For 13 years Spurs have tried to be more like Arsenal. Its time to do the opposite | Barney Ronay


Arsenal used to be in a strikingly similar position to Tottenham now but Spurs dont want to follow their rivals path since 2006

the short interval since Tottenhams wild, fun, chancy away-goals victory at Manchester City in the Champions League there has been a shared urge to draw the starkest of comparisons between the two clubs: their finances, their structure, the various degrees of faux-humble Jedi-cardigan fraudulence exhibited by their managers. It is in many ways a meaningless exercise. This is a comparison of two entirely separate things, entirely separate ways of trying to reach the same point, not to mention one that is inevitably flattering to Spurs and inevitably bruising for Pep Guardiola and the football-style soft-power project operating in the east of Manchester.

You know the drill by now. City have spent 150m on defenders in the past two seasons. By comparison Spurs ended the game at the Etihad with a pair of fishing waders at left-back and a carrier bag full of discounted supermarket meat playing defensive midfield.

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