Character. That was the buzz word when Tottenham's season fell apart at the end of last season. Well, now it's back at the forefront of the Spurs vocabulary but for entirely different reasons.
In May, we were questioned for failing to end our 26-year Stamford Bridge hoodoo and for letting Arsenal nip ahead of us once again on the final day.
This season the big fear was that, despite Spurs' new-found reputation as the stylish troubadours of English football, those nagging old habits might continue to die hard.
But with Saturday's thrashing of West Brom - a team we had not beaten at home since 2012 - it seems this squad are facing up to the shortfalls of the previous campaign and hitting them head on.
Not just hitting them, but bludgeoning them.
Southampton, Chelsea, West Brom. Each week seems like a new opportunity to right the wrongs of last spring and each week these guys are coming up trumps.
Records are mounting, hoodoos are lifting and, truth be told, I really don't know what to do with myself.
That's six wins on the bounce in the league that have seen 19 goals scored, just three conceded.
Of course, as we all know, these runs do not last forever and don't necessarily tell us much. Looking back to October 2011, Shola Ameobi's last-gasp equaliser for Newcastle slaps an ugly D (for draw) right in the middle of what would have been a massive ten-game winning run. Still, by the end of that season we were only fourth.
You just get the feeling these players are learning from mistakes and developing that "character" needed to really challenge.
Dele Alli missed last season's run-in after lashing out at Claudio Yacob, you could have forgiven him for wanting revenge when we faced the Baggies this time round. Instead he got his own back with a stand-out performance and a terrific assist to lay on Harry Kane's hat-trick finish.
Mousa Dembele lost his head against Chelsea in the Battle of the Bridge, gouging Diego Costa's eye (who wouldn't?), but this time round he kept his thumbnails to himself and even stayed out of the ref's book.
Heung-Min Son came close to leaving over summer after struggling to settle during his first year - but having got his head down he has now already matched last season's tally of eight goals.
Throughout the squad individuals are winning personal battles and showing progress in matters that maybe let them down last season. And you have to give the manager credit for that.
Mauricio Pochettino showed his own character in encouraging a squad to bounce back from May's capitulation in the run-in.
Although he hardly nursed his players through the tough times. He did quite the opposite, in fact, laying the players wide open to criticism and challenging them to prove their worth.
In August he revealed he was "ready to kill" them for losing 5-1 to Newcastle on the final day. Poch has never been scared to reignite the title talk and in September he even compared 18-year-old (then 17) Marcus Edwards to Lionel Messi.
Pochettino is only too happy to apply the pressure to these players because he needs to know they can take it. He is building a squad that has to win home games regularly at Wembley next season, and must hit the ground running in a brand new 60,000 seater stadium.
The gaffer is eyeing the top and he is not messing about. You only have to look at Ryan Mason and more latterly Tom Carroll to see that, while Pochettino is determined to show faith in young homegrown players, but he will also admit when it isn't working and move forward.
His patience clearly does have limits. Hopefully his character does not.
Character
posted on 18/1/17
Good post , agree completely with everything you have mentioned.
There was definitely something wrong at spurs once Bale left.
We wasted a load of money on big name players that clearly were not suited to the English game.
Poch had come in gave them a year to prove there worth and got rid of the junk we did Not need.
Poch and spurs is the place to be to the moment.
posted on 18/1/17
excellent artice again
with regard to Wembley, I must admit, based on our performances there in the CL this year I'm wonderng if we are doing the right thing. I guess the only alternative woud be MK Dons, I think it was bandied around last season as a possibility? It seemed that the oposition upped their game significantly when we faced them at Wembley. Can see a lot of teams doing simsilar next year. Thoughts?
posted on 18/1/17
Pochettini impresses me more and more.
Its not just the coaching, we knew he loved working with young committed players and has the skill to improve.
We knew that his players love him....loads of glowing reports from many (ex-)Saints players about him, what he has done for them personally and professionally.
What I am loving is how he is building the club as a whole. The atmosphere, the pride the commitment shown at all levels. There's clear passage through from the academy and wasters are not tolerated.
I get a real sense of Fergie about him, except he goes about his business in a more mild mannered way. BUT he certainly does get the very best out of players - so many currently playing at the very best of their ability and some even better than anyone could have imagined.... and that is what was one of the things that made Fergie stand out.
Competition is fierce in the EPL>..i hope Poch can take that next step with the team and start picking up trophies, but lets be realistic, from also rans to genuine title contenders in a season is a pretty massive leap forward, and he's still managing this the 'Levy way' - on a smaller budget than many of our rivals.
Poch is the real deal IMO, the longer he stays the better!
posted on 18/1/17
Newcastle anomaly aside, the last time we lost a game by more than 1 goal and also last game we conceded more than 2 goals was 9 May 2015, away to Stoke, 3-0.
posted on 18/1/17
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posted on 18/1/17
Good article chronic
Hope you're well son
posted on 18/1/17
posted on 19/1/17
Great read again Taxi, cheers
After a bumpy first year, Poch settled in to his groove. I cannot speak highly enough of him to be honest, I think he is an absolutely perfect fit for us.
I would hope he feels the same way, and can see he is building something good here. The great facilities, the new stadium imminent, and an already very good team that will be reaching its peak when we move in.
Madrid will get mentioned of course, but to me he is as far removed from a Madrid manager as you could find. Emphasis on young players, team over individual, no special treatment for big names....not very Los Merengues that.
The worry for me is Barcelona coming in for him. He is on record stating his allegiance to Espanyol, but nobody would expect him to pass that up
posted on 19/1/17
I know what you mean but I think, with the Premier League currently rising in popularity among the big stars I think he would want to stick around for a bit.
With huge stars like Pep, Zlatan, klopp, pogba, Costa Conte and Mourinho all grouped together in the Prem plus probably Griezmann to come and a stronger top six than ever before, you just get the feeling that, this season, the Premier League is now the place to be.
Regardless of what fifa's team of the year might say, I can't help think that the Bale, Messi, Ronald merry go round feels a bit like old hat right now.
I'm sure that will change but for the coming years I'd like to think Poch will be more than happy where he is.
posted on 19/1/17
On a bit of a tangent here, but sort of related to the last post...
I do have a feeling that the PL sides will start to punch their financial weight in Europe soon. There has undoubtedly been a lull in quality over the last few years at the top end, but it does seem we are all getting our act together with the top coaches here.
A bit of me thinks the whole shift to a narrow 4231 has not been helpful to English sides. We just do not seem to do it as well as Continentals do. Perhaps the PL nuances do not translate well to European football in this system? Who knows?
It may well be the 343 variant is a gamechanger for English sides. It does seem to be very effective for us and Chelsea, and incorporates some good old fashioned English wingplay, with players happy to take the ball outide their man. Less need to have a specialist 10 to playmake as the duties get shared. The Guardian said 7 sides played with a back 3 at the weekend, so it does seem to be taking hold.