You can tell Theo Walcott loves Arsenal. With his future under intense scrutiny, he signed a new contract rather than follow the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri out the door. And now he’s questioned the desire of the club’s bitter north London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham beat Arsenal 2-1 on March 4 to go third in the Premier League, seven points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal. Now? They came into this weekend in fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal. Ouch. While Arsene Wenger’s team has found its form when it matters most, Tottenham are, as usual, swooning in the springtime. And tomorrow they have to play Manchester City.
Last season, Spurs even blew a 13-point lead over their great rivals and finished outside the top four, condemning them to the purgatory of the Europa League with fond memories still fresh of the club’s thrilling debut Champions League campaign in 2010-11, which included games against Inter Milan, A.C. Milan and Real Madrid.
Injuries to Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe haven’t helped, making the attack over-reliant on the unreliable Emmanuel Adebayor. But Walcott reckons the problem might be psychological.
“I think because we’ve had the experience of doing it at the death and Tottenham have a history of phasing out, we have the upper-hand, definitely, the experience of coping with the pressure of it,” he told The Times.
“Losing at their place was obviously a blow, but we’ve bounced back from that and when you’ve expected them to win and they don’t, that has to make you wonder about how much they want it.”
Not that you’d blame Tottenham if the club does indeed have a mental block about finishing above their neighbors from four miles down the road. You want omens? We’ve got omens.
In theory, they’re similar-sized clubs with comparable pedigree, resources, fanbases and talent. Yet Tottenham haven’t finished above Arsenal since 1995. It doesn’t look like there’s room for both London clubs in next season’s Champions League, with Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea expected to comprise the top three. And Wenger’s side hasn’t finished outside the Premier League’s top four since 1995-96.
