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How Tottenham turned playing at Wembley from a weakness to a strength

When Mauricio Pochettino was first asked late last month about the possibility of a ‘home’ FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, and any advantage that might convey, he laughed at how quickly in football the shoe can switch from one foot to the other. “Now it's an advantage, whereas before it was a disadvantage,” he asked incredulously. “Remember ‘the Wembley hoodoo’? People said Pochettino needs to say ‘Yes, it's a problem at Wembley, to recognise the problem.’”

There have been some drawbacks to Spurs’ exile at Wembley, as they try to make do without a genuine home stadium for a whole season. But they have overcome the difficulty, sharpening up their possession game so they can unpick teams who come there and park the bus. That is why they are now fourth in the table and in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. It is testament to how they have managed to make the most of their situation, and is why being told now that they have an unfair advantage over rivals is so quickly shrugged off.

On Saturday Spurs beat Swansea City 3-0 away to seal that spot in the semi-final, which will be against Manchester United one month from now. Speaking to newspaper reporters after the game, Eric Dier laughed off suggestions that Spurs were now unfairly advantaged by something that had caused them trouble before. “One minute Wembley is bad for us and next it is good for us,” Dier joked. “The fact that we played our home games there this season you would think it would be a benefit for us, but it is the FA Cup semi-final, so it will be hard no matter what. That’s why I was laughing. That’s football, I guess.”

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But while Spurs did struggle at Wembley at the start of the season, they have shown in the last few months that they are increasingly comfortable when it comes to playing there, almost as if it were their permanent home. The 2-1 defeat to Chelsea and the draws with Burnley and Swansea City feel very far away now. Not only have Spurs overrun Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund on big occasions at Wembley, they have also learned how to get through opponents who come there, sit deep and try to frustrate them. Like Everton, Southampton and Stoke City, who have all been undone by Spurs' precision.

“We are used to Wembley now,” Christian Eriksen told The Independent last week. “A lot of teams come to Wembley now to defend, where there is not much space to play. Even at White Hart Lane, most teams actually tried to be offensive, because the pitch was small, and there was more chance to create something. Now, the pitch is bigger, and they drop even deeper.”

Fortunately for Spurs, they have sped up their football to outmanoeuvre their opponents. “I think that we have improved a lot,” he said. “Our possession has gone from good to even better. I think we are even better with possession, to create even more chances, be in even better positions, we are definitely going in the right direction, 100 per cent.”

Tottenham have firmly shaken their Wembley curse (Getty)
Tottenham have firmly shaken their Wembley curse (Getty)

It is testament to how well Spurs function as a team now that the players have improved their incisive possession game to solve a tactical problem that, at the start of the season, looked like it might undermine their season. “We are doing exactly the same as we did last season, we are just getting more and more used to it, more and more used to our team-mates.” Eriksen said. “You trust more and more in your own abilities, the players around you. They know how to take the ball down, to play one and two-touch, to play round the corner. You know where your team mates are, and that makes it a lot easier to make the possession, if you know where your positions are.”

Spurs have another four Premier League games at Wembley and then the semi-final against Manchester United. Win that and they will be in the final on 19 May. Winning that would be the perfect send off to their temporary home, not just drawing this unusual spell to a close, but underlining how with intelligence and application a challenge can be turned into a benefit.