L’Equipe seem to love the atmosphere around English football. Whether that be FA Cup games, or stories from ordinary fans going to matches, there’s something about the Premier League which makes it more than just the veneer of money.
At the moment the French newspaper are doing features on stadiums and on Wednesday it’s the turn of Tottenham Hotspur and White Hart Lane. With another old English ground being replaced by a new stadium, Tottenham have insisted to L’Equipe that their new ground will have an advantage over Arsenal and the Emirates.
“That is why, for example, the corners of the stadium will be closed, unlike the Emirates. In addition, we insisted to the that architects that the stands be close, as at White Hart Lane. In our stadium, the pitch will be five metres closer to the fans than it is at the Emirates.”
The repeated references to Arsenal are no accident, explain L’Equipe, because Tottenham have seen how the Emirates has lost out on atmosphere. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will surely have preferred that the old Highbury atmosphere had been transferred, and that’s what Tottenham are trying to do for Mauricio Pochettino.
Outside of the stadium, Tottenham have been working on stability, with some of the recent contract extensions including Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris. It’s going to be a turbulent time as Tottenham go through the move whilst trying to retain their past, having Pochettino’s stars all tied up on long deals is a very smart way of managing what can be controlled.
Arsenal’s move to the Emirates hasn’t been a disaster by any means, but Tottenham are keen to learn from the mistakes of their rivals and provide Pochettino with a more fiery atmosphere than what Wenger has at the Emirates.
