Normally I wouldn’t bother regurgitating what’s been said on another website, but considering the split opinions on whether this has been a good or disappointing season I thought it would be interesting. For the last few months I’ve been bleeting on to anyone who will listen about our league form, or lack of form if being pedantic. Even during the early stages of the season and even though we would be winning games I voiced my concerns. I should point out at this stage I’m a perfectionist and a pessimist. Not a good combination and neither makes for a happy Spurs fan.
You see, I’m happy to win like we all are but I prefer to win with style. Last season we won with style. I’ve spent more than my fair share of this season moaning about one thing or the other, whether it was in November questioning the tactical use of van der Vaart and whether his inclusion in the side was actually a hindrance to the team no matter how good he is as an individual or asking whether we were actually lucky to get the draw we needed against AC Milan having got the tactics completely wrong and ended up defending for our lives for most of the game. I know these things come from the perfectionist side of me, not that I’m perfect by any means or even that anything I say is correct but they’re my thoughts and how I roll as the kids say. I wish I was someone who could easily watch a match and not worry about the apparent lack of cover for our right back because vdV is drifting inside too much or question the logic of a certain substitution. It must be so much better to be able to just sit back and enjoy the game but I’ve been cursed with this anal attitude of wanting everything to be perfect.
Which brings me onto my point. There are plenty of people who see this season as one of the best in living memory, and I presume when they say living memory they mean since football was broadcast on TV as much as it has been in the last two decades. I’ve got absolutely not problem with people thinking that, just as I would hope people wouldn’t have a problem with me disagreeing with them. However, while there are plenty of fans out there who feel as I do, any noise coming from within Tottenham itself and in particular the press don’t. This made me assume those of us who felt this way must be wrong. Of course we’re entitled to our opinion and as such can never be wrong but maybe we’re misguided and unrealistic? After all, the people actually playing don’t seem to be that disappointed and we all know what the managers thoughts on this season are so maybe we really have done as well as we could.
That is until Tom Collomosse at the Evening Standard got an interview with William Gallas. Gallas is a player I’ll happily admit I was wrong about. I didn’t want him at the club, not because of who he used to play for but because I thought he was past it. Credit where it’s due though he’s been one of our better performers, even after a shaky start and he’s proven Redknapp right as well as being one of, if not his best signings. If you want to read the entire article click the link but I’ll just highlight a couple of quotes:
“Even if people say ‘you had a great season’, I don’t think so”
“When we play against the small teams, maybe – I say maybe – we thought we had won before we played, so perhaps that’s the mistake we made.
“We dropped too many points against Blackpool, Wolves and West Ham.
“We made too many mistakes but now we know which mistakes we made, it will not be good if we make the same ones again.”
I’m not sure his manager will be happy hearing him say those things which go completely against the soundbites he’s been giving but I for one am. It tells me at least one person within the entire set-up at Spurs feels the same way as I do. At least one person who’s had a say in what’s happened this season feels we should’ve done better. I dare say the vast majority of those involved feel the same way and quite possibly even the manager does but doesn’t want to admit failure.
Maybe the divide between happy and sad is equally apparent within the confines of White Hart Lane as it is out of it? Admittance is the first step to recovery isn’t it? If so, I hope Gallas has laid the seeds for the new season early.
COYS
Submitted by THFC1882
