Keep the Faith

Last night, we drew against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Good result, eh? You know, considering what they're fighting for the same thing as us. Objective 1: Get into the Champions League. Objective 2: Stay there. But you know as well as I do that the draw was not good enough, that the draw leaves us one point behind Arsenal with two games to go, a difficult position to where we could've been given a victory.

Nothing in it

I can't say much about the match. Adebayor had a fucking amazing match by his standards, definitely the best he's played all season. The big Togolese striker still has only scored seven goals all season, but it's good he's finally putting in some performances at this time in the season. His goal made me laugh, so cheekily done. Great shot of the ball going straight at the camera behind the goal, perfectly placed up and over Megaman Cech. His backheel-flick into Gylfi 'The Iceman Cometh' Sigurdsson was godly (an adjective I really didn't think I'd describe Ade with this season). We showed solidity when we conceded, something I'd label AVB's Tottenham with this season: the willingness never to give up, right till the final minute.

I thought about the different circumstances Spurs could find themselves in at the end of the season. Here are a few of them.

1. Arsenal win all their remaining games and Chelsea get points from theirs, leaving Tottenham 5th and without Champions League this season, another Europa League campaign ahead of them. Disappointment.
2. Arsenal drop points in one of their games, whilst Tottenham win both and make Champions League, finishing above Arsenal, leaving them with a Europa League campaign. Elation.
3. Arsenal drop points, but Tottenham fail to capitalize on their chance to get one over L'Arse. Grief. 

The last circumstance is the one I fear the most. I don't want our season to end as it did last year with us listing all the "What if"s we can think of. I don't want us to feel like our dream was right in front of us, only to slip away at the last moment. We would grieve and slump into a corner as fans, resigned to another year of hurt. 

Think of Circumstance 2 though. It's still on the table. Perhaps it's not up to us to claim it, but it's there, tempting us in with our unheard prayers. What emotion could come from finishing above the nomads? What emotion could come from snatching it from them in the final games of the season? I called it 'elation' but I have no idea what it would feel like, what it would taste like. 

I will say this though. Come the end of the season, when the inevitable post-mortem is carried out, I ask you to consider as a whole what this season was, what we expected in the early parts, the quality we were competing with, the quality we have had compared to others, and the luck we have had to even still be in it in May. 

I cannot wholly define our season yet, sadly, but I still feel an air of positivity will come from whatever circumstance we have dealt to us. And as ever, keep the faith; it's never over till the final whistle is blown.