The five stages of supporting Spurs in defeat
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 10:18AM
Denial
Whatever. They only won because we played like they do on most weekends, without any belief. Think we needed this to happen. A reminder that we still have a job to do. If we took them back to the Lane tomorrow, we'd crush them. Doesn't count for much, its like losing to Stoke. I'm really okay with it. We've been laughing at them all season long. We are still the better team and this was nothing more than a bad day at the office. We switched off and they had their moment in the sun, in their cup final, and they punished us for going to sleep. Means nothing. We'll win next week, they'll lose and nothing will have changed in the grand scheme of things. Let them have their moment, its what they value above anything else. Let them gloat, its what they do best. It's what they treasure above anything else, showing their pig ugly faces in public and giving it some because they're so obsessed with how they must always be perceived as winners. North London is still ours. If we had bothered to turn it on at 2-0 we'd have scored four or five.
Anger
WHAT IN THE **** WAS THAT? GUTLESS AND USELESS. TOO MANY PLAYERS BELIEVING IN THE POST-GAME HYPE. WE MADE A CRAP SIDE LACKING IN CONFIDENCE LOOK LIKE WORLD BEATERS, RE-CLAIMING PAST DOMINANCE WHEN WE WERE MEANT TO BE THE ONES SHOWING OFF OUR CREDENTIALS. DID WE EVEN HAVE A DEFENCE TODAY? I COUNTED FOUR CHEAP GOALS. PATHETIC, JUST PATHETIC. WE'RE GOING TO FINISH 7TH AT BEST AND LUKA AND BALE WILL BE GONE AND KING WILL RETIRE AND THAT WILL BE THAT. I BET EDEN HAZARD WAS WATCHING THAT AND NOW HE'S RIPPED UP HIS PRE-CONTRACT WITH US TO SIGN FOR THEM. WORST DAY OF MY LIFE. JUST CONFIRMS WE'VE FLUKED THE ENTIRE SEASON AND OUR PROGRESS OVER THE PAST FEW SEASONS IS BECAUSE OTHERS CLUBS HAVE SIMPLY NOT PUT ANY EFFORT INTO IT. TODAY WE'VE BEEN KICKED BACK INTO OUR BOX. I'M GOING TO MELT MY SEASON TICKET CARD AND MOULD IT INTO A MIDDLE FINGER AND MAIL IT TO LEVY. RIP TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR. LET'S NOT BOTHER TURNING UP FOR ANY OF OUR REMAINING GAMES, MUCH LIKE WE DID IN THIS ONE. WHY WASN'T SZCZESNY SENT OFF? HARRY, GOOD LUCK RELEGATING ENGLAND NEXT SEASON.
Bargaining
It's just three points right? Someone confirm it's just three points and three points is available every match so we can make up the deficit and boost it back to a ten point gap soon? Gloating rights mean nothing any ways, that's for kids in the playground. I don't care about gloating. Gloating doesn't matter right? We needed to lose because it will make us stronger so this is the best thing that could have happened. This is one of those sort of physical epiphanies, a slap in the face, a wake up call. I promise never to bait gooners on Twitter again or laugh at animated gifs of them crying. Seriously, had Lennon started instead of Niko we would have won the game. So Lennon has to start all remaining games and we'll win them all. Job done. That's what we need to do. We beat them at home, they beat us at their home. Points cancelled out then, all square then. Doesn't matter then. Might as well not count the derby games because of that.
Depression
Someone kill me. How am I meant to go to work tomorrow? All the gooners will be there early, newspaper cut outs plastered over their work desks, they'll even be gooners parading up and down the office floor that don't even work there. They'll be everywhere, all in their red colours gloating and boasting waving around DVD's of the Invincibles season in my face barking about shadows and 1961. That's it now, they're back in the title race and our season is over. We were wrong, we aint better than them. This single game of 90 minutes proves that beyond doubt. We've over-rated ourselves all season long. This is a disaster that we will simply not recover from. Utd will dick us next week and we'll be the ones looking up at a gap by the end of the season. Redknapp hasn't got a clue how to structure a side and select the right players and as for the Luka and Bale...sell them, cash in, and consolidate for the Europa League next season. I can't cope with the pressure. I don't want us to compete any more. It's too stressful.
Acceptance
We played poorly, we got what we deserved. No point ignoring it. Tactically not set up correctly, not enough of anything to muster up a sufficient challenge. Too much roaming. Fact is, they turned up for it and we didn't. That is surely all that counts. They were two nil down and thirty minutes later it's five two to them. There is no running away from it. Can't really complain if you never truly competed. Unacceptable from all concerned.
It's still one result, even if it always hurts to lose against them more so than any other loss. And this probably ranks up there with the worst of them. A harsh brutal reminder that nothing can ever be taken for granted. That's what expectancy can do. Still better to be here regardless of the result than to be stuck in the late 1990s and early 2000s when another defeat was added to a collective that anchored us to mid-table. As for them, only singing when they're winning. They'll have the bin bags out again soon enough. Clutching at beating us 5-2 will just belittle them further in the long run, much like the days when we held onto punctured victories like it meant so much more than it did.
Those last few sentences will only mean something if we remember this day and move forwards and consolidate our position. Onto the next game.
We've had our pride stolen. We need to claim it back. We need to stop believing in the hype. We have to be unified and we have to fight. We need to graft. Prove me right, Tottenham.
Why is acceptance so much like denial?
Reader Comments (23)
I am gutted about the defeat but time will heal our wounds. What is a real concern for me is the attitude displayed from our manager that suggested that he saw it coming and did nothing to stoke the players up. The warning signs were there from the Stevenage game that the players, having beaten Newcastle handsomely, were thinking they were brazil. Did Harry notice that in training and did he do anything to address it? Was he too busy believing it himself?
I am stuck in a room bouncing between stages 2 and 4. Stage 5 occasionally flickers for a split second like a broken fluorescent bulb, too briefly to offer any actual light. I fear I may be in here some time.
Yes it hurts and will do until we play them again but we are still lying in 3rd, 7 points in front of them and Chelsea and still have it in our hands.
So yeah people can talk in extremes all they like, they can talk about how we've fluked it all season, they can talk about how we're up there because the teams below us are faltering but I still beleive in this team, don't let one result deflect away from our performances, it's just one result.
They were much better than us it has to be said, we didn't turn up and you have to blame the management and the players for that, I do think we got sucked into the pre match hype a litte and at 2-0 it looked like the players had already thought they won the game, arrogance from both maybe? But this serves as a reminder that nothing is taken for granted in football. It was Arsenal's day, they deserved to win, they deserve to gloat - we learn from it and move on and look to throw it back in their faces come May.
Look we have Utd next week, we ARE good enough to beat them. They will be wary of a Tottenham backlash and will be concerned going into the match as well as us, It'll be stupid to write the team off after one result, we are 3rd in the league for God's sake, 3 defeats in 21 games 12 games left all to play for
COYS
I think I actually said 5) word for word this morning to my missus. Fact.
Onwards and upwards, lets get both wingers playing next week on the right sides please Harry. Watching Bale playing wide right right and having to turn back on his left every time is painful.
I'm going for the North Korea option.
btw, Did I miss anything at the weekend other than the glorious win for our victorious tottenham hotspur team of gentlemen?
Wonderfully written again Sppoky,as it always is on this site.Don't even know why I am posting as you have covered every bit of emotion in your article to be honest.However even after sleeping on it I am still struggling to understand where this debacle came from.After being two nil up,close to half time how can we just capitulate in that fashion? Where did the inferiority complex come from to concede 5 goals in rapid succession? what made them fear Arteta,and benayoun for ffs? So many things wrong with yesterday's defeat and very worrying to be outplayed by a team apparently struggling for confidence.Not one player stood up to be counted yesterday,and that includes the management.
Who were these player's that Redknapp was referring to when he said that maybe there were a couple of player's where the occasion got to them? As far as I could see there were eleven on the pitch,and the whole of the dug out too.Simply not good enough,to be destroyed in that fashion.
LOL @ Tricky
Fabulous lulzy article Spooks. Sums it up a treat.
Acceptance it is, then.
This was a perfect example of 'Arry "can't put my finger on what happened" Redknapp tactical naivety. If the Arse's first half comeback goals can be put to individual mistakes (Bale failing to track Sagna, BAE fluffing a clearance), the shape of thing to come was already being played out. With both Bale and Kranjcar drawn into the middle of the park, our full backs were often isolated. As Arse pushed us back, a large gap opened between our midfield and the strikers with no pacy outlet down the flank to relieve the pressure on our defense. What does Harry do? Ans: "thicken up the midfield". Sandro for defensive mid OK but VDV for what?!? Pace? Defensive work? What? I like VDV but yesterday he was the wrong substitution, more so with Lennon sitting on the bench. Lennon has better pace and a better defensive work rate than VDV. 'Arrys's punning on VDV who loves to come deep, has no pace and doesn't track back was naive at best. Bloody idiotic, I reckon.
Now, I'm angry.
I am still firmly in denial. I think this is where I will stay.
Really not getting this depression and over reaction to yesterday. Yes we had an awful performance to endure, yes the tactics (lack of) were appalling in such a game - no lennon and bale on the wings when so many teams have done them over employing wingers to stretch them? But we are 3rd on merit and from playing some of the best football of the season. just because the a*** beat us in one game. one game, 3 points - first time they've beaten us in how long? They had to put in their performance to save their miserable season, our attitude was appalling. Defoes comment before the match summed it up 'its more important to them' It shouldn't have been.
The whole thing about Bale diving is true but did I not see Gibbs doing the same thing at the other end not long before? in fact they were going down all afternoon. The main loss in this match was Parker getting himself sent off when the game was lost. Stupid.
Get a PROPER perspective. They beat us at theirs, we beat them at ours. 1 win a piece - 3 points taken. We were delivered a harder lesson at WHL by Citeh and went on go from bottom to where we sit now. Let them get on with acting as if they've won the league, it shows how far we've come. Been quiet all season. They're still going to be potless. Let the journos and goons roll out their nonsense of 'tottenham being back in our place' blah blah. We're a force now, we've COMPETED at the top for the last 3 seasons. We still sit 7 points clear of 4th. Its in out hands. We need to up the support in our next home match against Utd to get back on track. Support. Stand up. Believe. COYS
Haven't spoken a word, have a truly volcanic hangover, it all feels like being eaten alive. My main problem is that I am experiencing all five stages simultaneously.
The funny thing is, when Van Persie hit the post I said to the wife that this is the kind of luck that says it's going to be our day. I managed to get approximately 9 words of that statement out before Sagna had put the ball in the net. I finished with "f@@k, f@@k, f@@k" instead.
Oh and why didn't Gibbs get a yellow card for his dive?
It didn't happen works right now. But risking my sanity for a second - ultimately they wanted/needed it more than us and it showed and told in the end. Does not matter what formation/personnel you play if you lack that edge and your opponent has it you are in trouble. Anyway seen lots of odd results between the top 6 this season, not sure why and the league table has us as the top team in London still.
God bless you Spooks. In truth I've got enough crap going on in my life right now that losing to the scum is the least of my worries. That said the above article did make me grin earlier and it was much needed. Particularly the thought of you moulding your season ticket into a protruding middle finger and mailing it to Levy.
I'm hoping that Harry's "I don't know what went wrong" is a smokescreen for him to spare various players in the media. I hope he knows what's going on and will put the team through their paces this week to correct it.
The one shining light from this game (apart from Saha netting again, he's looking a good buy) was Dawson's reaction coming on. Angry, determined and dishing out a few well-deserved rockets. He's often maligned as not being good enough, but I think him being out of the team lately has had a positive effect on him, he showed the leadership that Kingy and Parker were strangely lacking-in yesterday. I'd play him against United (controversially) instead of Ledley (who I have a nagging suspicion isn't actually fit at the moment, he looked slow out there yesterday and didn't seem to be busting a gut to get back on the line for Walcott's second?).
I'm still in depression. 3 points is, as always, the best cure
Very good. ESPecially this "HARRY, GOOD LUCK RELEGATING ENGLAND NEXT SEASON."
Kneejerkers fuck the fuck off. We're still third in the league, so grow up.
Hopefully, now we've got that game out of the way, we can just focus on the one game at a time as we have for the most of this season. There was a lot of hype around this match - numerous articles about "power shifts in N. London", 'arry for England etc etc - and it became more than a game. Abvove all, it became a chance for Arsenal to redeem themselves in front of an increasingly disatisfied support. To be honest, I can't think of a worse time to have faced them this season.
To me, this result says nothing about the direction of both clubs. Beating Spurs won't get Arsenal back in the FA cup and hpefully, it won't inspire them to beat AC Milan 5-0. It won't guarantee them Champs league football next year and they're not now challenging for the prem. Yes, they have local bragging rights, but that's something they've shown complete disdain for in the past and seeing how important it is to them speaks volumes about where we both are now.
We won't suddenly be a bad team, and will not fall into midtable mediocrity. We've got the basics right this season, beating the teams below us in the league and finding deadly consistency. We just need to learn to beat the teams around us.
I still believe. COYS.
After the dust has settled on yesterdays performance im still looking at that gap of 7pts with glee, granted we still have to play Utd, Chelsea and Everton but look at our run-in and tell me third is still not easily on the cards. We lost our way after the 2nd goal went in, as if the players didn’t believe what had happened and lost focus but its only one game. I know its Arsenal but if we come third and they get 6th will you really care about this result in the long-run?? I know I wont ill be watching us destroy some European minnows at the lane come September. Onwards and upwards but please can be revert back to the 4-5-1 please. Coys.
Also a good piece on the roaming Bale:
Bale is unlikely to beat David Silva to the award again this year, even though his brilliance has been more sustained than last year, the winger helping himself to 13 goals in all competitions and providing seven assists in the league. However, he is increasingly in danger of losing sight of what makes him such a special talent. Bale – and, by extension, Tottenham – is surely at his best when taking on terrified right-backs, using his pace and power to beat them, before either shooting or crossing with his brilliant left foot. After all, this is a player who single-handedly destroyed the reputation of the world's best right-back, Maicon, over the course of the two matches against Internazionale. Yet against Arsenal on Sunday Bale was rarely to be found up against Bacary Sagna, instead drifting inside and to the right in a bid to see more of the ball.
Clearly this is a conscious decision by Harry Redknapp, who must feel Bale could hurt teams even more in the middle. That may not turn out to be true. In each of Tottenham's last four away games, Bale has constantly drifted infield; they have not won away from home since Bale scored twice at Norwich City on 28 December. At Manchester City and Liverpool he constantly picked up the ball in the middle, only to find himself crowded out; it is questionable whether he has the quick feet, movement and vision of, say, Silva to excel in this role and the upshot of Redknapp's tweaks is that Spurs have lost the shape that makes them so devastating. Even League One Stevenage were able to handle Bale the playmaker in the FA Cup. It becomes even more of a problem for Tottenham when Aaron Lennon is not in the side, because Niko Kranjcar, never the quickest, also comes inside; they have badly missed Lennon's searing speed on the right and against Arsenal, they were a confused mish-mash.
Depressed
After the game I got up and marched past my smug family, all ManUres, and spent the afternoon sweeping-up dog shit, raking-up leaves , washing the car and I even washed the dogs because I suspected they were laughing at me. My rake has burn marks on the handle from the strength of my grip...I was picturing van Persil's skinny neck in my grasp. I too am stuck on angry and will be for a while.
Harry! What were you thinking? A Sandro who'd been out for a month and VDV, our good-time Charlie. We needed Lennon and Saha still in the game to push-back! Bunkering was never the right option!! Hell, I'd have thrown on DeFoe too or duct-taped Livermore to van Persil's backside. Something! GOD! I'll never get over this...
After the game I got up and marched past my smug family, all ManUres, and spent the afternoon sweeping-up dog shit, raking-up leaves , washing the car and I even washed the dogs because I suspected they were laughing at me. My rake has burn marks on the handle from the strength of my grip...I was picturing van Persil's skinny neck in my grasp. I too am stuck on angry and will be for a while.
Harry! What were you thinking? A Sandro who'd been out for a month and VDV, our good-time Charlie. We needed Lennon and Saha still in the game to push-back! Bunkering was never the right option!! Hell, I'd have thrown on DeFoe too or duct-taped Livermore to van Persil's backside. Something! GOD! I'll never get over this...
I stopped reading all the news preferring to focus on work. Annoyed that we did not turn up at all for such an important game in terms of qualifying for the champions league.
If I want to be all analytical and technical, BAE and Bale were non-existent. King looked isolated. Kaboul had a bad day and looked rusty. Friedel seemed to choose to go low for the last three goals, allowing the attacker to chip over him easily. But I digress and distract from the main point. If we are serious about qualifying for the Champions league, we must stop having such games.
So far we have had an excellent season. I am happy that we are under the radar so no one notices us. But we must not believe the hype that we are better than our rivals. We still have Chelski and Man U left. Everyone else , including Everton Fulham Norwich and Swansea we must take 3 points, otherwise forget it.
The FA Cup is a happy distraction and we have a good chance to reach the semis but
We must not be complacent from now on; and
Liverpool and Chelski still lie in wait.
It would be good to win but that should not be the main priority.
Bale seems to dive more often and King has appeared ordinary. We need Lennon back, and I am happy Niko is back but he needs to be used properly against lesser teams not against tough nuts.
HR (bless him) has done good so i will grant him a lapse now and then although I would have preferred not the NLD! Now we only need to finish the season properly so that all can enjoy the Euros happy and with peace of mind.