So there we are. Eight semi-finals and eight defeats since making the final and winning the FA Cup in 1991. From the first one that left me in tears as a fifteen-year-old in 1993 to today’s one as a thirty-nine-year-old that left me feeling.. well disappointed really.
To be honest, and I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, I didn’t think we would win. I hoped (and prayed) that we would win but we were facing a team managed by somebody who just knows how to win these types of games.
Mourinho is the master of the so-called “dark arts” and all the tricks were used today. From surrounding the referee after a contentious decision, to feigning injury to break up the flow of the game and it all worked a treat for him.
That’s not to say we wasn’t poor, we were. Dembele, normally such a rock in the heart of our midfield, was bullied for most of the game, and that’s something I’d never have imagined I’d say about him. Kane still doesn’t look anywhere near full fitness since his return from injury. Even Eriksen, a player seemingly in the middle of a purple patch looked off-colour.
Regardless of the defeat one thing I’m not going to accept is calls for Pochettino’s resignation. I genuinely don’t care if this offends but anybody who is calling for his head is an idiot, it’s a simple as that.
I could justify my opinion by describing how we are in such a better place than we were in the dark days of the mid-to-late 90’s and early 00’s, but I feel that is a path well trodden. Similarly I could describe how we are competing against teams that have a ridiculously larger wage and transfer budget than we have, again a perfectly justifiable opinion that holds more than adequate weight.
Instead I want to focus on how Pochettino has changed my reactions to adverse results. Yes, we have missed out on another final but I feel like with Poch in charge real success is not too far away for us, and because of that I don’t feel like this game was a be-all and end-all game. I sat on the train home from Wembley feeling disappointed but not any more than that. I didn’t feel devastated.
A couple of marquee signings before next season together with our truly awesome new stadium and our leader Mauricio Pochettino at the helm, I feel we will only improve again. If we don’t win a trophy next season then so be it. Remember it took Alex Ferguson seven years to win the title with Manchester United.
Of course I’d love to see us win some silverware, even more so with Pochettino in charge, but if we don’t I’ll always love my team, my Spurs, till the day I die.
