamic of the two together did seem to work well in terms of giving us some holding midfield muscle.
Hats of to Harry for getting that one right.
I will make a mental note to remember that next time I think about criticizing his selection/tactics.
Corluka who I have sometimes criticized in the past was sheer class tonight. Hoping he has a speedy recovery.
Seeing Woody made me very happy though.
F*ck me, what a squad we've got!
spuds enjoy this run as long as it lasts bcoz thist season ur not going to b in top 4 , how insulting it is to english football that a second rate club like spurs is playing in champions league and club like liverpool are in europa league , hopefully nxt season things will get sorted out , everything will b in place i.e liverpool in top 4 and spuds mid table where they belong...
Wished flamini could have been more hard on the tackle and broke legs of spuds pussies anyways WELL DONE ! FLAMINI, if spuds go through what waste of match paperview it would b , spurs in qurterfinal instead of ac milan yuck !! hope milan put them into their place in 2nd leg and may flamini really breaks 2 or 3 legs of these luck-riding , overachieving bunch of second - rates
arsenal4ever and mighty blues -
jealousy is a terrible trait....just let us enjoy what was a great away win against a star studded (ok a bit old) milan team.....never understand the football jeallousy bit - concentrate on your own teams - its the watching / critisising / worrying about your own team and then getting success like last night that makes being a fan fun....if you have that much hatred for others then just bore off of this site as today especially its a happy place!!! COYS
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! biggest joke heard for a long time , jealous of spuds ha ha ha ha ha for what !! your coach being insulted by a player and nearly got nose broke for that or for your team winning just on basis of milan were denied a clear goal , ha ha ha ...
Ass4ever & funny blues, you better get busy and go get a few young boys for your master to fondle, you bunch of Emirates’ pedophiles.
Folk like 'arsenal4ever' give d concept of freedom of expression a bad name. Oh where does one even begin on his odious comments..........Lord give me strength!!!
OMFG what a night.
We own the San Siro.
Gattuso = classless midget.
Do not fuck with Joe Jordan.
COYS
Loving the bittier arsenal fans, I hope they carry on, ha ha ha
Man what a game , we were outplayed for a large part of the second half but then that little pass to Azza , that wonderfull run and the fact that he did not shoot but picked out Crouch ... Azza has no end product ? AVE IT !!!!!
ps Gatusso and Flamini were a disgrace
oh yeah and moment of the game for me: Crouch going for Gatusso (blatantly fouling him from behind) just seconds after they were having a row and the referee decides it's not a foul
what a night of football, was this the proof of a new era for spurs. harry had it tactically spot on, a lot of people had predicted a similar starting line up, but with niko on the left (including me) but I think we can agree that having pienaar starting was a good thing - a bit more defensive guile. last night was amazing, the players, management staff and fans in the stadium did us proud, all of them were immense.
one of my moments of last nights game was when the milan goalkeeper came for the corner at the end of the game - full on desperation
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01372/joe-jordan_pa_1372920c.jpg
Come on then!!!
Brilliant night. Can't help feeling we've come of age at this level. Serie A leaders. AC Milan. Away.
I love this club.
Here we go again, bless em. Gooners, ask yourselves why you're even on here? Fuck off and worry about your sodding team.
Arsenal 4 Ever: Is he speaking English? Poor illiterate fool.
From the BBC:
I lost control," said Gattuso, who had earlier pushed Jordan in the face. "There is no excuse for what I did. I take my responsibilities for that."
The Italian added: "I was nervous. We were both speaking Scottish, something that I learned when I played in his home city of Glasgow, but I can't tell you what we said.
"Both speaking Scottish" - lol
Really impressed with Sandro last night and the rest of the boys. Happy days.
What a game! Only heard the Milan fans singing for about 2-3 minutes...
Flamini should've had a straight red, Gattuso should get a lengthy ban - all in all, Milan looked petulant - they expected a Spurs side devoid of Bale to roll over - we didn't.
Lennon's run was electric, and gave Crouch the perfect end pass...COYS!
Let's be honest now - did anyone expect Lennon to pass? Let alone perfectly for Crouch to score?
Author, I believe he means Scots Gaelic, something only really spoken on the islands surrounding the main land, but for some of us, a fantastic source of inspiration for the more descriptive moments that the English language seems bereft of. When it comes to a slanging match you'll be suprised how much scottish the average glaswegian can wield (and wield is definitely the right word).
As to the match there were several moments that i considered a disgrace but all have been covered above, however does anyone know conclusively what gave their goal keeper concussion? i havent seen anything that suggested head contact, i thought possibly the way he landed on one of the high catches but I've watched the replays a few times and not seen anything, he seemed to complain about his head after a period that had been reasonably quiet for him which made me think one of the fans had thrown something, but with all the nets and the distance i doubt it. Anyone see anything i missed?
I honestly thought crouch was going to pull it wide but oh man what a feeling.
So pleased that Sandro is looking like a great player as sometimes you just need a few games in a row to get going. The confidence we have throughout the squad must have gone through the roof when you dont even have Bale, Modric or The Hudd starting.
Stevie P also looks like he is settling in well.
Hope that Niko starts against Blackpool tho.
Chris , that's what surprised me the most , that after such a great run and avoiding the flying tackle the lad still had the awareness to deliver an inch perfect ball to crouch in stead of going for glory
For all of you that have ever played competitive football , you will know how hard that is , to put result and team before personal glory. How many strikers do you see celebrating after a simple tap in and never thanking the ones that made the tap in possible , you know the ones pointing at their name on the back and running the opposite direction of the assist giver ...
Really proud of the lads, didn't think we could keep a clean sheet let alone win it. Standouts, Sandro and Palacios for me.
Agreed, Sandro and Palacios were men of the match, which is maybe harsh on Lennon, Crouch, VdV, Gomes, Dawson, Gallas;-)
Loved the Redknapp interview at the end, crowd made it sound like they were playin Spurs songs over the PA, and Harry acting like that was a normal result.
And a nice eye gouge from Bassong
Amazing
There are really no words to actually sum up what happened last night.
The way we played in the first half especially stretching Milan and attacking them down the flanks was fantastic. So fantastic that their RB had to push on and play like a RWB to push SP back. This left so much room for vdV to run the show in the first half imo.
Harry, who gets a lot of stick for being tactically naive, showed yet again that he knows how to get it just right.
The 11 out there were what most of us predicted (I had JD instead of 3mp) and were immense, well drilled in what they had to do, and were so so disciplined.
Gomes - no gaffs & 2 top class stops
Charlie - Showed us how a RB should play
Gallas - Excellent especially 2nd half and slotted into RB easily
Daws - faultless imo and a top class block near the end on robinho
Benny - The appreciation society will grow after this......the coolest man on the pitch and sported corn rows. Gave the ball away 21 times though (OPTA)
Azza - Excellent all night really terrified their LB with his pace and of course had the composure to actually pass to crouch
Wilson - He's back. 5 interceptions in the 1st half alone. Ran himself into the ground. Hope he stays back#
Sandro - MOTM broke up Milan's play and passed the ball well all night. Potential to be our Makalele. The boy is sheer class.
Stevie P - Got stuck in an bit at the heels of the Milan mids. Helped us overrun midfield and stretch Milan
vdV - Ran the show 60 mins of pure class and if 'that' effort had gone in..then wow would have been all I could say.
Peter Crouch - Totally suited to our style of play in europe and proved it tonight. Ive been tough on him this season but crredit where its due he was awesome last night. Totally selfless for the good of the team. Ran and ran all night, got the goal too...didnt know he had such composure....looked dead on his feet after 75mins but kept going.
Woody - Welcome back son. Brilliant
Niko - Another good shift glad he's still with us
Luka - Brilliant
Harry - Lineup perfect, tactics perfect, goo on ya fella
Joe Jordan - Whatever you said to wind up Gattuso early on worked..cheers
The fans - 12th man.....didnt hear the italins sing all night..for a while it sounded like we were playint at home. Proud of you ya jammy gits...
Referee - weak and intimidated
10/10 for everyone last night except Crouch who i'd give 11
Roll on the return leg
Now back to work!!