Tottenham’s title challenge is a fairytale too – but don’t shout about it
Tottenham winning the Premier League would be almost as remarkable as a triumph for Leicester City, and the fans dare not mention the t-word as the side go about their business efficiently under the radar
The last time Roma won the Serie A title, in 2001, in the weeks leading up to their coronation most supporters did not even dare talk about the possibility of winning it. They would not even say the word scudetto, the regular expression to denote Italian champions, as if by command from the highest overlords of superstition. They said “trukke trukke”, a catchphrase that loosely refers to a thing. It took on a life of its own. Everyone knew what they were talking about but nobody dared say it properly out loud.
The parable of trukke trukke perhaps strikes a chord at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham are quietly enjoying a season of extraordinary improvement and promise. But shhhh. They may be second in the table but this is not the time to make a racket about any big ideas.
The
Leicester City whirlwind absolutely dominates the fairytale stakes, and rightly so. That suits Tottenham down to the ground. Winning six games in succession, playing with a strategy and confidence that has all the players bringing the best out of themselves and each other, of course there is a buzz around the place but it is more like background music compared with the crescendo of zany excitement that is building around the King Power.
Being slightly under the radar is a very useful place for Tottenham to be positioned. “We just want to stay as close as possible and our thing is to be humble,” said Christian Eriksen after Spurs clocked up
another three points against Watford.
Among the crowd at White Hart Lane, the sentiment was echoed. Mike Collett, an esteemed football reporter who has been supporting Spurs since 1961, was in among the faithful and noticed that for all the fans’ positivity and happiness, it was conspicuous that nobody would dare to get carried away. “I have not heard anybody mention the word title,” he says. “Nobody among my friends talks about it. I am not allowing myself to think we can win the league. We have had so many false dawns. It never happens.”
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Tottenham celebrate after winning the first division in 1961, with the manager, Bill Nicholson, seated and wearing a bowler hat. That was the club’s most recent title. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images
The thing is, although nothing can match Leicester’s title bid for improbability, the scale of Tottenham’s achievement if their run continues to trukke trukke proportions would not be too far behind. They haven’t had a league title win since 1961. Any of their fans able to recall the experience of watching Bill Nicholson’s Double team, inspired by such players as Danny Blanchflower, Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones and Bobby Smith, will be at least in their sixties now. Incidentally, that team essentially won the title using a core of 12 players (five of the total of 17 played six times or fewer). But that’s another story for another day.
Even the chance to have a genuine shot at another title has not come along too often for Tottenham. There is a reason that “sexy” is in the urban dictionary. Perhaps that is why it is better that there is not too much of a noise around N17. Collett can sense something special is happening, though. “I think this is the best team Tottenham have had since the mid-1980s team that won the FA Cup twice. There is an incredible confidence in the team that we haven’t felt for donkey’s years.”
Tottenham’s form, guided expertly by Mauricio Pochettino and a bunch of players who are following his instructions with aplomb, puts a new slant on traditional expectations. There is real (if deliberately understated) hope that the Argentinian manager, if he is not allowed to leave for a richer club at a time when Tottenham will be tightening their belts to pay for their stadium upgrade, can create a team capable of lasting success.
Next on the agenda is Emirates Marketing Project,
reeling from the pummelling delivered by Leicester on Saturday. Tottenham made a statement with a
comprehensive victory over Manuel Pellegrini’s team in September and, arguably, they have upgraded their own style since then.
Of course, Leicester still have a five-point lead over Spurs and have no cup distractions, while Pochettino has Europa League fixtures against Fiorentina and an FA Cup fifth round match against Crystal Palace to juggle in the coming weeks, all of which adds to the sense that Tottenham are in the background of any title conversations.
It has been a while since English football has produced an unexpected champion. Leicester might be the people’s favourites but Tottenham don’t mind doing their stuff in the shadows.
