Jan Vertonghen Aims to End Spurs' 10 Year Trophy Drought With Deserved FA Cup Triumph
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen believes that success in the FA Cup this season could mark the beginning of a trophy haul for the Lilywhites over the next few seasons.
Spurs face Manchester United in semi finals at their temporary home of Wembley, where they hope the venue can be an advantage on the day. However, the pressure is beginning to grow for Spurs to get the monkey of their back and win a trophy. The club are on a barren run of 10 years without silverware since their 2008 League Cup triumph.
"Everyone at the club is looking forward to games like Saturday and being in finals," Vertonghen explained, as quoted by ESPN. "I've been here a long time and this is definitely the best team I've played in at Tottenham.
"This team and club deserves a trophy for all the work we've put in, and we hope Saturday can be the next step."
The Belgium international hopes that past experience at his previous club Ajax could be the signal of better things to come for Spurs. Vertonghen won the Dutch Cup with Ajax in 2007. This triggered to run of title success where the club would win the cup again in 2009 and follow that up with four straight league titles.
"Everyone always says: 'What do you need to win trophies?' But when I won my first the next couple followed at a very quick tempo.
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"You just need that belief you can do it and then they will come. We're full of confidence that we can."
But a dip in form has come just at the wrong time for Spurs. Mauricio Pochetinno's men are without a win in their last two league matches, losing 3-1 at home to Manchester City and being held to a draw at Brighton.
Spurs also have an unwanted record in the FA Cup. They have lost their last seven semi finals in the competition, which is the longest run in the history of the competition. Their last win came in 1991.
The defender added: "Obviously I'm still dealing with the disappointment from today [at Brighton] so it's hard to look forward to Saturday, but we'll change that from tomorrow. United are a big team and they'll do everything to win a trophy this season as well.
"It's funny it's at Wembley - it's definitely not a disadvantage. We're used to it now but the atmosphere will be different because United will bring more supporters than usual.
"But we feel very comfortable at Wembley, we've shown that over the last couple of months. In games at Wembley, we want to dominate, we want to entertain and play in a very positive way. Hopefully we can have the same game as at the beginning of this year when we beat United [2-0] in a very positive way."
