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“Fans will tell you that of any game they want to win in the entire season this is one. It is a big, big game, a local derby and the players are well aware of its importance,” reflected Tottenham striker Peter Crouch on the eve of his first North London Derby, echoing the best intentions of countless Spurs players down the years.
The Tottenham fans he speaks of, however, have become accustomed to not getting what they want from this traditionally one-sided tie.
“You just try not to get your hopes up, they’re too good at home, our best players are missing, but here we are again and maybe this is the year,’ a tormented Tottenham fan tells me outside the ground on match day, scarcely believing his team who sits fourth in the league table has a prayer against an opponent level on points in third.
Of course, this is not just any top of the table encounter, it is the North London Derby, and Arsenal has a stranglehold over its rival that transcends form. It is over ten years since Spurs has beaten Arsenal in a League game, a period of domination that has greatly damaged Spurs reputation and psyche.
Arsenal, located in the upmarket Highbury, carries itself with a self-assured superiority over its close neighbour from the grittier Tottenham. For their part Spurs deride the ‘latte-sipping liberal Arsenal fans’ that have encroached on its patch of North London. As a geographical argument this is strictly true. Arsenal, founded in Woolwich Kent, moved to Highbury in 1913, right into the heartland of Tottenham. The feud escalated when Arsenal pulled off an audacious promotion at the end of First World War in 1919. Tottenham was relegated from the re-established league and, mysteriously, Arsenal, who had only finished fifth in the second division, were promoted. With this slight of hand, the seeds of 90 years of torment were sown.
It is wrong, however, to paint Spurs as purely long time unlucky losers. Tottenham is one of the grand old clubs of English Football. A club that has always emphasised flair and style over results, White Hart Lane is a purest delight.
And, indeed there have been periods – albeit fleeting - when Spurs panache held sway over Arsenal. The likes of the imperious Glenn Hoddle and Paul Gascoigne, regularly ripped through Arsenal in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Gascoinge, with an astonishing opening goal, inspired Tottenham to its most famous Derby win when they defeated Arsenal 3-1 at Wembley in the FA Cup Semi-Final in 1992.
The great Gascoigne was cut down by a knee injury in the final of that year (long before the alcohol and kebabs permanently claimed his talent) and though Spurs still went onto to win the ‘92 final, they have never regained the swagger – with a victory in the Carling Cup in 1999 and 2008 the only recent highpoints.
It is now the modern day Arsenal that is considered by most as the keeper of the Beautiful Game flame. ‘Play the Arsenal Way’ is a mantra that has been adopted with an almost religious zeal at the Emirates. Spurs too, remain true to their long held philosophy of flair and see Arsenal’s proprietary over the style crown as a further risible claim. Petty squabbling it may be, but it has made for some cracking derby matches.
The common feature of many a local derby is of the tough tackling, mistake riddled, defensively minded contest, as the intensity of the atmosphere and fear of losing drives players to distraction. Spurs vs Arsenal in recent years has been a wonderful riposte to this theory. Aided by both sides’ attacking intent and abetted by ramshackle defending, there has been some thrilling finales to games. Arsenal edged a classic 5-4 at White Hart Lane in 2005. Described uncharitably by Jose Mourinho as little more than a ‘Hockey’ match, the 5-4 thriller is remembered by more reasoned analysis as one of the Premiership’s most memorable matches.
Last season’s 4-4 at the Emirates was similarly entertaining. It was a rare joyous night out for Spurs against the Gunners, snatching a late point, when they came back from 4-2 down in injury time. The image of Aaron Lennon, scorer of the equaliser, wheeling away to celebrate with the small number of Tottenham fans still at the match, was a magnificent one.
Performances such as these give reason for Tottenham to believe that the gap may be closing again. Indeed, in the week of the match, Tottenham captain Robbie Keane spoke of the growing belief at Tottenham.
"If you look at the two squads, you look at us and think, 'We're definitely on a par,' but that will only be judged at the end of the season," Keane said. "If you look at the last four or five years, for some reason Arsenal always got ahead of us slightly, but if you look now, it's certainly even. And if you look at the squads, the bench that we have is probably a little bit stronger than theirs."
On the streets of Highbury, few Arsenal fans take Keane’s claims seriously. Arsenal believes it is close to assembling a title winning side and view Tottenham with an almost mocking disregard.
“We view, Chelsea, Manchester United and even Barcelona as our natural rivals, in a football sense at least, we don’t see Tottenham as close rivals at all,” one Arsenal fan puts it.
Wenger is more measured but equally forthright: "It is about performances and not opinions. I am very happy with the players I have, I don’t compare with Tottenham. I have strong belief in them, I feel we have the strength to win the championship.”
As Arsene Wenger himself famously once opined that “Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home.” Belief in the Arsenal side is certainly stronger internally than externally. That Arsenal sits level on points with Tottenham before the match adds extra weight to this particular contest and the atmosphere inside the stadium is soaring. Vile chanting and abuse from both sides have blighted recent ties between the two, but today, it seems the football will take precedence.
Once it commences, Arsenal quickly asserts its authority in midfield. Luka Modric’s broken leg has cruelled the Spurs’ midfield of its best player.
Tottenham’s best performances have been characterised by the whispery talent of the Croatian controlling the tempo and unlocking the opposition, with incisive runs or passes, but here they are witless. Spurs quickly resort to hopeful punts up to the isolated striker Peter Crouch. In Arsenal’s champion young midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, Tottenham is given an illustration of what it is missing with the absence of a playmaker. The Spanish international pulls the strings in the middle and dominates possession in the final third. He then goes closest to scoring first with an angled drive that is brilliantly stopped by the outstretched hand of the Spurs’ rejuvenated keeper, the excellent, Heurelho Gomes.
Eventually though, the dam wall breaks, cruelly for Spurs it is on the edge of half time. Arsenal striker Robin van Persie nicks in front of Ledley King and turns a cross powerfully past Gomes. King, so often the inspiration and the heart of the Spurs defence, looks slow and hesitant, van Persie predatory and decisive. The significance is clear, what little confidence that had built up, quickly evaporates.
Upon the kick off, calamity ensues. The normally excellent midfielder Wilson Palacios carelessly loses the ball against the shin of van Persie, it falls to Fabregas, who slaloms past three reeling Tottenham defenders and fires a low hard shot past a well beaten Gomes.
It is a marvellous goal from the Spaniard, simultaneously laying bare Arsenal’s brilliance and Spurs’ brittle deficiencies. It is the sort of sublime goal that may elevate 22-year-old Fabregas even higher in the pantheon of the world’s best footballers. He may well be a second choice midfielder in the Spanish national team but there is also a strong case to say he is the best player plying his trade in England at the moment.
Two goals in a minute and even accounting for this tie’s propensity for the absurd, the match is all but settled. As a Spurs fan remarks, there is a “tragic inevitability about it all.”
The second half descends into near farce as Arsenal knock the ball around with ridiculous ease. The sight of Tottenham clearly emboldens Wenger’s men, taunting their opponents with rare confidence. Van Persie, kills the game with his second and Arsenal’s third after more ponderous defending from Tottenham and it ends an emphatic 3-0. Van Persie is entering the best phase of his career, in the post match press conference, Wenger is lavish in his praise of the Dutchman.
“He can be the best passer in the League and the best goalscorer in the League. He is an intelligent player, he turns very quickly, the timing of his runs is fantastic and he has a short back-lift.”
Asked to compare van Persie with Henry or Bergkamp, two of the greatest players of the Wenger era, the Manager said: “He is a mixture. He is less of a runner than Thierry Henry and he is not completely Dennis Bergkamp because he plays higher up the pitch.”
Just as many were wondering if it was to be a work forever in progress, Wenger’s rebuild, may just be nearing completion. On the evidence of this performance, they look ready to mount a trophy challenge on all fronts in the second half of the season. It may be just in time for Wenger and Arsenal. The squad is youthful but patience is a virtue in short supply in the new world of super agents, mega-deal players, Manchester City and Real Madrid.
The departures of Emmanuel Adebeyor (Manchester City), Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan) and Alexander Hleb (Barcelona) over the past 18 months serve as a stark warning that Arsenal can not compete in bidding wars with Europe’s biggest clubs – it seems ridiculous but a trophy may need to be won this year if this vintage of precocious Gunners is to taste success. While Arsenal expressed a grudging acceptance – in the case of troublesome Adebeyor it was more relief – at the departures in recent years, the departure of Fabregas or van Persie would strike deep at the club’s long-term ambition.
For Tottenham the early season bounce has evaporated. They have now lost to Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal this season, conceding three times to each. The win over Liverpool looks anomalous, aspirations of a top four finish maybe as far off as ever. With a derby result, that was grimly predictable, shattering belief, manager Harry Rednapp, faces an enormous task to take his expensively assembled squad to the heights the club so desperately craves.
Arsenal’s yearly task of battering down neighbours Tottenham is complete for the time being, this time, however, you sense the rest of England and Europe may now also be in its sights.
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