Thursday, February 11, 2010

FA Cup or 4th Place?

Spurred on(pun intended) by the mention of spurs in the latest post by my co-conspirator and a thread on a board where I argue with other spurs fans, I thought I would try to get all my Tottenham Hotspur based issues written down and ask some real questions about the club.

Lets start at the top. As we stand right now, we are in a good position to take the FA cup back to N17 where it belongs and we are within reach of the ever elusive fourth place in the Barclay's Premier League. Both prestigious prizes and something every team in England wants a taste of. Which should be the bigger priority to the club? It is a strange predicament as the obvious answer is BOTH! But when the question of getting fourth place or winning the FA Cup came up I had to think about it.

The FA Cup is an amazing achievement no matter what some clubs may think of it. It is a piece of silverware that some clubs would die for and some fans would kill to have their manager take it seriously for once. In Tottenham's case, it is a tradition. We were the first non-league side to hoist it back in 1901. We were the first team to do the double in the 20th century when we won it back in 1961. We created legends when we won it twice in a row in 1981 and 1982. In 1991 Gazza created a magic moment that will live for the club forever on the way to our eighth FA Cup win. These are the moments that fans of any team in any sport live for. And believe me, I've seen moments like this in all the sports I have watched over the years. I have a moment like that for each team I have loved. This cup would be a massive lift to a club that seems to underachieve almost every year. And in addition to the fact that we get silverware, it would be another that we win that the Arsenal don't, which is almost a prize in it's own right.

What about fourth place? It sounds like a nothing more than the third loser. But we as football fans know it is so much more. It is the ticket to a world where money is nothing. Where the best of the best go to figure out how good they really are and figure out what they have to do to get better so they can be the best next year. It is the holy land of the football world, the UEFA Champions League. I heard a spurs fan say on a podcast I listen to say that he would cry if he heard the Champions league theme played at White Hart Lane. I think I would too. It is one of those elusive dreams that has been just close enough for us not to lose hope but far enough away to break our hearts. Finishing this season in the fourth position in the league would be the biggest achievement in this clubs history. It would overshadow the double from 1961. It would be seen as the move to do it again for this club and its fans.

So the problem is, how likely are either scenario? Both are possible. Of the remaining 16 teams in the cup, one should expect that only four of them are any real threat to Spurs assuming we beat Bolton on Valentine's day. The question becomes how likely is it that we draw Chelsea, Birmingham, Villa or Man City in the next round? Assuming we get there and all of those four teams do as well, it's better than 50 percent. This is where we dive into the question of whether it is better to meet and beat a quality side early or to avoid them until the end. I'm not going into that question here. Either way, It is not unreasonable that we could make the final in May and that we could win it.

Again, What about fourth place? Is it realistic to think we can get there? I think it still is despite losses against the likes of Wolves and Stoke and all the draws this year alone. Spurs are one point outside of the top four and sit behind two teams they have beaten this season, and I do remember losing to Liverpool as well, but it means we are good enough. The answer to whether we can do it comes in April as we play United, Arsenal and Chelsea all in a row. If we can do alright, and preferably beat City again, we will be in a position to go at the three teams that will be battling for the league title and find our position in the table. Last year we saw that Spurs can hang with these teams, now we have to prove it once more. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes.

Finally, I want to look at the manager. Is Harry Redknapp the man to take us to either one of these prizes? When he showed up last year I think you would have heard a resounding yes from every single Spurs fan on the planet. Now, the opinions are split somewhat. I don't think anyone would sack him, but can he get us where we should be. The results we have seen leave us unsure. Yes, we can stand up to the big boys. Yes we can beat the small frys. But can we do both and cement our status in this league? I suppose we'll only know in a few months. But in the mean time, "In 'Arry, we trust." Come on you Spurs!

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