Harry Winks: From Flag-Bearer to Standard-Bearer at Tottenham

Tottenham’s Harry Winks. (Getty Images)
Tottenham’s Harry Winks. (Getty Images)
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Harry Winks: From Flag-Bearer to Standard-Bearer at Tottenham

Tottenham’s Harry Winks. (Getty Images)
Tottenham’s Harry Winks. (Getty Images)

It is a lovely story, a real ratings winner, and one that bears retelling at times like these. As a 15-year-old Tottenham academy hopeful, Harry Winks was given the honor of being a flag-bearer before the club’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid at White Hart Lane in 2011.

It was an incredible thrill for him, being up close to Cristiano Ronaldo and all of the rest, but not least because first and foremost Winks is a Spurs fan who started going to home games with his father, Gary, when he was six or seven. By then, Winks had joined the club’s academy. He was five when that happened.

On Wednesday at Wembley, on another grand Champions League occasion – the last 16, first-leg tie against Borussia Dortmund – Winks completed his journey from flag-bearer to standard-bearer. And when the dust had settled on a memorable 3-0 win, nobody felt the elation more than him.

“I’ve been in the stands and I’ve watched Spurs play in the Champions League many years ago so to play, get the win and do as well as we did makes it that little bit more special,” Winks said. “It is up there with the greatest results I have had in a Spurs shirt. I am incredibly proud and delighted to be playing for the team.”

The headlines went to Son Heung-min and Jan Vertonghen, scorers of the first and second goals, with the latter imposing himself out of position at left wing-back. But Winks was the quiet force behind the victory – one he described as a “statement” to the rest of Europe.

Mauricio Pochettino has come to rely on Winks, particularly in the big Champions League games, preferring his playmaking skills in front of the backline to a more orthodox defensive presence. The manager prizes Winks’s composure in pressure situations, his ability to set the tempo with his passing and against Dortmund he got the team moving.

The first half was a struggle but, more than anyone, Winks tried to bring the urgency, the fizz on the ball. Once Son had made the breakthrough in the 47th minute Dortmund were strangely passive and Spurs sensed they were there for the taking. Pochettino’s team pressed in a more coherent style and Winks remained central to the gameplan. The 23-year-old saw a lot of the ball and the statistics showed that he finished with a 93 percent pass accuracy.

“The manager told us at half-time what we needed to do tactically to get on top and it worked,” Winks said. “It was just about when we went to press; it was to be more aggressive and more compact. He wanted us – from the defenders to the attackers – to be as compact as possible and to press as a unit. That was the most important message he gave to us.”

One of the things that stood out was Spurs’s patience and maturity. At this stage of the competition last season, they notoriously lost their focus against Juventus, conceding two goals in three minutes and a position of strength to exit. When they got on top this time, they tightened their grip.

“We have been in the Champions League for the last couple of years so we are starting to learn what teams are like,” Winks said. “Any small mistake gets punished. We have to be on it from minute one to full time. We have watched games back from the past where we have lost and we have taken a lot on board.”

The message from within the squad is that nothing will be taken for granted before the second leg on March 5. But they are aware of the magnitude of Wednesday’s result and the possibilities that it has opened up.

“We hope it’s a statement to show that we are up there, we mean business and we want to go as far as we can in the Champions League,” Winks said. “There is no better way of doing that than beating Dortmund 3-0 at home. We have got to win the second leg first before we can even look at how far we can go. But it’s a great result, hopefully we can progress and who knows where we can go?”

The Guardian Sport



PSG Coach Luis Enrique Warns against Complacency in Club World Cup Final

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique speaks to media at a press conference at MetLife Stadium on Friday. FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique speaks to media at a press conference at MetLife Stadium on Friday. FRANCK FIFE / AFP
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PSG Coach Luis Enrique Warns against Complacency in Club World Cup Final

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique speaks to media at a press conference at MetLife Stadium on Friday. FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique speaks to media at a press conference at MetLife Stadium on Friday. FRANCK FIFE / AFP

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique on Friday urged his team to round off the best season in the club's history by winning the Club World Cup, but warned not to expect Sunday's final against Chelsea to be a "simple formality".

"This is absolutely not going to be a simple formality," the Spanish coach insisted, refusing to accept that PSG are necessarily overwhelming favorites to lift the trophy at MetLife Stadium despite their fearsome form.

"I have analyzed Chelsea. They have a great squad. Enzo Maresca is doing a great job and I really like what he is doing," Luis Enrique said. "They are a very complete team."

PSG can complete a remarkable clean sweep of trophies with victory, having won a French league and cup double before claiming the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history at the end of May.

"We want to finish this historic season in the best possible way," said the former Barcelona coach.

"Now we must open the next chapter, win more major trophies. We want to make more history by winning on Sunday."

PSG were spellbinding at times in their 4-0 victory against Real Madrid in the semi-finals and also put four goals past Atletico Madrid and Lionel Messi's Inter Miami during the competition.

"But we have to win this game to round things off. However, in a final there is always a winner and a loser, and that doesn't mean the loser has necessarily done anything wrong," Luis Enrique added.

"We will lose again at some point, because that is what happens in top-level football, but I think the path is clear for everyone."

This is the first edition of the 32-team Club World Cup, and whoever wins on Sunday will be world champions for four years, with the next tournament scheduled to take place in 2029.

"We are aware of the importance of this match, that it is a golden opportunity to be in a World Cup final," said captain Marquinhos.

"This only happens every four years, and we don't know where we will be in four years."