Jan Vertonghen remembers the seven long years his former club Ajax spent without the Eredivisie title. To them, it was akin to a drought of many decades. It was the longest period the Amsterdam side had gone without a league championship since the decade-long wait between 1947 and 1957.
In Holland, it was a big deal, a little like Manchester United’s 26-year hiatus between titles in 1967 and 1993 or the gap that Liverpool are currently enduring, which stands at 24 years.
The turning point for Ajax came in 2010 when, under Martin Jol, they beat Feyenoord in the KNVB Cup final to win their first trophy of any sort for three years. The following season, Ajax regained the title, with a dramatic last-day victory over their nearest rivals Twente and the weight was lifted. Ajax have won the championship in every season that has followed.
Vertonghen can see the parallel to Tottenham Hotspur. No one is suggesting Spurs are close to a title winning campaign but in the current discussion about their mentality – or the softness of it – they are hankering for a breakthrough, something to unlock the potential in their ranks. Vertonghen believes the Capital One Cup can provide it.
The competition can be sniffed at in England, rather like the KNVB Cup in the Netherlands, the biggest Dutch clubs are consumed by the league title. But it is a trophy and Tottenham have only had three of those in the past 30 years – two League Cups and one FA Cup. They advanced into the quarter-finals on Wednesday with the 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion and Vertonghen has targeted glory. Next up for Tottenham are Newcastle United at home in mid-December.
“We have got a lot of good players and sometimes you just need a click,” Vertonghen said. “I hope we find it now – hopefully in the Capital One Cup. We are in the quarter-finals and hopefully we can force something.
“ At Ajax, the problem was after six or seven years you lose a bit of the belief of winning trophies. The first one there for me was the FA Cup of Holland and we would win a couple of leagues in a row. You then start believing in yourself that you are able to do it. Winning the Capital One Cup would 100% give us the belief we can do big things with the team.”
Tottenham’s dream is to punch their way into the Champions League places and establish themselves as regular participants in Europe’s elite competition. But a top-four finish is likely to prove beyond them this season, particularly after their stuttering start in the Premier League. They have lost more games than they have won and they sit 11th in the table.
Supporters have begun to question the merits of prioritising a Champions League push, which could be doomed anyway, as opposed to pouring everything into winning a cup. The game, after all, is about the glory, as the pre-match spiel on the White Hart Lane big screen says each week. Which top-four team could Tottenham realistically expect to supplant?
The Capital One Cup has assumed tremendous significance and feels wide open, with several fancied clubs having exited. Tottenham beat two Championship sides to reach the last eight – Nottingham Forest, then Brighton, both at home – and there is the sense that things are hotting up. The Newcastle tie will offer a shot at revenge for Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat in the league.
“We wanted a home game,” Vertonghen said. “Newcastle is a strong opponent but everyone is happy and we can get back at them for last weekend. You have Chelsea, Liverpool, us, Southampton and Newcastle left so we play one of the Premier League teams now and, hopefully, we can go through. Chelsea and Liverpool both have away ties but, obviously, we have to look at ourselves.”