With Tottenham Hotspur set to embark one of the biggest seasons in the club’s Premier League history, there is one factor that is looming large over their lofty ambitions. It isn’t the sale of any key players (something that has been the case years ago), it isn’t the status of manager Mauricio Pochettino, it’s something much bigger than that. It’s where they will be playing.
The Wembley Stadium curse is something that has plagued Spurs for many years, whether it be losing in the semi-final of the FA Cup or reaching the final of the League Cup or more recently, performing poorly in the group stages of the Champions League.
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No matter what competition or situation, Spurs have struggled at Wembley and many expect that this trend will continue in the new Premier League season where Mauricio Pochettino will lead his side out 19 times at the Home of Football as their new stadium is being built.
Whilst that new stadium may be a beacon of the new hope and success that Tottenham are aiming for, the coming season is an almighty hurdle that they will do very well to leap over. Wembley could prove to be a bad omen for Spurs this season, but how exactly will the stadium affect their season?
Now, it must be stressed that if Tottenham fail to stay in the top four and fail in the Champions League again, that will not solely be down to Wembley. Wembley will be a factor, but it would be a cop-out. The players would have to take responsibility, as would the manager. The stadium is just one factor.
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We saw something similar with West Ham and how they dealt with moving to the London Stadium. A lot of people blamed the stadium as a result of West Ham’s poor season, and whilst on some occasions the whole atmosphere and organisation around the London Stadium was poor, it wasn’t why West Ham had such a poor start.
Players couldn’t get to grips with the dimensions of the pitch and the distance between the pitch and fans. Traditional grounds like White Hart Lane and in West Ham’s case the Boleyn Ground were close to the action and allowed fans to create an incredible atmosphere to put fear into any opponent.
Wembley’s stands may not be as far away as those at the London Stadium, but the point still stands when comparing it to White Hart Lane. The Lane had this aura about it that if a goal went in, the stadium would erupt. You don’t get that at Wembley, because it doesn’t feel like home to anybody.
The pitch won’t help Spurs either, as they have generally struggled this past season on larger pitches. Looking back at games against Arsenal, Manchester City and ironically West Ham, Spurs couldn’t get to grips with the game being stretched. In a compact pitch like at White Hart Lane, they could control the game and hit their opponents with pace and power.
Wembley is arguably the most famous stadium in the world of football. Every player dreams of playing there, so when the smaller teams in the Premier League arrive to play Spurs, they will be really up for it. Their fans will be just as up for it as the players because they’re finally seeing their side at the national stadium.
With no disrespect to these clubs, but when Bournemouth, Swansea and Watford line up to play Tottenham, they will know that they will be potentially be living out a once in a lifetime opportunity. These teams will come to Wembley knowing that they can pull off one of the biggest shocks of the season in the home of football, who wouldn’t be inspired by that?
But overall, it’s likely to be a mental block for Spurs that will affect them most. The more that people say they cannot win at Wembley, the more they will start to believe it and, in turn, lose at Wembley. Earlier I compared this move to when West Ham moved to the London Stadium but in many ways this is different. West Ham had never played there before moving, whilst Spurs have unhappy memories at Wembley.
They know what it’s like to lose there; it happened three times last season across two competitions. If ever was a time and place to dispel the notion that Spurs “bottle it” at Wembley, now is definitely the time.
Spurs will have a big season on their hands, one that many already consider to be a write off, but they will know that if they move into their new stadium without Champions League football, it will be a disaster. It is set to be one of the biggest seasons for Spurs in the Premier League era, one that could see them live up to their potential or fall away just before they are expected to peak.
