Back to the Drawing Board
Another game, another less-than-thrilling point in the Premier League for Spurs Men. Sure, Sunderland have been off to a strong start in their return to the PL and far from the usual relegation fight status that most promoted teams suffer, but it was nevertheless a dropping of points from a winning position from Spurs. But hey, at least we scored this time, unlike against Brentford.
The identity of the goal-scorer was a true delight (at least to me), and therefore made it more disappointing that it didn't end up being a game-winning goal. The main issue is that we are not managing games well and leaving points on the table in a season where we could be taking advantage of the league having more parity than usual—at least on paper in terms of results.
In this issue: Sunderland recap | Transfer Talk | News from around the Lane
Next up, it's time for an away trip to Bournemouth, who are one of the few teams with less impressive recent form than ourselves. In fact, they're winless since October 26, before which they had only lost once in league play. I wish I felt confident that we could use the Cherries' lack of momentum to gain some of our own, but I suspect our recent lack of goal-scoring will give them an edge; they've continued to score at a decent rate despite their poor results.
Fear not, the intrepid Spurs Women will be back in action this weekend. And they have not been slacking in the transfer window in the meantime! Exciting Spurs football is almost in sight, after we get through another midweek muddle with Spurs Men.
PL MD 20 | Tottenham 1 - 1 Sunderland
Davies 30' | Brobbey 80'
Now, much as I appreciate Ben Davies, even I was surprised to see him in the starting lineup for this game—mostly because he seemed to already be halfway out the door, with Thomas Frank only calling on him twice before this season from the bench and transfer rumors abounding of a January exit. Nevertheless, he was ready to contribute and put in one of the better performances across the lineup. It helps that he is actually suited to playing on the left side of the defensive line, unlike the player who was being rested, Djed Spence.
I know I mentioned a couple of issues back that it's becoming concerning how reliant we are on set pieces to score, and I wish I had made note of the source that pointed out we haven't scored from open play since Xavi Simons' goal against Brentford on December 6. That's a full month ago and seven games ago as of this writing.
Needless to say, Davies' goal was another set-piece effort. After Mathys Tel launched his corner kick over the box, Cristian Romero nearly stumbled but managed to pass the ball to his fellow centerback Micky van de Ven, who took what seemed to be a shot of his own, only to have Ben Davies ensure it reached the net with a tidy finish by a defender's standards. I actually thought it had been a deflection off an opponent and was going to count as Van de Ven's goal in the moment, but what a nice surprise to realize Davies had gotten the final touch.
That's pretty much where the fun of the game ended. Following the trend of the last few games, we weren't so much playing to win as hoping to close out the game with a result. It's starting to feel like the Mourinho era all over again. As we should know by now, but apparently needed a reminder, a 1-0 lead is rarely safe in the Premier League.
And whereas Spurs' mentality to see out a match has been rather poor this season, it's a bit of a calling card for Sunderland at this point to pull off a late result. Brian Brobbey's goal wasn't super late, coming at the 80th minute, but it was one of just three shots on target for the Black Cats and didn't even qualify as a "big chance," so difficult was the shot. Guglielmo Vicario certainly had no chance of saving it.
As Sunderland worked their way into the game, with all of their shots on goal coming in the second half, Spurs decidedly sat back and only managed one shot on target in that half—from Ben Davies, no less. It really is becoming ridiculous how much of the attacking slack the defenders are picking up as the forwards underperform.
But on that note, Mohammed Kudus' 19th-minute injury was a blow to the attack. On the other hand... was it, really? For many weeks now, Kudus has seemed to be playing with a lot of fatigue (understandably; he's played and started in 19 out of 20 PL games so far, not to mention other competitions) and hasn't been connecting well with his teammates. He's still one of the leading goal contributors in the league for us with two goals and five assists, only behind Richarlison's seven and three. But his last PL goal contribution came on December 2, an assist against Newcastle. That was six league games ago.
It sounds like it might be a moot point if his recent scan points to a lengthy injury setback. He could probably use a rest regardless.
Notable & quotable:
• This was Ben Davies' first goal of the campaign, and his first Premier League start of the season as well.
• Micky van de Ven notched his first PL assist of the season.
• Dane Scarlett made his first PL appearance of the season off the bench.
• I'll say this, Davies is far from the first player I would have transferring out this January... Read this post-game quote and tell me he doesn't understand what it means to play for the badge. In my opinion, he always does.
It was really nice—those are the things you miss in football when you’re not playing, so to get out there, to score today, to hear the fans… I feel like I’ve got a good relationship with the fans here. I think we’ve all gone through good and bad times together and right now, I feel how hard it is at times but we’re building something and we’ve really got to stick together. I definitely feel part of that.
And, you know, we're not exactly flush with fit fullbacks at the moment, particularly ones with a functional left foot, so he definitely fulfills a need in the squad as far as I'm concerned.
Transfer talk
• Spurs Women have continued to dominate the transfer window activity for the club.
- Maika Hamano has joined on loan for the second half of the season from Chelsea. The 21-year-old forward is a hugely promising talent who's already made an impact at her parent club, including scoring twice against Spurs in 2024. This is the part where I caution all of you against getting too attached to a loan player, because personality-wise and footballing-wise, she is very likable. We can still appreciate the joy of Tōko Koga being reunited with her Japan national teammate.
- Julie Blakstad has joined on a permanent deal from Hammarby, making her the second Norwegian to join the team this window. The good news is that she's a highly-rated attacking fullback and has prior WSL experience; the bad news is that her signing is probably confirmation that Ash Neville is on her way out, though we haven't gotten the official announcement from Leicester City yet.
• There's also been a lot of activity from the younger ranks of Spurs Men and recent Academy graduates. A trio of players have been recalled from their loans:
On the one hand, it's not great that so many of the loans this season have been what we could kindly call "disappointing"; on the other hand, it's good that the club has been proactive in finding new options for most of the affected players, with more loan departures sure to be announced soon.
News from around the Lane
• Pape Sarr's Senegal and Yves Bissouma's Mali will face each other in the quarter-finals of AFCON. Sarr's lack of gametime so far in the tournament has been very puzzling, but hopefully he'll get a chance to make an impact on this match.
• Jess Naz underwent successful surgery to repair her ACL. Now the rehab commences, so best wishes to Jess for a strong recovery!
Up next:
January 7 | Spurs Men @ Bournemouth
Team news — Xavi Simons returns from suspension; Mohammed Kudus ruled out of availability while the club awaits results of a scan; no other changes
It does kind of seem like Thomas Frank's job may actually be on the line over the next week, particularly as we approach the crucial FA Cup game on the weekend. This team desperately needs a morale boost, so let's see if we can earn one against Bournemouth. If not, it could be last chance saloon on Saturday. Once again, I can't wait for Spurs Women to be back to distract us from the frustrating situation Spurs Men are in.
COYS
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