It was hoped Adele would sing at the opening of Tottenham’s stadium. Instead, they got an X Factor contestant and that bloke from the Go Compare ads.
It’s been pretty much the same ever since. Promises, promises. It was supposed to be home to Mauricio Pochettino’s cavaliers but he was gone after little more than six months and in came roundheads Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo.
As for the stadium itself, Covid left it empty for more than a year but now it is full again the occupants are in revolt. That is the problem with these vast new arenas. The anticipation is of 60,000 getting behind the team, the reality is that, without success and with expectations through the fancy roof, that swiftly becomes 60,000 cursing the players and anyone associated with them.
Nuno Espirito Santo was booed by Tottenham fans and then sacked after Saturday’s defeat
Daniel Levy (bottom right) was unnerved by the reaction of 60,000 fans inside the ground
Not that the old White Hart Lane lacked atmosphere, or would have been any less frustrated losing 3-0 at home to Manchester United, but there is definitely a sense that events in the 54th minute on Saturday did for Nuno.
United were leading at the time, but only by one goal, when the manager decided to replace Lucas Moura with Steven Bergwijn. The loudly adverse reaction to that unspectacular decision may have unnerved chairman Daniel Levy as much as any aspect of the defeat.
It would have been the opposite of what he envisaged when moving home. It often is. Arsenal have never won the league since leaving Highbury and it has taken West Ham over five years to feel any warmth at the London Stadium.
Moves that were supposed to be the making of clubs have created new problems. Sacking three managers inside two years with the stadium in uproar would never have crossed Levy’s mind on the night he welcomed fans to their new home.
Sometimes it doesn’t go to plan. Robin Williams, the late comedian, had a bit about a surprise…
Source : dailymail
