As part of the last Tottenham team to clinch a coveted piece of silverware, Michael Dawson is perfectly placed to sum up the watershed moment beckoning for Mauricio Pochettino’s class of 2018.
This Saturday, Spurs return to Wembley Stadium – their temporary home this season as White Hart Lane’s redevelopment progresses – going head-to-head with Manchester United in an Emirates FA Cup semi-final.
For both teams, this weekend’s showdown represents their last opportunity to claim a trophy this season and former Tottenham defender Dawson, part of the team that won the League Cup in the 2008, believes the time is now for Spurs to crown their recent evolution with tangible success.
“Where Mauricio Pochettino’s taken them in the last few years, the improvements they’ve made in challenging for titles, now, the only thing that’s missing is silverware,” said the 34-year-old, who left to join Hull City shortly after Pochettino took over as Tottenham manager in 2014.
“I think the players can perform and everyone’s talking about how good a team they are but now they need to start winning trophies.
“The players are hungry and they’re certainly not a million miles away from adding trophies, and when one comes, I’m sure the shackles will come off and more will come.
“I’m sure then, they’ll go and win many more.
“The club’s building. They’re going to a new stadium and the players they’re attracting, the kind of football they play; everyone’s talking about how good they are but it is about winning things.
“That’s what the fans want and what the players want, along with every other football club, and you have to earn the right to do that.
“People have been saying how bad Man United have been – they’re second in the league and they’re in the semi-finals of The FA Cup.
“He [Jose Mourinho] has got that way of winning things and on Saturday, Spurs have to be right at it.”
Having helped Spurs to the final, injury deprived Dawson of the chance to feature in his old side’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea in that 2008 League Cup final, but he still has plenty of moments from his successful stint in north London that tug at the heartstrings.
A 2-0 Emirates FA Cup semi-final loss to Portsmouth in 2010 elicits a slightly less satisfying emotion but the former England international can only look back on his Tottenham days with fondness.
“People always say that you remember the worst sometimes better than the best and losing in the semi-final against Portsmouth; it was my slip that unfortunately cost us, and those things don’t go,” said Dawson, who hopes to tune in to watch Saturday’s tie following Hull’s trip to Bristol City in the Championship.
“But the memories I’ve got from Spurs will live with me forever, like winning the League Cup, beating Manchester City [in 2010] to finish in the Champions League for the first time, and going to Real Madrid in the quarter finals - and also beating AC Milan.
“My Spurs head’s on – I’ve got to fancy them – but Man United are a top team with top players, and it’s a game I’m really looking forward to watching.
“It’s an FA Cup special and I’m hoping for a Spurs win, as you would well imagine.”
