Oh here he comes, Bobby Shovels and his “theory of negativity.” That’s the cry I get a lot, and fair enough a lot of that criticism holds up, in that I do not have as rosy an outlook as others.
Yet, if you look at my “negative” ramblings since the start of the season, a lot of it implied a catastrophic defeat against Spurs: the reliance on Payet, the individual errors, the lack of defensive cohesion, the inability to even impose ourselves on lower opposition. Everything was building to a disaster when all of those failures, that have been papered over by some fortunate results, all came together. We have conceded the most goals (eight) from defensive errors this season – many of us were worried about this earlier in the season; others just said it was the occasional error. It’s not occasional anymore: it’s a huge problem. When we play a team
Sorry guys, but I think Sunday showed that some of that talk of top six finishes or – as the KUMB podcast tried to vaguely argue – this being a team akin to 86, is not really going to hold true. I’m not saying that we’re awful and we’re going to get relegated, but as I have said countless times, the over excitement about the first 12 games went too far.
Already I feel bored that everyone goes on about us beating City, Liverpool and Arsenal away – has anyone noticed that the City game was back in September? That since then we’ve lost away to Watford and been thrashed by Spurs? Our season is already becoming defined by our exploits in the first few weeks. Furthermore, I am delighted at the fact we beat all those teams, but would I rather have maybe lost against City and had a better result against Spurs? Of course. The Tottenham game was a wake-up call.
Yet, we should learn from Spurs. They have had many false dawns in the past few years – like the time when AVB beat United away – their first league victory there in ages, or even when Sherwood did the same – each time the club thought they had turned a corner, but they hadn’t. Now, giving Pochettino a year or so to bed in and make the team his own, they are reaping the rewards. Spurs have spent a while trying to get themselves into the top four, and they may just do it now.
Similarly, we need time to do the same. Hence, I have always said that those saying we’re going to be miles ahead of last season in Bilic’s first year in charge is ludicrous. We need time to become a big club – and I think our disaster at White Hart Lane should have silenced those who think our away form at the start was a sign of things to come. Fact is, we’ve had one point out of our last possible nine, and we face a West Brom side who we haven’t beaten at home in the last two years (3-3 and 1-1) and lost against 4-0 in the Cup. Furthermore, they’re coming off the back of a victory against Arsenal – a victory much more in the recent memory than our Emirates triumph. A win against us and they’re only one point behind us. Indeed, look at the table, and another loss and we drop into tenth or lower – it’s fine to embrace the good start, but remember how close this league is becoming, how many teams are clustered in the middle of the pack: one point in nine and already we are falling back.
This is not a blog to brag or boast that I warned you of a sign of things to come against Spurs. Just that this defeat should not be seen as a surprise nor something to make us negative: more it shows that there is a long way to go to ensure we are at the consistency and high level of Tottenham. That’s not a nice thing to say, but if we admit our failings, we have a realistic idea of what is to come this year, and the amazing potential of future seasons.