Meet Me At The Crossroads
What would you have done if you were in his position? Tottenham player through and through (bar his time at West Ham youth set up). Eventually rising up the ranks to captain his boyhood club. The first black captain to lift the league cup in Tottenham’s final success over Leicester in 1999. Indeed sweet dreams are made of these. Fast forward to the turn of the millennium, his relationship with his coaches was deteriorating, Spurs were struggling in mid-table and to add insult to injury, he had been falsely accused of breaking a stewards arm in a scuffle at Derby County. What does this club he calls home do? Through it’s lawyer, advised him to have the case bound over. This meant that he wouldn’t be convicted but that he would’ve admitted to some level of wrongdoing. He refused and Tottenham told him to source his own defence counsel. Along comes David Dein. The Arsenal Vice-Chairman promised to always be there for him, to protect him. That with the lure of playing at the highest level in Europe in the Champions League and challenging for honours in England. I mean, his national team coach Sven Goran Ericsson even advised him to leave Spurs in order to play in the Champions League. The kind of talent he possessed merited playing at the highest level. Which player of that calibre wouldn’t want to compete with the best? Even if this meant moving across town to join your biggest rivals? Well, for Sol Campbell at the time this decision was a no brainer. His move would prove fruitful as he won two Premier League titles (one of which was in sensational fashion as part of the famed Invincibles team of 2003-04.), two FA Cups and consistent appearances in the Champions League culminating in an appearance in the 2006 final in which he scored to give Arsenal the lead in their 1-2 defeat to Barcelona in Paris. Even though he was branded a traitor “Judas” by Spurs fans, I’m sure he sleeps well every night knowing that he made the right decision.
Then come and meet me at the crossroad, I'm waiting. Stay here till the light's all faded. Meet me at the crossroads of this ghost town. Meet me here, no we're. Just minutes from Washington, D.C., the Takoma/Langley Crossroads is a busy shopping district with over 200 shops and restaurants offering a unique shopping experience with an international flair. Meet me at the Crossroads!
Crossroads Bone Thugs N Harmony
The year now is 2018 and the question I asked myself this morning is whether any player would cross the divide and join their North London rival in order to “compete at the highest level.”
At the moment? Ncert books in hindi medium. No.
Angels Meet Me At The Crossroads Highwaymen
In as much as Arsenal is not playing in the Champions League, I doubt there is a player that would cross over to join Spurs. The last time that happened was in 2010 when William Gallas switched the Emirates for life at White Hart Lane and the circumstances surrounding the transfer were different to those of Sol. Though Spurs were a team on the rise, Arsenal were still the top dogs in London. Something that’s changed over the past few years. Last season was the second consecutive time Arsenal fans missed celebrating St Totenringham’s day since the inception of the Premier League. How to use chocolatey. Tottenham finished above their neighbors again signifying that the tide had changed in their favour. Even though that was just their second time, their finishing position in the standings in the previous four years wasn’t a true reflection of their recent dominance over their North London rivals. Tottenham have only lost one of their last eight games against Arsenal, drawing four and winning three. Tottenham lost 0-2 in the corresponding fixture at the Emirates last season in arguably Arsenal’s finest performance of the season. Tottenham has featured in the Champions League for the past two seasons that Arsenal has been absent with Tottenham going ahead to challenge for the title (until their infamous March collapse. is it a North London thing to bottle at the turn of the year? Hahaha this is a matter of concern now. Is it a curse?)
Tottenham under Mauricio Pochettino have flourished and have dared to challenge the established order in Europe. They’re going toe to toe with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter. They have one of the most (if not the most) cohesive team in the Premier League. Even when former Arsenal man (yes he was part of the Gunner’s roster at Under 8 level. Still counts for something 😄) Harry Kane isn’t in his usual goal scoring form, the team has players that can spark a team to life and get them a result. Every player is loyal to the cause and that is something we have to admire about what Pochettino has brought to the club. He has managed to do well without the resources at the disposal of the likes of the Manchester clubs. They can’t boast having a roster capable of challenging the quality of a team such as City or Liverpool. They famously failed to make a single signing at the start of the season yet they completely obliterated an unbeaten Chelsea side bossing teams in the league with their Sarriball brand of football. They’re on the brink of finalizing their brand new state of the art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that would make it the largest stadium in London after Wembley. There’s no doubt that their revenues will soar in the coming years and that they will be able to compete with other teams on a financial level.
Tottenham are undoubtedly the better team in North London at the moment, a fact that was even conceded by new Arsenal gaffer Unai Emery but Tottenham are yet to surpass Arsenal as the head honcho in North London.
They still have a lot to do when it comes to attracting new following across the world as well as commercial opportunities to enable them to generate more revenue to help grow the club and their reach globally. That coupled up with winning trophies. They have flattered to deceive in recent seasons and have failed to win any silverware under Pochettino. These are just some of the things that still put Arsenal ahead in the North London food chain. They definitely help when it comes to attracting some of the best names in football with the likes of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang joining the club despite them not playing Champions League football. The likelihood of a player crossing the divide is pretty slim but we can all agree that Spurs is a team on the rise and that Arsenal is in a new era aiming to return to the upper echelon of English and European football. I’m really excited to see what’s in store for these two North London clubs with the hope that this rivalry will one day escalate to the point where derbies will be determining the destination of the Premier League or even honours in Europe.
As for today’s derby which will be the 196th meeting between the two clubs, predicting the winner will be a tough one. Arsenal are unbeaten in 18 games and have not failed to score in a home leg of the derby in their last 22 games dating back to 1998. They boast having in their ranks the league’s joint top scorer in Aubameyang and have been playing well, getting the results even when they didn’t merit them. Spurs have earned six big wins in a row including morale boosting wins against PSV and Inter Milan in the Champions League as well as the mauling of Chelsea at Wembley. Harry Kane also has a knack of scoring against the Gunners boasting a record of 7 goals in 7 appearances (though he didn’t score at the Emirates last season when Spurs went down 2-0) and he can be backed to be a major threat today alongside the brilliant Christian Erikssen who is having a decisive reintroduction into the team after an abdominal injury, Dele Alli and Heung Ming Son. Moussa Sissoko is also experiencing a renaissance of sorts playing the best football of his Tottenham career since his big money move from Newcastle. However in games like this particular one, form usually goes out the window and counts for nothing. The team that brings their all usually has the upper hand though Lady Luck might have something different to say about that.