Are we still in awe of the big boys

Let`s be honest, it wasn`t so long ago that we got absolutely nothing from games against the big boys of Premiership football.

We all remember the stats every time we played one of United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool and even draws were considered to be mini victories. Spurs hadn`t (and still haven`t) beaten United since the war (the first one). Chelsea labelled our stadium 3 point Lane and we hadn`t won against our beloved neighbours in about 300 games. I may be exaggerating a little bit, but you get the point and will remember all too well that we never got much, if anything from the top four sides, either because we weren`t good enough, were a little unlucky or occasionally got robbed by a dodgy referee or similar.

Despite our two opening wake up calls from the Manchester`s, it is fair to say that we are now more than holding our own against the Premierships better teams and from the players to the fans we are now considering ourselves as their equals and with at least an even money shout at getting points and of course overhauling them over the full 38 game season.

Now, don`t get me wrong, a draw at Anfield is always a very decent result and achieving four out of a possible six points against them over a season is an excellent reward, especially as we so dominated the home game, but when I watch Spurs against all of the better teams, I still see a little too much respect and perhaps an attitude of "we must not lose" as opposed to going into the game with an absolute belief that we will win.

Let`s give credit where it is due, these opposing teams have quality throughout and have in the main been there and done it, whilst Spurs are still very much one of the new kids on the block in terms of winning trophies and being on a par with the best, but though the gap has closed massively and certainly in terms of playing quality and squad depth, we can easily argue that we are better, is there still a little too much respect and awe for our rivals, which is putting us at a slight disadvantage?

Last night was a typical example of a game we showed too much respect, and in doing so didn`t play our own game, which I honestly believed would have been good enough to take all three points, as opposed to defending for our lives (a tad harsh perhaps) to get one. Add the first half against City, when we played far too deep and also in allowing Chelsea to claw their way back into a game they looked well beaten early on, such was Tottenham`s dominance.

These games may well be as much about our opponents quality and resilience as our own minor failings, we just have to look at some of the results of these top teams against each other to realise that they are more open, but also a team isn`t beaten until the final whistle, as we witnessed when United pulled the game back on Sunday. Now perhaps I am being unfair, but I still have a feeling that deep down, Tottenham feel they are punching slightly above their weight, as opposed to being genuinely one of the big clubs. That can and hopefully will change, but for all of our quality and improving experience, I only think this will change with a season upon season top four finish and competitive CL seasons.

In reality we can`t really see this as a negative, but a simple reality that as a club that is building for, as opposed to buying the title, we have to accept small failings, in mind and body, but that can so easily change the longer the club match their rivals and remain in the top few of the table. However well Tottenham are doing, you know there is more in the tank and with stability and time, we have a club that can get better and stronger, whilst it could be argued that only City are stronger than they were 3-5 years ago.

This season, we have played City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle, eight times, winning 2, drawing 3 and losing 3. Not good, not too bad, but there is certainly room for improvement and though we will perhaps have a better picture over the next month or so, am I wrong in feeling that with a little more belief, daring and big game match-up experience, we can actually win more that we lose and maybe make our rivals fear facing us for a change.

Read more: http://www.spurs.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7511302#ixzz1liNYyiJv

i found that very intresting.
some fans think why are we playing for a draw when we are so close to the league

Loughtonlegend wrote:i found that very intresting.
some fans think why are we playing for a draw when we are so close to the league

Hard balancing act Lought, go too gungho and your on the end of big thrashing as these teams
have players that will make you pay if your too open.

I think sneaking a 1-0 away from home defending properly is at the mom, the way forward and
maybe go for it a bit more when we are at home with the crowd behind us.

ye i understand why we played it more cautious last night as we had so many players out but normally when we play man u they tend to have loads of injuries and we still dont attack them much

Loughtonlegend wrote:ye i understand why we played it more cautious last night as we had so many players out but normally when we play man u they tend to have loads of injuries and we still dont attack them much

Well, I got a feeling come the begining of March and hopefully with our best eleven and our best bench, we will have a right go
at Manure.