Moussa Sissoko – Lilywhite Rose

A Touch of the Devine

The youngest player in Spurs’ history. The youngest goalscorer in Spurs’ history. At just 16 years and 163 days old, Alfie Devine has entered the record books.

Since, his transfer from Wigan in July last year, there has been a great buzz around the Warrington-born 16 year old, with fans desperate to see the England Under-16 midfielder turn out for the first team in a competitive fixture.

Devine is an all-action central midfielder, his energy matched by his creativity and his ability to appear in and around the opposition penalty area and score goals. He comes from a sporting family, his father Sean playing Rugby League for St. Helens in the late 80s/early 90s.

In a way, it is fitting that Marine were the hosts for this record-breaking evening. Devine was in Liverpool’s academy before being released when he was 11, so to make his mark on Merseyside would’ve felt extra special.

Shortly after Devine’s release from Liverpool, he joined Wigan and rapidly moved through the ranks, making his Under-23 debut aged just 15. He was also a member of Wigan’s FA Youth Cup charge to the quarter-finals, a run that also included a 2-0 win over Tottenham in the Fourth Round. Devine appeared as a substitute in that game against a Spurs side which included the likes of Harvey White, Dennis Cirkin and Luis Binks.

Six months after that game, Devine joined Spurs for £300,000, with the club quickly securing his signature ahead of a number of other suitors, including Chelsea. Although that still sounds like a decent sum for a 15 year old without a senior appearance to his name, Wigan’s financial situation forced the club into selling for a vastly reduced fee. Currently languishing second from bottom in League One, it’s not too fanciful to think that Devine would’ve already made a dozen or more league appearances had he remained at the club.

As it was, Devine moved to Hotspur Way in July and began training immediately with the first-team, even making appearances in the pre-season friendlies against Ipswich Town and Reading. Even though Devine only turned 16 on 1 August, this was no great surprise. Jose Mourinho had met the player personally when completing the transfer and clearly saw a player with all the necessary attributes to make it as a top-class Premier League footballer.

Although Devine started off with the Under-18s this season, but by November had been promoted to the Under-23s. While he scored on his Premier League 2 debut against Derby, it was against Chelsea that he really made his mark. Fronting up to 124-cap and multi-trophy winner Petr Cech made for a wonderful image, before a pretty filthy lunge on Danny Drinkwater earned him a deserved red card. However, for the 75 minutes before that Devine stood out for his all-action performance, totally bossing Drinkwater – an England international and Premier League winner with over 300 senior appearances to his name.

Mourinho – hardly one to discourage a competitive streak in his players – clearly felt that Devine was now ready for more and promoted him to train with the first team squad after the game. With that in mind, his appearance against Marine came as no great surprise to the observers of Spurs’ academy. It was immediately obvious that Devine was head and shoulders above those at Under-18 level and, even though he is still closer to 15 than 17 years old, he has looked more than comfortable with the Under-23s. Mourinho clearly has a plan for him and it was felt a matter of time before he made his first team debut.

Along with Oliver Skipp and Harvey White, who made his first start against Marine, Devine represents the future of Spurs’ midfield – Jamie Bowden should also be considered as part of that group. Of course, with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Tanguy Ndombele, Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso to navigate past, finding a regular starting spot may be a tall order in the immediate future. Like Skipp, a loan spell may be necessary to aid their development in the short-term, but this clutch of extremely promising footballers have a very bright future in lilywhite.

As with Dane Scarlett – who had set the previous record for youngest player in Spurs’ history in the Europa League against Ludogorets just two months ago – there remains a long-way to go before we watch Alfie Devine week in, week out in the Premier League, but make no mistake, this kid is special. Very special.

The Best (and the Worst) Matches We’ve Seen Live

With fans returning to watch live football for the first time in 9 months, we choose some of the best – and the worst – matches we’ve had the joy/misery of witnessing.

@jabbott90‘s best…

Leicester City 0 – 1 Spurs, 21th March 1999

OK, there have been better games to watch. Others may have been more significant in terms of our growth as a club. But for an 8 year old, who was at the peak of their fandom, yet to witness a Spurs trophy win and going to a school almost exclusively full of Arsenal fans, the 1999 Worthington Cup win was pretty momentous.

This would be my second and last visit to the old Wembley, (the only other occasion was for a 2-0 friendly win over the Czech Republic the previous year) and for a kid who had read about Spurs’ Glory, Glory years but never experienced them, it felt like Ginola, Anderton and co were leading us into a glorious new age.

The game itself wasn’t particularly memorable, save for the late, great, Justin Edinburgh getting sent off for having a swipe at Robbie Savage, a reaction that most fans, both Tottenham and Leicester alike, had some sympathy with. At that point we thought it was all over – half an hour to go and down to ten men, we were in real trouble.

But we hold out and in the last minute, Steffen Iversen broke down the right, shot at Kasey Keller who could only parry the ball into the path of Allan Nielsen, whose diving header sealed the win. Sure, that golden age didn’t then materialise. But that moment, and that game, will stay with me for the rest of my life.

…and his worst.

Spurs 3 – 5 Manchester United, 29th September 2001

I mean, growing up a Spurs fan during the late 90/early 00s, I had a fair few matches to choose from – the 3-0 thumping at home from Sheffield Wednesday in 1998 was a particular lowlight of the era. But the game I’ve gone for is the 5-3 against Manchester United, the worst example of Spursyness you’re ever likely to see (apart from @djmerrriman‘s choice below).

I could barely believe what was happening at half-time. We were 3-0 up against the champions, with the late Dean Richards scoring on his debut, and Les Ferdinand and Christian Ziege adding the extras. Glenn Hoddle was bringing back the glory years.

Or not. Andy Cole, Laurent Blanc, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastian Veron and, finally, David Beckham all scored in the second half without reply. I still feel shell-shocked. I guess the only consolation I can draw from the misery is that I was at the end where all eight goals were scored.

@djmerrriman‘s best…

Manchester City 4-3 Spurs (Agg. 4-4, Spurs win on away goals), 17th April 2019

Thinking of a best game certainly takes some choosing but I’ve gone for the one that came to mind immediately…even if it was a ‘loss’. In fact, as has been mentioned, it can be considered a draw (on aggregate), a win (on away goals) and a loss (on the night all in one).

I’ve never been more exhausted in an away end as I was 11 minutes into the Eastlands encounter. The adrenaline from four rip-roaring early goals, going behind, going ahead, being pinned back had me feeling that I was running the hard yards of Sissoko along with the rambunctious travelling party. Queue further seesawing goals and one disallowed one for the ages to the mix, and I think it had an objective edge over Ajax, given the pendulum of momentum swung more than once. That was until VAR saved Eriksen’s and all our blushes and further pandemonium in our stand ensued, though barely believable.

How badly the City fans took it to our immediate right made it even sweeter, although we could have done without the coins and other missiles thrown our way at FT. They say money can’t buy you class, so they threw it our way. The pennies were put towards booking the Eurostar to Amsterdam…

…and his worst.

Spurs 3–4 Manchester City, 4th February 2004

This led me to thinking about the worst, and in somewhat accidental symmetry, I’ve gone for exactly the same result! As a supporter who started attending in the mid-nineties, the FA Cup has only wrought misery and it feels apt to include an ignominious exit, all the more frustrating after a hard fought draw away.

3-0 up and coasting after Ziege’s free kick, it was not until I got home that I realised Joey Barton had been sent off in the tunnel at HT, such was the dominance/capitulation (it was usually the latter in those days). To top it off, it had to be an unremarkable journeyman – Jon Macken to seal the deal and secure a career highlight with a last minute winning header.

This certainly wasn’t the first total collapse I’d borne witness to at the Lane and it certainly wasn’t the last.

@ewtr22‘s best…

Spurs 4-1 Liverpool, 22th October 2017

In autumn sunshine and amid a fantastic atmosphere (for the national stadium) Spurs demolished Liverpool as they got to grips with their temporary home. Kane and Son ran Lovren ragged, and were 2-0 up inside 15 minutes. While Salah got a goal back, an Alli volley made it 3-1 before the break. When Mignolet spilled a Vertonghen shot early in the 2nd half, Kane reacted to the rebound to ensure a comfortable last 30 minutes and emphatic win.

…and his worst.

Spurs 1-2 Getafe, 25th October 2007

A desperate end to the Martin Jol era, as the Dutchman was sacked on the night of this Europa League tie. Even pre match reports were circulating that Jol’s time was coming to an end, and an odd atmosphere was felt throughout the ground. Defoe gave Spurs an early lead, but Ruben de La Red flicked in a free kick to level. In the second half the fans knowingly chanted Jol’s name, but it was all in vain as Braulio gave Getafe the win.

Where did it all go wrong for Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs?

A lunchtime kick-off at 12:30 on the 23rd February 2019 at Turf Moor was a massive turning point during Mauricio Pochettino’s reign as Tottenham boss, where Spurs lost 2-1 to Burnley, dealing a huge blow to a potential title challenge.

A win would’ve seen Tottenham two points off Manchester City in 1st and, unhappy with decisions in the game, Pochettino confronted referee Mike Dean after the final whistle, an action which later resulted in a touchline ban for the Argentine.

Including the loss to the Clarets, Spurs went five games without a win in the league, ending any hopes of the title heading back to [New] White Hart Lane.

The season wasn’t all over, however, with the Lilywhites beating Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Ajax on the way to a Champions League final for the first time in their history; albeit with the help of VAR in Manchester and Lucas Moura in Amsterdam.

However, a Mo Salah penalty within the first two minutes of the final starting in Madrid set the precedence for the game where Spurs’ luck had finally run out, losing 2-0 to Liverpool in the final.

Surely after making it to the Champions League final Pochettino’s job was safe for the following season? Apparently not. A 1-1 draw to Sheffield United at home was Pochettino’s final game as Tottenham manager after a run of five games without a win in the league, leaving the club in 14th place.

So where exactly did it go wrong for Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham?

Defensive decline

Spurs had the best defensive record for both the 15/16 and 16/17 seasons in the Premier League, conceding an average of 0.84 a game over both seasons.

However, the loss of both Danny Rose and Victor Wanyama through long-term injuries made it difficult for Spurs to cope defensively at the start of the 17/18 season. Both players then struggled to regain form which contributed to Spurs conceding more than a goal a game in 2018/19. In 2019/20, Spurs’ strong defence had all but crumbled.

The loss of Kyle Walker to Manchester City for £50m before the start of the 17/18 season was significant. Kieran Trippier was a dependable player, and was exceptional for England in their 2018 World Cup campaign, but he didn’t offer the same outlet as Walker and this left Pochettino short of pace at full back. Added to this was the ageing of the Belgian trio of Moussa Dembele, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

You could argue that none of these players were ever properly replaced in the transfer market, with squad players such as Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Trippier being selected by Pochettino but unable to steam the ever increasing amount of goals Spurs were conceding year on year.

But despite these defensive shortcomings, you could argue the Argentine was never properly backed in the transfer market by Chairman Daniel Levy.

Lack of spending/poor signings

Prior to the 19/20 summer transfer window Mauricio Pochettino had a net spend of -£24.27m, with Spurs making no signings in the 19/20 season, the only club in Premier League history to do so.

Even when Pochettino made signings he was somewhat restricted due to money problems, leading to some questionable signings such as Moussa Sissoko for £30m, Vincent Janssen for £20m, both of whom failed to make any sort of impact on the team initially. Sissoko, it must be said, has gone on to become a crucial squad player with his consistency and tireless performances.

Many other signings flopped after Pochettino was unable to get his main targets because of the lack of investment from Levy. When Pochettino got his actual targets such as Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Heung-Min Son, it turned out to be worth the money.

After the Champions League run Pochettino finally had money to spend in the transfer window and bought his main targets of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon, all of whom were unavailable to the Argentine for large parts of his tenure due to injuries.

Which leaves the question would Pochettino still be Spurs’ manager had Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sessegnon been fit and firing?

Trophies

It’s hard to ignore the fact that no silverware was won during Pochettino’s tenure with Spurs always falling at the final hurdle, finishing second in the league twice and reaching two finals, both of which they lost 2-0, one to Chelsea in the League Cup in 2014 and the other to Liverpool in the Champions League in 2019.

Had Pochettino have won against Chelsea in his first season his time as manager may have been completely different with Spurs kicking on and winning more trophies, but the constant falling at the final hurdle may have unsettled players as well as frustrating the team and fans and most importantly Levy.

Change of stadium

Moving from White Hart Lane to Wembley definitely affected the team with a lack of atmosphere at Wembley as many fans couldn’t justify the journey. During their final season at the Lane, Spurs went unbeaten winning 17 out of their 19 games.

The following season, Spurs played at Wembley and dropped 14 points out of a possible 57 which is far from title winning form. Demolishing White Hart Lane was awful timing and Spurs may have mounted a serious title challenge had they managed to turn White Hart Lane into a fortress.

Mauricio Pochettino, will go down as one of Spurs’ greatest managers in history thanks to how he turned the club around and if he was backed in the transfer market, you’d think his trophy drought would have been a different story.