Chelsea ruined our day out at Wembley,which is reason enough to hate the joyless, soulless excuse of a club even without them having rubbish fans, who incidentally appear to have an unusual reaction to getting on trains. This simple everyday act seems to make some of them racist, as if the sound of the sliding doors closing behind them triggers a sudden urge to act like they are Klan members in nineteen-fifties Mississippi. Racist predilections aside, it’s strange how too much success, too quickly bought, makes fans really rubbish at supporting their team. Tottenham, with a real phobia of collecting any silverware, have superbly vocal supporters who sang all day last Sunday and, especially away from home, are some of the noisiest upstarts around. And proud to be. If last Sunday’s game had been decided on quality of support, Spurs would’ve won 10-0. Any group of fans that can sing a song about Nicola Berti in the queue for the tube after getting beaten in a cup final is clearly unhinged and gloriously aware of how farcical it all is in the world of Tottenham Hotspur. We all love the journey, love the nonsense and love the fact that following THFC feels like being locked in a LSD inspired re-enactment of Rorke’s Drift. Sometimes twice a week. It’s chaotic, hopeless and we always have our backs to the wall, but we don’t really care. Obnoxious until the end, that’s the Tottenham I love.

Spurs huffed and puffed in the League Cup Final but we were contained by a wily Chelsea side managed by a man who knows how to kill games (and football itself) with his tactics and his dark arts. Hats off to them for nullifying us and winning the trophy, but they really are everything that is wrong with modern football. And, yes, I am bitter.

However, fast forward a week on from the disappointment of getting beaten by the classless Chelsea and things are looking a little rosier. There were many positive things to come out of our two league games this week, not least Ryan Mason scoring his first Premier League goal. He’s having a great season and must be very close to getting in to the next England squad, which may seem more of a punishment than a reward for the poor sod. Townsend’s solo goal was superb, so often he fails to deliver the end product but the shot was as empathetic as the dribble and hook turn that set it up. More of this please Andros, we really like it. Going forward we are playing with zip and swagger, Eriksen continues to pull the strings and Kane is looking as hungry as ever.

Defensively,however, Spurs back four seem to be too easily distracted. Vertonghen was at fault for the first goal conceded against Swansea, Ki Sung-Yeung is probably still waiting for the tackle that Super Jan should have put in. Swansea were getting too much joy out of crosses into our box towards the end of that game and the three points were only saved by a worldie from Lloris. Week in, week out that sexy French bastard in between the sticks keeps us close to honest by being his brilliant, laconic best. He leaps to our rescue like a coiled Viper savaging the ball away from the goal. Love him. We wish him all the best at Real Madrid next year.

Kyle W, on the other hand, is a talented footballer, and a very good attacking right-back, but he’s still prone to doing the inexplicable. Against QPR he attempted to head Charlie Austin through on goal and it was only Lloris’ physical and mental agility that saved Walker’s blushes. Davies is also looking a bit our of sorts and Dier is still learning. Out of all the defenders we have in the first team squad, only Dier can really blame his shortcomings on a lack of experience, they all need to fix up sharpish if we are to to stop letting in soft goals.

We played open and exciting attacking football at times in both our games this week and it’s refreshing to see the team bounce back with such verve and gusto after losing at Wembley. No post-Wembley blues, the team winning and everyone playing with a smile. Except Mason, he just scowls and bites like a dog that’s been kicked once too often, even when he scores.

Against QPR, Spurs fielded the youngest side in the Premier League this season. Youthful energy and exuberance are characteristics needed in abundance if we are going to challenge for the top four this season. I think that little goal might be out of reach given the resurgence in Liverpool’s form and United’s uncanny knack of winning even if they field eleven carthorses, but it’s a nice thought and excellent motivation for this ambitious young team. Off to Old Trafford on Sunday, let’s see if we’ve got the minerals or if they’re just flashing a bit of leg and teasing us to distraction again. Oooooohhhhhh Spurssssssss.