Tottenham's Farewell to White Hart Lane Begins with Varied Win over Palace

WHITE HART LANE, London — There is a famous quote attributed to Tottenham Hotspur's successful early-1980s manager Keith Burkinshaw. Although he would end his tenure winning the 1983-84 UEFA Cup, the coach's disagreement with the club's off-field direction had led to his resignation and saying, "There used to be a football club over there."

Tottenham's 2016 equivalent stride forward into a perceived vital modernity would cause anyone obliviously unfamiliar with the circumstances to remark similarly but more literally. Turn up at White Hart Lane this season and you will see a big chunk of its north-east corner missing (see below), not to mention almost all of the old surrounding infrastructure demolished as the first stages of the stadium's redevelopment project gets firmly underway.

While part of the ground and some previously familiar sights are gone, there is still very much a football team there. The more content current boss Mauricio Pochettino's side beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in their first home match of their last season playing at this version of White Hart Lane, an 82nd-minute header from new signing Victor Wanyama sealing the victory.

Unlike capital rivals West Ham United, who vacated their historic Upton Park ground permanently to move into the Olympic Stadium this summer (that title wasted with its rechristening as the London Stadium), Spurs' project requires they only temporarily leave home. They will play Champions League games at Wembley to fulfill UEFA requirements before spending the whole of 2017-18 there.

The club is well aware just how momentous it is to be playing for the last time here before the enforced interruption, the first of their own volition. Or rather, their last before they return and move into the 61,000-capacity, much fancier new model.

Like most in football, history and tradition is hugely important to the the north Londoners.

Before every game, they still play a video package on the Lane's big screens showcasing some of the club's most famous names and moments soundtracked with a stirring narration by the late-actor and Spurs fan Roger Lloyd-Pack. These days, the montage-ending comparison with the current, talented and ambitious squad feels a lot kinder.

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More often than not, an ex-player will be interviewed at half-time too, perhaps to commemorate an anniversary of a previous success or just to talk Tottenham. (On Saturday it was former captain Ledley King discussing the recent tour of Australia.) Meanwhile, the matchday programme's usual delving into the club's mostly storied and certainly well-documented past this week contained the first of a series of features exploring the story of the Lilywhites' longtime venue—an association that dates back to the turn of the 20th century.

Additionally for this home opener, there was a supplemental publication entitled Passionate About Tottenham (a #TogetherTHFC hashtag added on front and back covers to reinforce its message for the Twitter generation).

The booklet was a 40-page advert (or being cruel, piece of propaganda) for the club and how they view themselves and what they hope to be moving forward. Chairman Daniel Levy described the transition to the new stadium as "building what we believe to be the foundation literally and metaphorically, for the future of our club.

"All too often we don't stop and take time to mark some truly remarkable events," the Chairman had begun his letter. "Moments that have underlined why we all love this Club and the game of football."

It is an exciting time for sure, but it's not one without uncertainty and concern either. The massive cranes you see looming over White Hart Lane as you first arrive at the nearby train station simultaneously convey those feelings of progress-oriented optimism and foreboding over what a move away will mean for familiar customs and experiences.

The fact is Spurs—like any top-tier club in the Premier League era—are a drastically more commercial concern than even what Burkinshaw worried about over 30 years ago now. The bigger and bolder new ground is about keeping pace with the elite.

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As Levy put it: "Once complete, the stadium will provide the world-class facilities our players and fans deserve, generate additional revenue to enable us to invest further in the first team and regenerate the local area."

In the meantime, all this means different things for people involved with the club.

Fans are hopeful for what that "additional revenue" will mean for an already competitive team and are at the very least intrigued by the experience of regular Wembley games. (How well Spurs do there will naturally make a difference to how well people view things such as the usual post-match queue for the trains home.)

The temporary move further west is not so convenient for those who earn a living around the Spurs economy. Their agreement to sell in this area does not extend to the locale around the national stadium.

Stanley, who works one of two merchandise stalls you pass on the way from the station, says he expects to be back for 2018-19. Naz Ahmet at Park Lane Burgers is resigned to this being her last season working amid this particular matchday experience.

Talking to the current stewards and press lounge staff employed by Spurs, there are plans for them to come over to the interim base.

This week, the players themselves trained at Wembley ahead of their Champions League games there (below). Against Crystal Palace, they got a feel for the experience of playing at a much more airy White Hart Lane.

Drawing any real correlation between playing in a less full stadium and the level of performance would probably be overreaching. Tottenham had good and bad times when refurbishment of the Park Lane and Paxton Road ends in the 1990s left the ground so open.

On this occasion, the biggest impact on the players' performances were firmly tactical.

The inclusion of new signings Vincent Janssen and Wanyama meant a move away from the usual 4-2-3-1 and something closer to a 4-4-2 for Spurs. On the other side, Crystal Palace offered what is becoming the stock strategy of mid-table-and-below clubs visiting N17: Get as many men behind the ball as possible.

Janssen and strike partner Harry Kane will need time to fully learn the other's traits, but they certainly did not get in each other's way.

The Netherlands international relished his battles with the Palace defence, offering a strong and energetic outlet for his team-mates. He missed one big chance on the 69th minute to score his first Premier League goal but was a little unlucky—having let Dele Alli's through ball run across his body it bounced back at him slightly, and he did not not sufficiently readjust in time.

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Kane, meanwhile, grew increasingly into the game, getting all over the pitch as he looked to create without diminishing his own shooting threat. (The perfect junction came when his header from Erik Lamela's corner toward goal ending up assisting Wanyama's winner.)

Having been substituted late on, he greeted the final whistle with a delighted fist pump, letting out the frustration of a long few months including Spurs' disappointing end to last season and his tough Euro 2016 experience.

"With him [Janssen] it's one option that we have, an important option to play for the future, both strikers or sometimes we can play with one," Pochettino said in his post-match press conference. "But that is good to have many options like this."

Palace's resistance was not as oppressive as some who have come to keep out Tottenham in the last year or two. But as good as some of the home side's combinations were involving the front  two and the likes of Lamela, a stalemate would have brought back memories of such frustrating affairs.

There was more nuance to the Wanyama and Eric Dier central-midfield combination underpinning the Spurs attack than simply just having two holding players.

For instance, when building out from the back, it was often the new man dropping back between centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen as Dier moved out right, allowing right-back Kyle Walker to move up the flank in anticipation of a ball forward. (Dier was the player most commonly making it a three last season.) Wanyama also drove the team on more than against Everton last week, shades of the suspended Mousa Dembele definitely in some of his charges forward.

Nevertheless, striking a balance between a more physically inclined midfield with the manager's desire for a fluid and intricate passing game will not come automatically.

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Overall, Pochettino was pleased with a performance that also included solid work from deputising goalkeeper Michel Vorm and a less rusty-looking defence. Vertonghen especially looked more like his usual self than at Goodison Park last week.

"The good thing, that is important to say, is to recognise from the team that they fight to the end, never give up and always believed that it was possible to win the game," the Argentinian said. "And I think that in the end, we fully deserved the victory."

Pochettino will hope for many more as Tottenham prepare to temporarily bid farewell to this patch of north London. Give the cherished ground a worthy farewell and reiterate just why the stress and effort accompanying this project could be so important to even brighter days ahead.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.