- Mar 15, 2015
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Anyone who thinks there is an anti-Tottenham agenda in the media needs their head checked. The media have been very complimentary about us this season - as of course they should be - and all the most-often mentioned examples of supposed anti-Tottenham bias are completely legitimate:
Touting our best players for big moves
We're not an elite club, but have a handful of elite players. The reality is those players - Kane, Eriksen and Alderweireld most obviously - are unlikely to achieve everything they could do by staying at Tottenham long-term. There's more than a touch of cognitive dissonance in Tottenham fans hailing Harry Kane as the best striker in Europe, but not accepting that the media are going to link him with the top clubs.
Questioning our ability to compete long-term
Just about every player in our first eleven is earning less than they could do elsewhere; in some cases they could earn two or three times as much by leaving. With good management, accepting our secondary status and cashing in on the odd top player to sustain increased wages across the rest of the squad (as I suspect was the plan with Walker) can work, but it's definitely a major question mark against the club - we are trying to compete among the elite, but with far less money. There is no harm in the media acknowledging how well we are doing while questioning whether we can continue to punch above our weight long term.
Criticising Dele Alli for diving
Stop diving all the time then.
Pointing to Pochettino's lack of trophies
Again, it's a legitimate thing to point out - we have statistically been the most consistent team in the Premier League over the past three years, but have no trophy to show for it. With Pochettino pretty openly showing his disinterest in the cups, that means an all-or-nothing approach: win the league, or win nothing. So far, we've won nothing. For a club that is getting as much credit as we are, the lack of trophies is obviously going to be pointed out: we don't want to be the modern version of Keegan's Newcastle, entertaining everyone and earning plaudits across the globe, but winning less than we did under Ramos or Graham. No one in the media, as far as I'm aware, is pointing to the lack of trophies as a major failure or proof that Pochettino is never going to win anything with us, only that any praise of what a great team we are has to come with the caveat that we've won nothing...yet. Great teams win things.
Those are the criticisms I'm seeing most often, and all of them are completely fair game. In my experience (I don't listen to Talksport because I value my sanity) we are getting plenty of credit at the moment and any implication of an anti-Tottenham bias in the media is just laughable, the sort of theory we would be mercilessly mocking if it came from a Liverpool or Arsenal fan. Legitimate criticism of our club, even if you disagree with it, is not automatically unfair, contrived, biased or built on ulterior motives.
Thats fine, but when I put the telly on to hear about another win, the pundits spend 2 mins talking about the game and 10 minutes about our players and manager leaving. Its cliche and boring.