NLD - home and away
We're now in July 2020, 2 months after the season was supposed to have ended and we can now conclude the story of the North London rivalry for this season. Losing 1-2 after taking the lead was really disappointing. Losing to Mourinho is like rubbing sand paper on an open around. Losing when you have good reason to be hopeful, was worse. I was unreasonably optimistic again (see my pre-game predictions below prior to the home derby fixture last year) As Yogi Berra famously said, "It's like deja vu all over again". Losing in an empty stadium after the earlier pulsating encounter also provided a strange contrast to a stranger season.
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September 2019
There was a crackle of excitement in the air as we headed towards the Emirates on a brisk Sunday afternoon. After the performance against Liverpool that divided fans' opinions, this was another big game, another marker to see where we really were after the big transfer window. Someone asked me what I thought would happen, and I rather foolishly predicted we would win by 3 or 4. I was that confident. But my friend reminded me that in a derby, form typically goes out the window and I hate to admit it but he turned out to be so right.
Really incredible atmosphere even way before the game started. Singing, smoke (someone had managed to smuggle in a flare or something), it was electric.
How do modern coaches make team selections? That question is really beginning to bug me as Xhaka started yet another game, and conceded another unnecessary penalty. At what point do you forget about systems and tactics and just go with your best players? Or more pertinent, how many high profile mistakes do you need to make before the coach drops you?
Stand up if you've won the league... as the commentator said on Match of The Day, the top flight did exist before the Premier League era. But still... It's a very good riposte to the Spurs fans. There are other more interesting and off-colour chants directed at Spurs fans, but best not to repeat them here except to say that there is some clever word association between Spurs and waste matter.
Midway through the second half, a ball went out to Sokratis who for some insane reason found himself on the right wing and of course didn't manage to do anything with it. Right there and then, the fan sitting behind me lost it.
"FOR F*#^'s SAKE, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT SOKRATIS TO DO THERE?!"
Which prompted the man next to me, to politely tell the chap to watch his language, because the man had two young boys with him. To his credit, the chap behind apologised and kept a lid on it for the rest of the game.
Quite apart from who the rant was directed at (surely the coach didn't tell the defender to bust out on the wing?), it was also a little hilarious but yes, there are better ways of expressing that passion, as I found out a day later, when I caught a video on YouTube showing the reaction of an American fan to some hilarious (and occasionally tasteless) chants and songs in English stadiums. References to Harry Potter, the purchase of police hats being a waste of council tax, mocking people who leave stadiums early, self-deprecating humour about losing every week (and thus the opponents that week are nothing special) and my favourite one of fans mocking Joe Hart for making a shampoo commercial etc...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBzUO9CQmnw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XM7qwzbMHE
The game finished 2-2 and we had a goal disallowed by VAR. A frustrating day that was perfectly capped off by that VAR call. Experiencing it in person at the stadium is worse as we've no replays to rely on. It's like an arbitrary call (when it goes against you) by an unseen football deity somewhere that decides the fates of all games.
Stand up if you've won the league... as the commentator said on Match of The Day, the top flight did exist before the Premier League era. But still... It's a very good riposte to the Spurs fans. There are other more interesting and off-colour chants directed at Spurs fans, but best not to repeat them here except to say that there is some clever word association between Spurs and waste matter.
Midway through the second half, a ball went out to Sokratis who for some insane reason found himself on the right wing and of course didn't manage to do anything with it. Right there and then, the fan sitting behind me lost it.
"FOR F*#^'s SAKE, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT SOKRATIS TO DO THERE?!"
Which prompted the man next to me, to politely tell the chap to watch his language, because the man had two young boys with him. To his credit, the chap behind apologised and kept a lid on it for the rest of the game.
Quite apart from who the rant was directed at (surely the coach didn't tell the defender to bust out on the wing?), it was also a little hilarious but yes, there are better ways of expressing that passion, as I found out a day later, when I caught a video on YouTube showing the reaction of an American fan to some hilarious (and occasionally tasteless) chants and songs in English stadiums. References to Harry Potter, the purchase of police hats being a waste of council tax, mocking people who leave stadiums early, self-deprecating humour about losing every week (and thus the opponents that week are nothing special) and my favourite one of fans mocking Joe Hart for making a shampoo commercial etc...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBzUO9CQmnw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XM7qwzbMHE
The game finished 2-2 and we had a goal disallowed by VAR. A frustrating day that was perfectly capped off by that VAR call. Experiencing it in person at the stadium is worse as we've no replays to rely on. It's like an arbitrary call (when it goes against you) by an unseen football deity somewhere that decides the fates of all games.
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