Spurs push for Europe in the North London Derby

Are things finally gelling together again for Jose Mourinho at Tottenham? They’ve been hard to predict and have had a season of equal highs and lows but if things begin to click now, they can reignite their push for the top 4.

One of their main highs of course is the fact that they’ve booked a place in the League Cup final against Manchester City at the end of April, but there’s a lot of work to do to mark this season as a success for Spurs.

The heavy lifting needs to take place against Arsenal in one of the most eagerly anticipated derbies in the Premier League: The North London Derby. Redemption is in the air this week as both sides look to salvage their own reputations after disappointing campaigns. Arsenal seem to be going from bad to worse, while Tottenham promise and fade in alternating weeks.

Three wins on the trot dragged Tottenham to within two points off fourth spot and at long last even Gareth Bale is beginning to look like his old self. A pair of  braces in the last three games will do his confidence well and it is all coming together at the right time for him and his team.

As for Arsenal, well… we don’t know where to start. A persistence to constantly play it out from the back is beginning to bore us, well it did until we all laughed after Xhaka’s schoolyard error last weekend. When this plan fails, it looks extremely stupid and unimaginative. It’s a system which is so hard to master but since they’ve backed it, they’ve gone backwards and their overall confidence has plummeted. Unforced errors can’t keep happening, at some point you need to learn and adjust. The players keep trying it, but is it ok for Arteta to ask them to mix it up a little? Take a traditional goal kick from time to time to keep it fresh? Opponents have sussed them out. Put pressure on their back line when they are in possession, and you’ll get a goal. It’s too simple, too predictable and too dull. Kane and Bale, enjoy yourselves out there. Just hang in and around their box, they’re bound to mess up.

Arsenal are becoming a mid table team

I’d love to retype an old cliche that in a derby form goes out of the window and anything can happen bla bla, but frankly if Arsenal don’t learn from their mistakes they are going to lose touch with the leading pack for the foreseeable next few seasons. That is dangerous for a “big six club”. Maybe that’s a tag we should no longer reserve for them. 

Yes anything can happen, so make it happen, Arsenal. Shift your mindsets, adjust your tactics to the actual game a little bit more. Play THE game and not just YOUR game. It does go against Pep Guardiola’s masterclass at Barcelona, but let’s face it, you’re nowhere near as good… and even Pep himself made tweaks with his Manchester City side, and look how good that turned out.

I always feel that Arteta wants to be Guardiola, and wants the Arsenal way of football to return, but football is always changing, and if you don’t adapt, you’ll die out and end up in mid table. Sounds familiar? 

Get Spurs to win the North London Derby at 2.75 or 7/4.