The year is 1989. Margaret Thatcher is still the British Prime Minister, the Berlin Wall is about to come down taking the Cold War with it and a fresh faced Sky Television is about to begin broadcasting as the first satellite TV service in Britain. When you put it into context, 1989 feels a lot longer ago than its 23 years. And until Saturday evening, it also represented the last time Tottenham Hotspur had come away from Old Trafford with all three points in a league game.
Indeed, Tottenham’s eventual match winner on Saturday in Clint Dempsey, was only six years old when the last man in a Spurs shirt won a game for the Lilywhites at United’s hallowed old ground. That man was a certain Gary Lineker. Supporters will be hoping they won’t have to wait till Dempsey’s 52nd birthday before they celebrate another win there.
Because for all the talk and hype around Tottenham’s Old Trafford hoodoo, the fact is they have traditionally had a dire reputation when it comes to putting the top teams to the sword away from home. On a positive note, we’ve seen Spurs go a long way to disposing of some of their more embarrassing records in recent years. The challenge is to make sure they don’t happen again.
Indeed, their last victory away at Arsenal in 2010 represented their first win at their North London rivals’ ground in 17 years. Likewise, their 2-0 victory against Liverpool at Anfield in the May of 2011, was their first three-points there since August 1993. As for their record at Stamford Bridge, the men from N17 haven’t registered a win in any form of competition since 1990. Even the most fervent of Spurs fans will admit that their side’s away record against the best teams in the land, have been nothing short of atrocious.
Of course, the last 20 years have seen the side go through some tumultuous times. It is easy to get blinkered with Tottenham’s success in recent years, and perhaps no one should ever forget the amount of mid-table mediocrity the club endured during much of the 90’s.
There’s been some bad luck along the way too, if you can call it that, including that Pedro Mendes shot against Roy Carroll in 2005 and Frank Lampard’s ghost goal at Stamford Bridge in the April of last year. But even if you include some refereeing howlers and a perpetual dose of general underperformance, their inability even fluke a win a these places has been quite unbelievable.
But this Tottenham Hotspur side of 2012, are quite a bit different from the vast majority of their counterparts over the past 23 years. Despite the endless torrents of bad press that have surrounded Andre Villas-Boas’ appointment in the mainstream media, the buzz, optimism and excitement that surrounded White Hart Lane in pre-season, has made a surging early October return. But most prominently, the Portuguese had been appointed with the remit of taking the football club further; a sideways step won’t do. The adjustment period of adapting to a new system, with a new manager and a balanced pallet of new players is ongoing.
There has been a relatively palpable sense of frustration to certain aspects of Spurs’ start and although the boo-boys were out of line to be so vocal in demonstrating their displeasure, Villas-Boas needed to supply fans with a timely reminder of the talent and potential that the club can bestow under his blueprint. The 3-2 win and breaking of the Old Trafford hoodoo on Saturday, represented just that. But it cannot be just a one-off.
When Andre Villas-Boas spoke to reporters after his appointment as head coach in July, he stated his desire to put “Tottenham on the road to titles,” and about “bridging the gap towards success.” Naysayers and doom-mongers may be happy to afford themselves a sneer at such a remark and in terms of this season, they would have a point. Even if they do attain Champions League qualification, this season till represents one of transition. It will take time to mould the team into Villas-Boas’ vision.
But even though the hype that surrounded Harry Redknapp’s side at the turn of year was perhaps overzealous at best, Spurs aren’t a million miles away from the next level. They have a selection of wonderfully gifted footballers, they now have a state-of-the-art training ground to rival that of any club in the world and potentially a new 60,000-seater stadium round the corner. But they cannot progress in the league unless they begin to consistently produce results against the likes of United, Arsenal, Chelsea and now Manchester City.
No one is suggesting that if Spurs fail to produce victories at places like the Emirates and Stamford Bridge every single season, that Villas-Boas will have failed in his task. But they can’t let these records stack up anymore or rock up these places with the expectation that a plucky performance will negate the loss of three points. They have to develop a winners mentality and a steely exterior and hopefully the three points attained against Sir Alex Ferguson’s side will go some way to producing this.
AVb spoke after the game about how the victory against United was ‘inspirational.’ Without raining on the parade, Spurs’ apparent refusal to keep the ball for the last 30 minutes could well have ended in a point on another day, so it’s important to keep the feet on the ground and perspective in sight. But ultimately, it wouldn’t have mattered if they scraped a 1-0 victory- the stats are there and the result is cast in stone. Spurs did beat United in their own back yard and no one should underestimate the poignancy of that.
There will continue to be bumps along the way during Tottenham’s metamorphosis under Andre Villas-Boas and if they loose against Aston Villa at home this weekend, Saturday’s result counts for very little. But it’s time for Spurs to throw away their away day hoodoos against the top teams forever. And AVB might finally be the man to make that happen.
Can Spurs use Saturday’s result as an inspiration when facing the big boys? Is Villas-Boas the man to end all of Tottenham’s hoodoos? Let me know on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and let’s talk Tottenham.