Oh no...and when things seemed to be going so well
Arsenal are going to spend YEARS in Tottenham's shadow now, predicts Spurs legend Graham Roberts
With anger and confusion at the Emirates but smiles galore down the road, ex-midfielder reckons next St Totteringham's Day is a long way off
BY
DARREN LEWIS
After decades looking up at Arsenal, Spurs are on top now — and for how much longer? (Photo: AFP/Getty)
Tottenham legend Graham Roberts believes Arsenal face years in the shadow of their North London rivals.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side, second behind Chelsea, are on course to finish above the Gunners for the first time in over 20 years.
Roberts, now a Spurs club ambassador, said: “I think it is going to take three or four years now before they get anywhere near to finishing above us again. One hundred per cent.
“Our manager and our chairman (Daniel Levy) will improve the squad every year. They won’t be like Arsenal and buy mediocre midfielders and centre-halves.
Arsenal have eight games to make up the 14 points between them and Spurs (Photo: Getty)
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“Our chairman has also tied down our players for five more years on contracts. Everyone can see how well the club is being run.”
Arsenal, 14 points behind Tottenham in sixth, are set to finish outside the top four for the first time since Arsene Wenger was appointed in 1996.
And Roberts believes the chaos at the Emirates contrasts sharply with the clear direction at White Hart Lane, where a new stadium next-door is climbing into the North London sky.
September 6, 2016 — Christian Eriksen (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur/Getty)
September 23, 2016 — Kyle Walker (Pochettino's suit must have been at the cleaners) (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur/Getty)
May 12, 2016 — Danny Rose (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur/Getty)
September 6, 2016 — Eric Dier. And last but by no means least... (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur/Getty)
May 12, 2016 — Levy gets manager Pochettino to put pen to paper (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur/Getty)
"We’d already got over that hurdle of winning two FA Cups, and the UEFA Cup was the next hurdle we had to get over. Until this team wins something, everybody will say they are a nearly team.
"So, this year, win the FA Cup, cross that line. Then, once they’ve got one in their basket, they will get three or four. No doubt about it.”
Chelsea will be formidable opponents in the FA Cup semi-finals later this month.
Yet Roberts, who also played for the Blues, believes January’s league win over their London rivals means Spurs can go into the Wembley tie with confidence.
Joy for Roberts and Tony Parkes (right) after Tottenham's UEFA Cup final triumph (Photo: Getty)
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“We are the one team Chelsea didn’t want to get,” he said. “We are the team they fear. We know that man-for-man we are a better team.
“Look at Dele Alli. The kid is unbelievable. We haven’t have had anybody like him since Gazza and Glenn Hoddle. You give Mousa Dembele the ball and people just bounce off him. I haven’t seen that since the Ricky Villa days, when
I used to bounce off him in training.
“Everybody is raving about [Chelsea's Player of the Year favourite midfielder N'Golo] Kante, but he and Matic never got a kick at White Hart Lane. They got bullied off the ball.
Roberts loved the way Spurs overwhelmed title-bound Chelsea in January (Photo: Getty)
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"We’ve got players now that can say, ‘Yeah, we’re up for a scrap.”
Roberts, who knew all about a scrap as a player, is in New Zealand this week meeting with supporters’ groups.
He added: “Harry Redknapp was a great manager for the club. Now we’ve got Pochettino.
"Arsenal have had their time. Now our time has come around.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-going-spend-years-tottenhams-10222163