Spurs storm past Seagulls and into the FA Cup 5th Round
Spurs fans will tell you that no player is bigger than the club. Superstars will come and go; they’ll blaze trails, capture hearts and break them along the way—and the foundations of the club remain. Sun rise, sun set, let the sea claim us all.
While an idealist approach might provide a useful emotional safety net for supporters, Harry Kane’s recent positive comments about life at Spurs under Antonio Conte will be a welcome relief. He’s scoring, playing brilliantly and seems, dare we say it…happy.
“I cannot speak highly enough of him and he has really changed the mindset of the team,’ said Kane after the North London club blitzed past Brighton on Saturday afternoon to reach the FA Cup 5th round.
Two goals, one of which was an exquisite curling long-range effort that had Conte off his seat, brought his tally for the season up to 15 and helped Spurs to their 10th win in the last 17 games.
Fighting a war on two fronts
Things are going rather well for Spurs domestically. Having spiraled into an irrevocable tailspin under Nuno Espirito Santo, they’ve now moved into genuine Top Four contention under Conte, loving casino roo and sitting two points off fourth with two games in the bank.
No fan will be under any illusion that Champions League qualification will be enough to keep Kane at Spurs beyond the summer, and perhaps an FA Cup isn’t exactly what the England striker had in mind when talked about challenging for the big trophies, but under Conte, Kane knows he has a manager that can set him on the path to silverware.
“To win in an important competition like the FA Cup is so important, it is important for the confidence, important to get a win against a really good team,” Conte told ITV4 on Saturday. Now those are the words of a serial winner.
A trip to Middlesbrough
After making relatively light work of Brighton, Spurs head to the Riverside in the 5th Round. Middlesbrough knocked Man United out on Friday night and will be hoping for another high-profile scalp.
The Teessiders will be cautious of this Tottenham side, though, wary that they might be even more of a proposition by the time they face them later this month. With the promising debuts of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, and Conte’s philosophical and tactical thumbprints looking even more defined, they could be a serious outfit. Hungry for that first trophy since 2008, under a manager who certainly knows how to win them.
