As an Arsenal fan this hurts me to say, but I really enjoyed watching Tottenham’s demolition of Hull on Wednesday night. Alan Hansen can grumble and point as much as he likes about Hull’s defending, but it utterly fails to hide the fact that Hull looked so bad because Tottenham were fantastic. Each of their five goals sparkled with verve, quality, and equally as importantly, confidence.
Jermaine Defoe has always been a fantastic finisher, but little he has ever produced before can match the sparkle of his three strikes against Hull. All emphatic finishes from a man who simply expects to score. Much of Tottenham’s display on the night reflected that positive attitude, and at least a portion of this must be attributed to the rise of Manchester City.
In a summer of monumental spending the focus in England at least has been almost entirely on whether or not City’s shiny new signings can propel them into the top four. Meanwhile, Harry Redknapp has been continuing to fine tune the side he began to shape so well last season, adding Peter Crouch and Sebastian Bassong to a side already so improved by the additions of Wilson Palacios and Carlo Cudicini. These signings have hardly gone unheralded, but compared to the fervour surrounding City’s new arrivals it’s fair to say they have been rather understated. Just a few seasons ago these would have been proclaimed as the signings that would break Tottenham into the top four.
So where Juande Ramos started last season with an indubitably talented, but dangerously unbalanced side, Redknapp is able to field a line-up which combines the power of players like Palacios and Huddlestone, the speed of Lennon, the craft of Modric and Keane and the finishing of Defoe. Strength in depth is hardly a problem either. Their bench on Wednesday featured Cudicini, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Naughton, Chimbonda and O’Hara.
Yet due to the focus on the power of City, even their excellent start to the season will be met with little more than an interested raised eyebrow by most onlookers, and this can only be beneficial to Spurs. Positive results will breed a confidence uninhibited by the sort of pressure they would have faced a few years ago.
Tottenham will not be the only beneficiaries of the diminished expectations. West Ham and Fulham both started the season excellently, but any progress from them this season will doubtlessly be regarded as a surprising bonus.
So Manchester City (and if you must, Arsenal) had better not just be wary of what’s in front of them, but what is creeping up from behind.
