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As I write, who knows whether this fixture will even go ahead? With positive Covid cases on the rise thanks to a combination of the new Omicron variant and peoples’ tendency to do as Boris the Biff says, and Spurs seeming to be a hotspot, this might yet add to their fixture backlog while also giving us another fixture to cram in somewhere in the new year. And if it does go ahead, we don’t even know how strong a squad we’ll be able to take to Spurs’ shiny new stadium. Bravery. Urgency. Organisation. Nous. Order. Energy. Skill. Tenacity. Effort. Nerve. Tactical flexibility. Effervescence. I don’t ask for much. Last season’s fixture was just an utterly dominant performance from the Reds. Mourinho and his players had no answer to the slick movement and intensity we brought with us to London. It finished 3-1 but the gap between the sides looked like an absolute chasm. We missed a number of great chances and even had a goal ruled out when Bobby was adjudged to have handled the ball on halfway as we broke. The ball did indeed clip his arm but only because it clipped Eric Dier’s arm first. Mind you, we were well accustomed to having goals ruled out and decisions given against for utter bollocks VAR calls. Bobby finally converted the opener shortly before half time as we got the goal our approach work merited. Trent hammered a second past Lloris shortly after the break and, though Spurs pulled a goal back almost immediately via a Hojbjerg long range effort, we just stepped up a gear and Sadio finished at the back post after his marker lost the flight of the ball. It was a very good performance in stark contrast to our general form after the New Year. It was also the game that put Big Bird out for the rest of the season and saw us having to scramble for defensive reinforcements as the transfer deadline approached. Everyone knows we SHOULD have brought reinforcements in earlier in the month as Matip wasn’t a player who could play 3 games in a week. In March 1986, we were slowly starting to step up a gear and Everton, who’d convincingly won the league a year earlier and looked good again this season, began to creak. Big Nev in goal was a big miss for them but they’d added Lineker’s pace and goals. We travelled to Spurs and played on a frozen pitch that had been cleared of snow before kick off. Spurs took the lead when Brucie fumbled a corner under his own crossbar to led hef-hef-hef-heff-heff Chris Waddle bundle the ball home. We equalised in the second half when, after the ball ping-ponged around the Spurs box, Big Jan drilled home from the edge of the area past ex-Red Clem. After a mistimed attempt to head the ball clear, Whelan found some room in midfield before playing a precise through-ball behind the defender towards Rushie. Rushie did what he always did and it was now 2-1. The title challenge was now well and truly back on. The momentum we gained carried us all the way to a first ever League and Cup double. High school coming-of-age dramas written by, produced by and/or directed by John Hughes were massive in the 80s. They almost always starred Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy too. Pretty In Pink is one of the most well-known examples, and was the biggest box office hit in March 1986. Jocks, geeks, prom queens, the best friend who secretly fancies the protagonist, everyone with single parents. I wonder if these stereotypes were based on the typical high school demographic, or whether the high school demographic morphed into these stereotypes. I’ve never seen this film. I have seen The Breakfast Club though, and that is ace. As I said at the beginning, it’s hard to know what to expect going into this one, because it’s not certain if it will go ahead as scheduled, and if it does, we don’t know what sort of line-up we can expect. From Antonio Conte, I would think he would go with his tried and trusted 3-4-3 set-up with wing backs and hard-working midfielders. With all the games they’ve had called off recently, they might be a little rusty. Or, they might be less weary than some of our players. Who knows? What I do know is that if Jurgen is as meticulous in his preparations as usual, and the attitude and application are right, we can continue to dominate Spurs as we have in recent years. Go out there, do what we can do, and get the job done.