Tottenham Hotspur 2 Aston Villa 0: There is only one team in London

As we left the Lane last night, the famous cry went out.

“There’s only one team in London”.

Ladies and Gentleman the cockerel is crowing once again. London’s pride and joy, the aristocrats from N17 could well be on their way back. I have to be honest, most of my football supporting life Tottenham have been awful. Burkinshaw’s side of the 80s are a fuzzy memory for me because I had barely made it out of my nappies, I can just about recall with a fuzziness Pleat’s nearly side of 1987 and my earliest football memories really are of the Gazza inspired side of 1991, which while brilliant in flashes , wasn’t exceptional.Growing up in North London, you are bought up on the tales of Tottenham teams of the past. Spurs and North London go hand in hand, whilst Arsenal might be a club located in North London, Tottenham Hotspur are very much North London’s club.

North London’s vibrancy and buzz is echoed by the boys in blue and white. There’s a magic and a bond that might be difficult for others to understand but the area and the club are intrinsically linked. However sadly in the reality of the modern football era, the swashbuckling exploits of the Glory Glory boys has been lost. Hell, our magical anthem has now been adopted by kids in Malaysia who sing “Glory Glory Man Utd”, yet there is still no more awesome sight in football in my eyes than when you hear “Glory Glory Hallelujah” ring from the stands at the Lane. My dad told me about those magical nights of the sixties and its something that each new generation of Tottenham fan longs to experience and perhaps finally we may be onto something special.

The Best spurs side

I have no hesitation in saying this may be the best Tottenham team I have witnessed in my lifetime, given the standard I have been accustomed to though the cynics might say that isn’t hard but I do feel now could be our time if we can grab the opportunity, show our ambition and develop and sustain our momentum. It’s a shame Manchester City‘s oil money has come and blown Sky’s Traditional “Big Four” ( and by traditional I mean of course since 2004, which is officially when football seems to have started according to some people) out of the water, thus overshadowing our rather slower rebuilding progress but City are a different beast and one we have to ignore for now unfortunately.

With all the bulldozing going on around Northumberland Park, you assume something is in the water regarding our new stadium and with that stadium and the increased revenues we may at some stage be able to consider trying to match City’s financial power. For now our ambition has to be limited to becoming an established Champions League Club and you know what I think we can do it.

Yesterday’s game was far too easy. Yes Aston “Bland, Drab and Boring” Vila were even more bland, drab and boring than usual. But I think for that credit has to be given to the Lilywhites. Our football at times was sublime, utilising the pace and width of Bale and Lennon on the flanks, but also supplementing that with genuine ingenuity in midfield with Parker, Modric and Rafa linking up brilliantly. We could have been 2-0 up before Adebayor’s acrobatically taken first goal and whilst the second goal owed more to some truly comic Villa defending leaving our Number 10 with the simplest of tap ins, there was no doubt Bale’s menace on the left caused panic in the Villa back four. Villa even had two right backs set up to double up on him, a plan that backfired amazingly, not surprising when one of the right backs is Alan Hutton though.

Missed chances

It could and should have been more, Adebayor missing three chances to secure his hat-trick and Villa’s only chance being a tame header from former Spur Darren Bent. The gulf in class at times was quite simply embarrassing, possession was 70% in our favour in both halves, which is quite staggering and the way we kept possession was a sight to behold. However we must gain some perspective in that Aston Villa aren’t the greatest team in the world but outside the six clubs who are most likely to take the top six places in the Premiership, you would say they and Newcastle could be the best of the rest and to dominate them in such spectacular fashion , albeit without the goals to reflect it, is to applauded and not pooh poohed. Goodness knows I have been one of Harry’s harshest critics and I genuinely felt that he had taken us as far as he could but at the moment he is proving me wrong.

The most important thing for Spurs fans is we have to have style. To win is not enough for us, we have to do it with a swagger. That’s what Tottenham Hotspur are all about, that’s our trademark. Listening to the talk shows on radio last night, reading the press today, people are raving again about the Spurs. God knows we have suffered more than most, we have had our barren years, we have had the indignity of seeing Arsenal and Chelsea overtake us and attached to that the rise of the Jonny Come Lately fans who have attached themselves to these two bandwagons. However neither club could challenge our fan base for loyalty and standing by our club in even the grimmest of times, our heads and our attendances never dropped. Whisper it quietly but maybe , just maybe the cockerel is rising again.

“The Whistle Blows, the Cockerel Crows.

And now we’re in the game

Its up to you you Lilywhites to win the Crowd’s acclaim

There’s other teams from other towns

They may be big or small

THE FAMOUS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR ARE THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL”

Maybe the real Tottenham Hotspur are finally back. Or knowing our luck we could lose to West Brom and the moaning will start again.

Sorry I wouldn’t be Spurs if I didn’t allow my pessimism to interchange with my more more nostalgic side!

Player Ratings

Friedel 7- Little to contend with apart from a Bent header. If only all nights could be as quiet as this.

Walker 7- Threatened down the right flank and defended well. Matched Agbonlahor stride for stride as well to nullify the Villa Man’s threat.

Kaboul 8- Immense, dealt with Villa’s aerial threat and is becoming the defender we all hoped he would be.

King 8- Oozed authority yet again. What a class act this man is.

Ekotto 7- Cool and comfortable yet again from Benny. Great hair!

Lennon 8 – Little Azza is finally getting back into his best form, good link up play with Walker gives us a pacy and skilful threat down the right flank.

Parker 8- Imperious again. Superb shield and very good passer. I have to admit I was well and truly wrong about him!

Modric 9- The little master was sensational. He stayed at a real football club and is getting his just rewards hopefully.

Bale 9- Unplayable as Hutton and Cuellar found to their cost.

Van Der Vaart 8 – Lovely link up play with the midfield, such a talent. he oozes class.

Adebayor 9 – Yes he could have scored five but he is immense, works hard for the team and adds an extra dimension. Crouch seems like a bad memory.

Subs

Defoe 6- Couldn’t get into the game, needs to be cuter now that our build up approach is more measured.

Sandro n/a