AS we approach the first North London derby of the season, there is fierce debate between fans of Spurs and Arsenal on who rules north London. 

As of late, the power has shifted to Spurs as they  finally finished above Arsenal for the first time last season and with the form they are in, it will be a brave person that bets against them achieving the same this season.

Mauricio Pocchetino has assembled a relatively home grown squad that is the envy of many of the bigger clubs and at the fraction of the cost. This was all done without the “Financial Doping” prevalent at clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea or even Manchester United. With the promise of a new stadium and a good youth set up, there seems to be much to look forward to at White Hart Lane. 

Spurs net spend so far has been only 12 million pounds since Pocchetino has been there, whilst Arsenal net spend has been 199 million pounds in the same period. Youth also plays a part as right now there stands to be five to six players from Spurs ready to be in the England set up for Russia whilst we look at the broken promise of Jack Wilshire and even to a certain extent Theo Walcott. 

Arsenal fans will in the same breath tell you that winning trophies also matter (ask any United fan last season) so in that count, Wenger leads by a mile and ever since Pocchetino has been at Spurs, the count is 2-0 to Wenger and Arsenal. The last trophy Spurs won was the League Cup in 2008. 

All is not lost at the Emirates however but I personally feel it’s time for Wenger to leave and hand over the reins to someone younger. There has to be some sort of major overhaul over there and with the pedigree they have they should be up there fighting with Spurs.

There will be problems in the horizon for Spurs and they have to actually win something to cement their status. Also, Pocchetino had a great audition for his future Real Madrid bosses the other day so we can expect him to leave if the right club comes calling. For now, the future is bright and North London is all theirs. – November 18, 2017.

* Gogulan Dorairajoo is manager of KL Galaxy FC and an all-round football pundit with a passion for the world’s greatest sport. He also happens to be a long suffering fan of Aston Villa FC.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.