Much has been made of Tottenham’s performances at Wembley in recent times.. Last season alone, they won just one solitary game in five attempts at the stadium. This season, with the ground hosting their home matches, a winning start will go a long way to silencing a lot of dissenting voices. This will be easier said than done, however, as their first home match is against champions Chelsea.
A number of disadvantaging factors have been cited as working against Spurs in their move to the National Stadium as their temporary home.
Familiarity
Spurs dropped just four points at White Hart Lane last season, and a traditionally neutral ground does not have the same feel. The pre-match routine will be different; the feel will be different; even sight lines for the players will be different. Much has been made about the size of the playing surface, too, but these are not too dissimilar to other pitches around the league where Spurs have acquitted themselves well. The team will need to get a familiar vibe about playing at Wembley and quickly.
Atmosphere
The big bowl that Wembley is makes it hard to create an atmosphere in the same way that fans could in the close environment of White Hart Lane; particularly when the vast majority of fans attending will be home support. Without a sizeable away presence in the ground, it will be hard to enable the ebb and flow of interaction between fans.
Similary, the matter of attendance has a direct bearing on atmosphere and here is where the club itself need to get the ticket pricing correct. They have opted for making the ground capacity of 90,000 available for each game, and there must be a full attendance at every game for the atmosphere to be consistent. Spurs proved in last season’s Champions League campaign that they can fill the stadium if ticket pricing is addressed correctly, and the powers that be must continue this.
The club had issues at the pre-season friendly against Juventus. Admittedly, a third party set the pricing for that particular game but the high prices saw fans protest by not going. This forced the events company into a late re-price but the damage had already been done.
The press are reporting that there could be as many as 20,000 empty seats at Wembley this coming Sunday. Whilst this is not helped by the re-arranged kick-off time for TV, it is certain that pricing will have also been a factor. Large empty spaces, even in the upper tier, will be embarrassing for the club and surely have an effect on the players.
A Boost for Opponents
For many opposing teams and their fans, it may feel like a cup final occasion; their day out at Wembley. As a result, it may perhaps boost them for a bigger performance than would otherwise have been the case. This could easily explain Bayer Leverkusen’s and Monaco’s performances at the ground last season, and a similar thing happened to Arsenal when they hosted their European games at the old Wembley at the turn of the century. Either way, the Spurs players need to ensure that they are ready for this.
Spurs can dispel all of this talk in their first game of the season. This is why it is such a huge game for them and not just because the opponents are their London rivals and the current Premier League champions. If Spurs can get off to a good start by beating Chelsea then everyone will forget the “issues” with playing at Wembley. The longer they go without winning, however, the weight of the peripheral becomes heavier.
Hugo Lloris, the club captain, said yesterday that the players just need to focus and be ready. Sunday will prove just how focused and ready they will be. Spurs started the season with a good win away at Newcastle last weekend, and they have an opportunity to pick up where they left off last season by putting the Wembley “curse” to bed.
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