What a difference 90 minutes makes

Well that wasn't meant to happen.

Since Gareth Bale dismantled both Arsenal and Chelsea in the space of a week back in April, the optimism of your average Spurs fan has been on the up and up. Clinching Champions League football at Eastlands. Promising pre-season performances against Benfica and Fiorentina. A plum draw in the Champions League. Only an inspired goalkeeping display preventing us from scoring a hatful against the pundits' tip for the top 4. But what a difference 90 minutes makes.

Suddenly those Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham fans who have become mysteriously quiet over the last six months were coming out of the woodwork and chortling at our downfall. Beaten by some minnows of Swiss football, this was normal service resuming. It is difficult to deny that a few Spurs fans were thinking the same thing after half an hour at the Wankdorf last night. It was three, but it could easily have been five or six. Our defence looked like rabbits in the headlights as Young Boys played with the intent, confidence and tempo that we have been used to seeing at White Hart Lane. As Harry said, to escape those opening 28 minutes with no more goals conceded and two away goals really is a 'great defeat'.

There are two ways of viewing this game:

1) Spurs of old are peeking through.

Sustained periods of pressure on our defence reveal that a soft underbelly still remains. Bassong is raw and panics when confidence is low. Dawson has the turning speed of an oil tanker. Palacios does not have any sort of acceptable passing ability. Where are the goals coming from? Pav, Defoe, Crouch and Keane are all flawed players and do not have the required attributes to become our fabled '20 goal a season' striker. Did this game indicate that once again this season we will struggle away from home against battling teams and be outclassed by the bigger teams?

2) Bad day at the artificially-surfaced office.

The first half hour was a perfect storm. With home-advantage Young Boys came at us all guns blazing. They knew how the ball would zip across the surface and used the pace of Bienvenu and Hochstrasser to stretch our back four. Spurs on the other hand, if we are to believe Harry's comments, were far from happy on the plastic pitch, unable to get to grips with the bounce and carry and suffering from achey joints. It seemed to me that the occasion also got to Spurs. The majority of our team had not experienced a night like that before. As the Champions League music rang out, it hit home to our boys that this was it, they had arrived and, as a result, knees went trembly. A lucky, marginally offside opening goal lit the taper. Spurs crumbled and curled into the foetal position. As the game wore on we gradually unfurled ourselves and began to realise that we were a much better team than Young Boys. I have no doubts that we will be better. We can't be worse.

It is very very easy to knee-jerk over this performance and result. We were as bad as I've seen us under Harry yes and there were some worrying performances but I believe things will be different this time next week. Huddlestone came on and demonstrated why he is now one of our best and most important players with a colossal, ship-steadying performance. There were signs last night that Young Boys are defensively very poor. We will learn from our mistakes. This was a baptism of fire in the Champions League and we will be stronger and more confident in front of a packed house at White Hart Lane. Last time we were in Europe's top competition we opened by shipping four to Polish minnows. We took them back to the Lane and scored eight. We can't afford to be so sloppy again. We won't be so sloppy again. Time for another glory glory night at White Hart Lane.