‘Doctor Tottenham’

There is a joke, in the north London circles of Islington and Highbury, associated with Arsenal, their great rival, that they christen Spurs as ‘Doctor Tottenham’, for their ease of defeat against teams in crisis, where they give a chance. to recover It has happened to them many times and it happened three weeks ago against Ipswich Town (1-2), when, if they beat the ‘tractor boys’, who had not won a game in the Premier until then, the good group of Ange Postecoglou is placed third, in the Champions League positions. In this joke, rival fans try to make this ‘cyclothymic’ Tottenham Hotspur blush, which coincides with emotional excesses. On Saturday, at the Etihad, (0-4) everyone saw how well he can play, when he came out and showed his good side.

That permanent dual identity, the former coach of the club, negatively baptized the Italian Antonio Conte as ‘the Spursy character’, has prevented Tottenham from scoring titles for years. They haven’t been crowned since 2008, and it’s a stigma that weighs heavily on the north London club, who must endure the jokes of the Gunners and their other rivals. Judging by their results, the Spurs of Postecoglou They have inflicted two defeats this year on Manchester City, who they also beat in the EFL Cup Unai Emery (4-1) and, although the efficiency of the game of Kusulevski, Maddison, Sarr, Bissouma and Ohthey also remember their apathy, the day they blew a two-goal lead in 18 minutes, only to lose at Brighton (3-2), or when they conceded to Crystal Palace and Ipswich their first league success this season. This is the ‘Doctor Tottenham’ who appears to ‘recover’ teams with almost no signs of life.

It is worth highlighting the strength that the 0-4 achievement at the Etihad will have for the ‘lilywhites’. It should be a turning point for a team now defined by its relentless attacking spirit. Capable at best and worst, we should never underestimate the team that builds Postecoglouarrived in London two seasons ago on the back of goals and big numbers achieved at Celtic.

Now, after a year and a half of work with the same roller coaster of results as before, Postecoglou fight to give ‘Spurs’ the stability that can lead them to fight for trophies, with a highlighted identity – quick attacks, goals and fun – where they play great games. “We are a much better team than last year, but we are still in progress. We have to find consistency,” confirms a Postecoglou Proud of the skill of his players in Manchester, in a match where they used so much motivation, energy and enthusiasm that even their goalkeeper, the Italian Vicario, was able to hide an injury, for which he had to undergo surgery.

It’s worth paying for a ticket to the Spurs Stadium to watch the ‘lilywhites’, but that’s at ambitious times at White Hart Lane. Spurs, who face Roma in the Europa League tomorrow, will fill their stadium as they have scored 27 goals, the highest scorers in the Premier League. No team makes more attacking passes than this erratic Tottenham, which is finally trying to shake off its constant problems of volatility.