A Fairly Honourable Defeat

"What though the field be lost? All is not lost…"

Well, most of it is, really. This was “our” cup, unlike the domestic ones – the one we actually did stand a chance at winning after a valiant unbeaten run. Small consolation that it was the cup holders who knocked us out. Were Sevilla the better side? Yes. Could we have beaten them? Yes, actually, we could have.

Honourable defeat is fast becoming the catchphrase of the season, much to the chagrin of anyone able to identify the potential in the team. More potential than result, basically. Potential is a bit of a catchphrase as well. Now, I am a patient fan of long-term development in general and like what Martin Jol is doing, hence I can take some comfort in the idea that things have improved and will continue to do so if he is allowed to keep at it. Conducting three quite successful cup runs and suddenly playing a very large amount of games took its toll on this young team; in the greater perspective it is all part of the learning curve. By that logic, next season, or perhaps more realistically the one after that, will see Spurs (as in the current squad) starting to beat the bigger teams and challenge their places. Or it will fall to pieces. Time will tell. We are getting closer. A little more confidence and consistency in the big games and who knows what could happen.

Two things stand out about this game for me. The first is the availability of defenders. It is easy to moan about injuries and make excuses but I cannot help pondering the implications. A right-back on the left, a midfielder on the right, one central defender rushed back from long term injury, the other having played all games of the season… This particular injury crisis struck at the worst possible time. There were mistakes, we conceded a silly own goal and the proper goal by Kanouté was great. But that was it. For a while it looked like we were going to be on the receiving end of a 7-1 beating rather than, as we had hoped, administering one. After the initial chaos and shock, however, the makeshift defence looked better and better and there were no more goals in it for Sevilla, who may of course be forgiven for thinking, quite correctly, that it was in the bag and putting on less pressure. By that time, of course, the damage was done. The return of Ledley King did not become the spectacular raising of a defensive wall we had hoped for, for above mentioned reasons, but what a pleasure to see him play again.

The second, which made this defeat another “honourable” one, was the way the team came back. It truly was a game of two halves, as we have had a few earlier in the season, with the novelty that the second one was the great one. During the famous “slump”, and in certain games earlier in the season (Arsenal away, anyone?), loss of confidence in the face of adversity was at the heart of the malaise. Bright start, concede a goal, then decline and comprehensive, horrible (and possibly muddy) defeat. Today, however, the team came back from the interval, regrouped, swapped positions, scored two goals and could have scored more. In fact, there were enough good chances in the second half to win the game – something which of course mainly adds to the frustration of not winning the game, but also shows development. This wasn’t West Ham, it was Sevilla. The lads, who looked absolutely gutted after conceding two early goals, did not lose it completely and rather than allowing it to become a massacre came back and turned it into an honourable defeat with victory potential.

Call me naïve, I know you will and I often do it myself, but I believe in their ability to start turning the honourable defeats with victory potential into actual victories against the big teams. Until then, this is quite painful. And for all my “looking on the bright side” reasoning, the almost realised potential of everything, the shots that so narrowly became the needed goals, the fact that we could, perhaps even should, really be there now, almost hurts more than having to bow to a far superior team. Were Sevilla the better side? Yes. And despite the injury crisis, despite the dismally chaotic opening, we still could have beaten them.