History.
That’s what Giorgio Chiellini believes in and, if anyone was to believe him, no-one would be able to go and make their own.
You see, history is written by those who weren’t afraid to get their head bloody running through the wall first. It’s made by the ones who stuck themselves above the parapet. History, even the greatest of history, is formed in the absence of history. That’s why they call it making history.
All over the world in so many fields, you see stories – inspiring stories – of men, women and teams who defied odds, ignored tradition, found something inside themselves that went beyond reading what happened in the past and, instead, they were able to go write a new chapter.
It’s been a period of hard luck for Spurs but it’s different to whatever went before. Whilst their rivals might scoff at the fact Pochettino’s side have been the most consistent in the Premier League for three seasons but have had to watch Leicester, Chelsea and now Man City win the thing, they’ve been at least taken to a level where they are able to continuously reproduce some of the best performances and results in European football.
They’re not fluctuating between the great and the abysmal and they’re not cocking up or bottling anything. They’re steady and steadily improving.
In the Champions League this year, Christ you can’t help but feel sorry for them.
Their reward for topping a group consisting of Dortmund and the champions was to be pitted with the runners up and, with four defining second half moments, they were kicked out on their ear by Juventus who advanced 4-3 on aggregate.
And Girogio Chiellini was boisterous in his ITV interview basically claiming he sensed it would come.
“We knew Spurs were weak in defence and were mentally fragile,” he said.
“They always miss something to get to the end.
“It’s the history of Tottenham. They always created many chances to score so much, but at the end they miss always something to arrive at the end.
“We believe in the history.”
https://youtu.be/pWxmPEZ2A2M
History.
Spurs are trying to forge history and, after a disappointing Champions League last season, the shook the continent this time around.
Four times they played Real and Juve in this campaign – the two best last season – and just once were they beaten by a single goal.
They beat Madrid, they drew with them and they clawed Juventus back from two goals behind in Italy.
This isn’t a mentally weak side. It is a team with weaknesses, sure, because the manager is working wonders with what he has and, gradually, they’re getting better and better.
We weren’t watching a bunch of Arsenal players flapping around, blaming each other, ducking out of the way and a finished manager standing with his hands on his hips pretending like he’s going to do anything about it.
We were watching Spurs and, whilst their level might still be below Juventus right now, that’s their level and they’re only getting closer.
