Will Tottenham Ever Play Like Arsenal?

You are probably going to hate this article, but then the truth hurts. It hurts extra bad when every Monday morning - or in this weeks case Tuesday - you have to go into work and shoulder the humiliation of another pathetic Spurs performance. It hurts extra extra bad when every Monday morning - or in this case Monday and Wednesday - you have to go into work and face your gooner mates after yet another sublime performance from Wengers "kids".

Hate the Scum as I do, there comes a time in a man's life when, like the England Rugby team and Lewis Hamilton, you have to be magnanimous in defeat. As I watched them 7-0 up and showboating in the Champions League I realised that time had come. But before I over do it, let me pull this article back from the brink and evaluate for a moment a few of the glaring differences between woeful Spurs and an Arsenal team that on current form are quite possibly the best team in the world right now.

First and foremost I genuinely do not believe that player for player the 11 that turn out for Arsenal are significantly better footballers that Tottenham's first XI. Madness you may think - but I am convinced that the secret behind Arsenal's success is not down to them having accumulated a collection of future world footballers of the year, but is firmly rooted in their tactics, their discipline, their training and their vision.

The single greatest difference between Tottenham and Arsenal right now is the coaching. Tottenham often pump the ball long straight into the opposition, almost as if without looking and definitely without thinking. Arsenal players have been coached not only to run into areas where they have an abundance of space, but more importantly to seek out these players with an accurate pass when on the ball.

Tottenham are guilty all to often of passing themselves into a dead end - or even more frustrating, to point blank ignore any man in white brave enough to have dashed off into 15 or 20 yards of space. They insist on forcing the ball down crowded channels rather than spreading the play to less congested areas. Where are our raking, play switching, cross field passes that the top teams always seem to find when things get too tight? Where are our lightning fast counter attacks that see us 3 against 2? When are Spurs going to string together more that 5 or 6 passes in the opposition half before being crowded out of possession?

Make no bones about it, our players are good enough to do it. The problem is that they have nobody showing them how. I don't pretend that they are going to win us the title, but with a substantial and sustained improvement in coaching I do believe we have a squad that can challenge the top 4 and win the odd bit of silverware - and that will do for now.

Wenger has been brainwashing his current crop with his brand of total football for long before their moment of maturity against Slavia Prague last night. "Give Jol more time!" cry his backers, but do you honestly believe that if Jol were to get another 10 years in charge that we'd ever see performances like that? Not in a fricking eternity...

Of course Jol is not helping himself with his dubious team selections - 4 central midfielders on the pitch and Berbs and Lennon on the bench against the Barcodes (he was saving them for Blackpool perhaps?) but there is a growing feeling that the problem is rooted more in diabolical coaching than questionable team selection. Two recent remarks - one from Ghaly about the lack of running during training sessions, and another from Jol suggesting that they practice corners twice a week - only add weight to this theory. Twice a week!!!! Is it any wonder that we gifted them free headers at our near post at least 4 times on Monday. These are not new shortcomings, the writing has been on the wall for over a year now and Jol has flattered to deceive due to the occasional masterclass from the likes of our mardy Bulgarian.

The solution is simple. Jol and Houghton must go, and take with them Hans Segars who has single handedly coached the best keeper in the country into a fumbling wreck in the space of 2 years, the defensive coach is who is responsible for turning 2 established internationals and two regular U21 starlets into a defensive shambles rather than a defensive unit, the midfield coach who has left us with a system that neither links with our forwards or supports our defence, and every other member of the backroom staff who is incapable of understanding the concepts of modern top flight football.

Tottenham have turned more corners and had more transitional periods in the last 10 years than I care to think about and I don't want another one any more than you do, but that's no reason to stick with the wrong man. Martin Jol has delivered us 2 years of European football, and for that we should be grateful, but let's not forget the unprecedented amount of money that has been spent on the squad to achieve it.

The hallmark of Jol's reign has been luck - both good and bad. He was lucky Santini buggered off, he was unlucky not to get us into the Champions League, he was lucky to get us into a qualification spot last year and he has been both lucky and unlucky with last minute goals. What we need is consistency, not luck and for me that means that after weeks, nay months, of swinging one way and the other, my Jolometer has finally come to rest firmly in the OUT position.

I suggest a one way train ticket to Bolton would be best for everyone...