@Pranav Patki

Super Jan, one of our very own, was at Spurs for 8 long years. An ever-present for Spurs in the eyes of most of our younger fans, a true legend of our club.

Jan was an excellent ball-playing defender for us. A dependable defender, he was one who inspired confidence in our backline and supporters (yes, the times of Ciriches still give me nightmares). Jan fulfilled the task of a deep playmaker for us. He still has excellent dribbling and the skill to find those line breaking was an underrated skill. He was not one to ping 60-yard cross-field balls like Toby, but he had his fair few eye-catching pings.

Our tallest defender though, was surprisingly underutilized while attacking corners. Perhaps why he went so long without scoring. That also showed when he could be bullied by larger forwards. Not the one to burn pace, he wasn’t one to be asked to face off against pacey opposition wingers starting from the halfway line either.

What Jan did best was bring calm- to supporters and teammates alike. He was simply exceptional coaching a young Sanchez in defense. He helped settle our backline and rarely complained when he was sacrificed to play as a left-back.

Jan symbolized Spurs- so near, yet not quite. A member of two Belgian golden generations, he failed to win major accolades with club and country. Erudite, full of fun and entertaining, he characterized a Spurs player under Poch, setting a tone for different expectations than the regular pigeonholed footballer. His characteristic humour and camaraderie in relations with the squad, be it the GOAT or Eric Dier will provide a sad reminder of the change undergone at Spurs.

But perhaps what will hurt the most, is that we never had a chance to say goodbye. Perhaps he will return to some more chants of ‘Super Jan’ sometime later.