Gustavo Poyet has stated that although Tottenham have been finishing above Arsenal, their lack of trophies still leaves them without argument in the battle over North London dominance.
Spurs have finished above our side only twice since the Premier League began back in 1992, but there has appeared to be a slight shift in power in recent years, and the fact that Gunners are lacking Champions League football this term is painful.
Despite our noisy neighbours impressing in the elite European competition this term in our absence, and having started the league campaign much the better thus far, unless they can actually bring some sort of silverware to the club, their cockiness will continue to be overlooked.
“Spurs might have the balance of power but they have to start winning trophies,” said the former midfielder.
“I said it when I left the club in 2008 as a coach. And the club are still waiting which isn’t right.
“It’s nine years already and teams, whoever you are, are judged on winning things. Fans want something to show for being strong.
“Spurs are a very good team but they haven’t even won the Premier League and it’s been so long since they won the FA Cup. Even the League Cup seems a long time ago.
“Look at Jose Mourinho, he wins trophies and it takes the pressure off you.
“Spurs fans can mock Arsenal and say we finished higher than you in the league and that we are in the Champions League while you are playing in the Europa League.
“But Arsenal did that to Spurs for years and years – and they won things on the way.
“Even though they are seen as a club no longer at the peak of their powers, they’ve won the FA Cup in three of the last four seasons.”
The former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder went onto add that in his day there was no chance of challenging the Gunners, with the club’s best players deserting them whenever they would come close.
“When I was playing it was impossible for us to catch Arsenal,” he said. “We couldn’t reach their level.
“Spurs are now keeping the main players although when I saw Walker leaving I was a bit worried. I thought ‘Here we go again.’
“But Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen are not going anywhere in a hurry and they are moving into a new stadium in order to compete.
“And for Arsenal it’s now the compete opposite. They just can’t seem to keep their main players happy.”
Poyet was then asked his prediction for the upcoming encounter, and he was unable to predict a win for either side.
“It’s a more important game for Arsenal than it is for Spurs.
“A win for them could be the difference between having a good season and a bad season.
“It will be an even and cagey game and I’ve got a feeling it will be a draw.”
Are Spurs more likely to win a trophy this season then we are? Do they have a better team or squad then we do?
Pat J
its his opinion but let’s stop living in the past like Liverpool
@ramterta,
I totally agree with you. Arsenal should stop living in the past.
Both sides are on level pegging now.
Nether will win the league.
Neither will win the ECL.
Both are genuine contenders for top 4.
Next season both will have top stadiums.
Its great to have genuine competition between the two.
North London is now blessed with two fine sides.
Both sides are stacked with talent.
Saturday show down at noon at the Emirates stadium 🙂
Gonna be spectacular.
Finally, someone who is not gonna be called a deluded akb and can see in perfect 20/20. Everything he says here is true, we can’t have one set of principles for top clubs then another set for teams who want to be a top club, it doesn’t work like that. If their goal is to reach the CL well then yes they would be doing great, but their goal is to win silverware so therefore they haven’t even begun to look great. Some of our lot shower them with praise too highly and well prematurely. I’d say mostly the English fans might be behind it, with tott having English nationals which they’d be rooting for when wearing three lions.
People PLLLLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASE, we are NOT a TOP TOP anymore, it’s hard to admit but 100% true. TOP teams COMPETE for champions league, simple as that, FA Cup doesnt make us a top team, even if we win it 10 times in a row.
When the spuds get their stadium and start making as much as us in terms of revenue, we are screwed because we have STAN the MAN !
Imagine if Tott had won three cups in four seasons, my god, some people in here would be unbearable. They finish one season above us and look. We were finishing in CL places with most of those cups. If that was Tott the ass licking in here would disgusting. You can deny it if you like but it’s no more false, you’re maybe in denial.
Arsenal are still the bigger the club (by some distance), but Tottenham are definitely heading in the right direction.
It’s been a strange few years for Arsenal fans. We’ve seen Spurs gradually progress into a fantastic team, playing some of the most entertaining football as well. Whilst Arsenal have become a complete joke in the league, and even more of a joke in Europe, whilst becoming very boring to watch (unless you’re into relentless backwards/sideways passing), but we have a won a very impressive three FA Cups, whilst Spurs have won nothing!
Spurs need to consistently finish above us, and to start winning some trophies, for there to be a real power shift. Not sure how much longer Spurs can keep their top players as well. They don’t pay anywhere near the top wages, new stadium coming up, and not winning trophies is just what Arsenal went through, and we lost our top players. Could be a similar story for Spurs, which will obviously benefit us. Hopefully Wenger won’t be around much longer, which will be another huge boost for Arsenal.
“Arsenal are still the bigger the club (by some distance)” ? On what basis ? One thing the Wembley experience has done is give us all some idea of the actual Spurs fan base. 84,000 against Liverpool wasn’t bad but apparently Arsenal would have got a much bigger crowd ?
The way things are going, Arsenal have the upperhand in history, Spurs have it in the future, unless we see a change in Arsenal.
Let us stop living in the past.
Our (claimed) mates are playing European football with top European teams on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and we playing ours on Thursdays with teams that don’t attract worldwide views and you are saying we are still great?
Come on. Let us face the reality of the day and think of what to do to get back to our past glory.
Man U played in Europa last season and Chelsea did in 2013. Did that make them any less of a big club? It takes some years of a particular result (not just one season) to be considered a top clup or not.
Godswill , it’s not about what you’ve won last year or what you’re going to win next year, what constitutes a big club is tradition and can take 100 years. We’ve been in the top flight since the first world war, Manchester United we’re relegated in the ’70’s and so we’re Spurs. Chelsea , before the Russian took over yo yo’d right throughout their history and Manchester City actually went down to the third tier, as for Liverpool, they we’re a second division side when I began following Arsenal. After us, Everton are the longest serving top tier side and are also a massive club but they’ve hardly won anything lately. Leicester are a medium size club but they won the league a couple of years ago, does that make them a bigger club than Arsenal
Well, Chelsea were way behind us 12 years ago and look at them now. They won all these Trophies in the past 12 years:
*1 Champions League Trophy
* 5 Premier League Trophies
* 4 FA Cups
* 3 League Cups
*1 Europa League
That’s an amazing feat if you think about in just over a decade. So who knows where Spurs will be in the next 10,12,15 years.
One thing is certain. The longer Wenger stays as manager of Arsenal, the quicker Spurs will catch up to us, that’s for sure.
If we got rid of Wenger, we can leave Spurs trailing in the dust
Lets be serious, Tottenham have always been a big club. for instance the biggest attendance WHL was 75000+ where as the biggest at Highbury was 73000+, so not a lot in it there. They had a spell in the early sixties where they we’re dominant, and believe me, I saw them, they we’re a great side but we also had a great spell in the thirties when we we’re, and there’s no doubt about it, the best club side in the world with a superb stadium to match it, however, when it comes down trophy’s’ we’re far ahead’ winning silverware in every decade since the those glorious thirties, what it is? I hope I’m right 13 league titles and 13 FA cups as opposed to their two league titles back in ’51 and’61 and cups, I’m not sure how many. Yes, no one can deny, definitely a big club but with a lot of catching up to do .
Yes Kenny, I broadly agree but would give a slightly different emphasis to the argument you make about Spurs have always been a big club. I would concede perhaps a sleeping giant, rather like Leeds, Villa, even Forest are today. They have not won a title since 1961 and the three championship clubs above have all won the itle since 1979. Until ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO, I WOULD HAVE CALLED SPURS A ONE TIME BIG BUT NOW SLEEPING, OR AT LEAST VERY SLEEPY, GIANT. TO BE A GIANT CLUB , ALL THE TIME, YOU NEED TO WIN TITLES FAR MORE OFTEN THAN THAT. On that basis Chelsea only became a truly big club in the last decade or so.
As usual Jon you make some good points but with all respect to Leeds,Villa and Forest, no way would Spurs spend the amount of time in the lower leagues [just one year] that those three have spent recently and I’m sure you remember that great Spurs side in their double year dropping their first point after 14 games to Man City and suffering their first defeat to Sheffield Wednesday by the odd goal in three on Boxing day and almost beating our 66 point record [2 points a win in those days] which stood from the glorious thirties thanks to a shock home defeat on the last day of the season by West Brom with their frightening forward line of Jones, White,Smith,Allen, and Dyson and to make things worse the following year the signing of Jimmy Greaves, and don’t let anybody tell different without doubt the greatest striker the English game as ever seen. I know over the years they never won another league title but have always been there or thereabouts with FA cups being their only success’s. How that side never won more is beyond me and also a lot learned people in the game.
My 2cents:
I feel Arsenal are living in the past. A couple of years ago, we always boasted that we’ve finished above Tottenham. I read comments here like: The only time Tottenham will come 2nd in the league is when Arsenal comes 1st.
Now, Tottenham has finished above Arsenal. The ‘boast’ has changed to: Tottenham should start winning trophies.
All the present group of Arsenal players have not won the Premier League…same with Tottenham. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.
I do appreciate that we’ve won the FA Cup 3 times in 4 years. But that should not be the main target for us.
Unless Arsenal beats Tottenham, come this weekend, it further confirms that we are on a downward spiral.
There are two completely different matters in this question. First which is the better team and second which is the bigger club. To answer the first is easy, as right now, Spurs are obviously a better team than Arsenal. This will remain so even if, as I believe will happen, we gain a narrow win this Saturday. Clearly Spurs squad is hungrier, more organised , has a shape , a dynamism and a committment to fight for the shirt,which ours comes nowhere near, at least not on a regular basis. Their whole club set up is forward thinking and going places. Ours is stale, regressive and, fans aside, uninterested in serious change to improve. They were eleven points in front last season and are already four clear even this early and dependent on the result will be either 1, 4 or 7 clear by Saturday evening. BUT, BUT, BUT, to be the bigger club is completely different. There is long term history and world wide reputation, fan base and status involved there. And the huge matter of trophies! On those matters Spurs are miles behind us and cannot possibly hope to equal or even get near for many , many years and realistically many decades in the future. In fact, almost certainly never! Spurs would need to win at least 12 PL’s, several FA cups, probably one or two CL’s and finish consistently higher than us for virtually all the next twenty years before serious consideration could even begin about them being a bigger club. Teams can be overtaken in a season, clubs only after a human lifetime in years. Realism!
I have to say this again and I keep saying this, the owner is the major problem and NOT Wenger, its the direction the board or owners wants the club driven that’s where we are heading. Wengers only offense here is that he appears to have agree to help drive the club in the direction the owners wants, if the owners thinks Wenger is not doing a good job, they will sack him. Everybody wants Wenger out and yet the board offered him a contract and waited six months for him to sign it, more like they were begging him to sign it. If we all say Wenger out and the owners wants him to stay, then its clear that we are in opposite directions of Wenger and so the problem is the board (owners) and NOT Wenger. If for any reason Wenger leaves, that will not solve our problem because the owners will still be there and they will find a replacement manager to drive the club in the same direction and we could come out worse because like they say “the devil you know is better than the angel you do not know”