Jan Vertonghen is leaving Spurs, how will we remember him?

As per multiple reports, Jan Vertonghen is about to enter into the final nine games of his Spurs career.

Given that he has been among the club’s most glittering, stylish and reliable servants of the modern era, it is tempting to write an entire epitaph to his time at Tottenham. It feels more fitting, however, to focus on a single game that he very much made his own.

It’s easy to forget looking back now, but last season’s round of 16 clash with Borussia Dortmund came at an odd time for the club. Both the team and fans were milling around in a state of flux.

The chief reason for this was Tottenham’s loveless marriage with Wembley Stadium. Wembley was a union of convenience that had simply lasted too long. Sold to Spurs fans as a stop-gap for the 2017–18 season, delay after delay to Tottenham’s new stadium meant that Spurs fans were still in the position of being unhappy tenants in 2019.

It’s hard to convey just how much a loss of space affects a group of fans. So much of what we do is based in ritual. The walk from train station to ground is a religious experience for any supporter regardless of club, and while the walk from Wembley Park to Wembley stadium had its novelty at first, it very quickly became an actively draining experience. The view of the Wembley arch from…