Blown Over in Bournemouth
This is supposed to be a season of cheer, but it's hard to be very cheery about Spurs at the moment.
It's not even that I'm super down on the Postecoglou project overall; I'm not, and I think it would be incredibly foolish for the club to move on from him so soon. I'm referring more to the inevitable struggles of playing during an injury crisis. We all know injuries are a fact of life in sports and the best teams have to find a way to play through them, but you only have to look at the reigning Premier League champions to see that it's easier said than done for any team, let alone Spurs Men.
And just when you think that said injury crisis couldn't get worse, well, it did! We don't have an official prognosis on Ben Davies' apparent hamstring concern but in all likelihood, we'll be heading into Sunday's match with just one fit senior centerback. I do not include Archie Gray in that category, even though he'll likely be the one filling in, because the poor kid is probably tired of playing out of his preferred position. It's admirable for a new signing to be flexible and do whatever is required for the team, but we're not setting him up for success later on in his Spurs career if he's not getting the proper development at his best position. I don't actually think Ange has a lot of leeway around this conundrum, to be fair, but it's further proof that poor squad planning has put both the manager and the players into suboptimal situations.
I should be saving all of this starting lineup angst for the Chelsea preview, but it was clearly top of mind for me as I sat down to write.
In this issue: Bournemouth recap | Previewing the weekend matches | Pub chat | News from around the Lane |
There's good and bad news on the injury front for Spurs Women as they prepare to return from the international break. But I will save that one for later.
PL Matchday 14 recap | Bournemouth 1 - 0 Tottenham
Huijsen 17'
Something I have talked about during past injury crises is that the absence of key players on the pitch not only takes a physical toll on the remaining players but also a mental toll. The pressure is so much greater when a player knows there is no one coming to save them from the bench—or very few trusted options, in this case. To be clear, I'm not a sports psychologist; this is pure conjecture on my part. But I do think you could see some evidence for my theory in some of the overhit passes, miscommunications, and general frustration on display in this game at Bournemouth.
None more so than Ben Davies' visceral reaction to pulling up with a hamstring injury—he knew at that moment exactly how costly his injury would be for a backline that was already heavily depleted. Davies is one of the most experienced and reliable backup centerbacks in the league (though he also functions as backup for left fullback, too). Most teams simply won't have the luxury of having a further backup player of his caliber. Spurs definitely don't. We're in a real pickle now.
But this particular game had already been all but lost by the time Davies exited the match in the 62nd minute. It was one of Bournemouth's own centerbacks who scored the sole, decisive goal of the game—a first Premier League goal for Dean Huijsen, in fact. I wish I could say we made it difficult for him, but all it took was Radu Drăgușin switching off for a moment on a set piece and losing his mark.
Spurs did their best to rally against an organized Bournemouth defense, and even had a spark of hope when substitute Son Heung-min's offside goal showed we could at least get the ball in the back of the net, but it wasn't to be in the end. We were rather lucky to only take the one-goal hit to our goal difference since Bournemouth had plenty of chances to increase the scoreline. They outshot us 21-to-12, with eight shots on target compared to just four for Spurs.
Whereas the draw last weekend to Fulham was disappointing because of the gains we could have made in the league table, with other results going our way, this midweek round saw our closest competitors largely get their business done. Instead of trying to consolidate momentum, we compounded the frustration of the loss with a slide down the table—which we can ill afford ahead of such a historically tricky fixture, the derby with Chelsea. The league season is always made up of moments, and we find ourselves in a difficult moment of inconsistency and dare I say mediocrity. There are plenty of excuses to be found between the injuries and the fixture congestion, but they're cold comfort.
Starting XI:
While I acknowledge that Ange is hamstrung (no pun intended) by the injury pileup, it's always going to feel like a waste of a starting lineup spot to put Brennan Johnson on the left wing. I say this as a fan, not as a hater. He either needs to be starting on the right or coming off the bench into that position. Timo Werner has his own issues, but at least that's a natural role for him, and I think he would have been more effective—and certainly more rested than Johnson, who has played heavy minutes this season.
At least one player who was also in desperate need of a rest, Pedro Porro, managed to stay off the pitch until the last thirty minutes. And Son also needed the respite, much as I think we could have used him from the start. If he pulls off a classic Sonny performance to secure points in the Chelsea game it will have been (mostly) worth it.
I'm going to take a moment here to recognize that Fraser Forster has largely been Not A Problem when it comes to his shot-stopping. He's pulled off some great saves. I just wish he was able to get more actively involved in the buildup play and be a proactive part of the attack. This is where we miss Guglielmo Vicario the most—but also the likes of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero in the backline. Passing is a known weakness for Drăgușin, and I find that Davies tends to be more adventurous with his passing from the wingback position than when he's filling in at centerback.
As for the bench, Sergio Reguilón was once again in attendance, as were Will Lankshear and Callum Olusesi. If Djed Spence doesn't have some lingering issues from his recent injury keeping him from seeing the pitch, we're going to have to start asking questions about just why he was given a contract extension. I would like to see this potentially long-term squad player get some game time! It's baffling that Ange continues to underutilize him.
SAtP Player of the Match: Archie Gray
Like I said, I think Gray has a pretty thankless job at the moment but he's carrying it out to the best of his ability, without complaint. You could never accuse him of having a bad attitude. And while I still wish he was getting minutes at his preferred position, I'm sure he will be learning a lot from this experience. That Ange already has this much trust in him is also a positive sign.
Notable and quotable:
• This was Ben Davies' 300th Premier League appearance. Justice for Ben's hamstring.
• Archie Gray made his first start in the PL.
No quotes today, because I simply don't care to wade into the Ange discourse at this time.
Previewing PL Matchday 15 — Chelsea
I'm going to stick with the Men's team for a second even though their match is actually the second one of the day, with the Women's team playing an early kickoff.
I'm going to be totally frank and honest: I am not feeling good about this game. Chelsea went unbeaten the entire month of November and have continued that strong form into December. Their goal-scoring form has been similarly impressive, only being held to one goal in the two 1-1 draws during that stretch. In their last two league games they have scored eight goals total—and without a repeat scorer. In other words, they're scoring often and from multiple sources.
The one silver lining is that this is the home fixture, and Spurs fans in attendance will surely aim to make the atmosphere as electric as it was in last season's infamous 1-4 loss (I don't think I have to remind y'all of the circumstances that lead to that scoreline). I think the team is going to need that boost to have any hope of a good result, in the current circumstances.
You could field nearly a full XI with our injuries, whereas Chelsea are pretty healthy overall. Reece James is injured again, but that is hardly news. They are also without Wesley Fofana (hamstring) and possibly Mykhaylo Mudryk (illness).
To elaborate on Spurs' injuries, the only existing absentee who may be in contention is Cristian Romero. Ben Davies is obviously a doubt, but there's no confirmation yet of how his scan went.
The only way I can see us stifling Chelsea's prolific attack is to be stronger with our own, but that's going to require a much more cohesive and focused midfield performance than we've seen in recent games. Yves Bissouma is probably a lock to start since Rodrigo Bentancur is injured, but for the other two spots, I would prefer to see James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski. Pape Sarr has not been in the best form and I think we will need Kulusevski's physicality. That being said, Maddison needs to show up and take charge of a "big game" in a way we haven't always seen from him consistently.
Previewing WSL Matchday 9 — Everton
On paper, this is the easier fixture of the weekend for the club, but games against Everton Women never go as expected. They are definitely our bogey team in the WSL.
However, Spurs are getting a huge boost heading into the match, with Maite Oroz finally back from injury and available for selection. There's been a distinct lack of creativity in Spurs Women's recent midfield performances, so she will be a sight for sore eyes. Robert Vilahamn was sounding bullish on her return:
She has trained so well for the last two weeks and she looks sharp, so she will be a big benefit for us now and, after Christmas, she will be brilliant—I can promise you that.
Okay, that was the good news. The bad news is that young Ella Morris picked up an MCL injury on international duty with the England U23s and will be out for "around 10 to 12 weeks," according to the latest injury update. This is such a frustrating turn of events for both player and club; Morris' first WSL season will now be further limited after her previous injury early in the season, and the other fullbacks in the squad now have one less rotational backup—significant since Ashleigh Neville is not a young player by any means, and Amanda Nildén has been struggling with injuries off and on.
It also feels especially cruel that she picked up this injury while playing with England, since she just spoke to BBC Sport about how she hoped to use her time with the Young Lionesses as a springboard to reach the senior England squad and motivate her club performances, as her teammate Jess Naz has previously done. Hopefully Ella has a productive rehabilitation and a strong return to play in the second half of the season.
Less seriously, Luana Bühler is a doubt for the Everton match with a knock. Vilahamn also noted some concern about a sickness bug that was going around, so fingers crossed there aren't any last-minute surprises for the matchday squad.
Everton are not without their own injury concerns, as they have three players out with long-term injuries, including new signing Inma Gabarro. Veatriki Sarri seems to have been felled by the illness going around as well and is doubtful to play, alongside Heather Payne.
To put it bluntly, our forwards have got to start scoring. Many thanks to Eveliina Summanen for shouldering the goal-scoring burden on many occasions this season, but it's not sustainable. Hayley Raso added to her international goal tally over the break with Australia, so let's hope she brings that eye for the goal back to London.
Liverpool has a tough game against Manchester United this weekend, so there's a chance to jump back into the top half of the table with a win.
Pub chat: Social media double standards
If you follow me on Bluesky, you'll already have seen this complaint, so feel free to skip ahead to the news if you'd like.
Social media is today's topic, as it happens. While the club has opened an official (as in, verified) account on Bluesky, they have not opened accounts for Spurs Women or the Academy teams. This would be okay if the club had decided to change its social media strategy for the new platform to include matchday updates for all teams on the main account, but that has not been the case.
So as it stands, the only way to receive social media updates specific to the Women's team is to check Twitter—which I am reluctantly still doing, despite not posting anything new there myself. But it's frustrating to not be able to have Bluesky be my one-stop shop for all things Spurs social media yet. I have probably mentioned in the past that I am not much of an Instagram user, being someone who vastly prefers a higher ratio of text to images rather than vice versa. And of course, there's always the club website to visit, but it doesn't have the ease of quick, easily digestible social media posts to get caught up on the latest news. Bluesky isn't a perfect replacement for Twitter yet—it's adding new features slowly but surely, and I'm hoping account notifications are next!—but it was a welcome sight to see the club finally posting on there a couple of weeks ago. I just wish that both senior teams had an actual presence on the new platform.
And I do not for one second believe that this is part of a "slow roll-out" on Bluesky for Spurs. Give me a break. It is not rocket science, and it is not even that different from Twitter! Indeed, the club isn't taking a radical new approach to posting about the Men's team on Bluesky; it's essentially mirroring the content that's being crossposted on Twitter. How hard could it possibly be to do the same with an account for the Women's team?
No, this is a classic case of the Women's team getting short shrift and suffering from a double standard within the club. The Men's team is always front of mind and a priority; the Women's team is neglected until enough people raise a fuss. Well, this is me raising a fuss. And also here in this Bluesky thread which I encourage you to repost, as many others have done, to signal boost the message and hopefully influence the club to get their act together and make an account for Spurs Women!
I am once again asking @tottenhamhotspur.com to either provide updates on the Women’s team from the main account or create one specific to Spurs Women. There are topics fans would like to discuss (like news of Ella Morris’ MCL injury) and there’s no official club news on here to share about it.
— Caroline Stefko (@cgstefko.bsky.social) 2024-12-06T16:47:30.294Z
I truly do not think this is a harmless oversight from the club, because it's discouraging engagement around the Women's team on a platform that has otherwise enjoyed a robust discourse on the Men's team. Not having the ability to repost news items from a Spurs Women account is a legitimate obstacle; not every fan is going to hunt down the link from the website and share it themselves. Or they just won't hear about the news at all. The Tottenham fanbase needs more conversation around the Women's team, not less, and it's up to the club to facilitate that conversation.
I'm also dismayed at how often the club is slow to act on basic things—like sharing proper injury updates in the past—that can add up over time. And at the end of the day, we are simply not a club that leads in the women's game. This new social media platform presented an opportunity for Spurs Women to be first to market and potentially capture new fans, but that isn't happening. And we wonder why we are perpetually playing catchup, both on and off the pitch.
This is also compounding the concern around lack of investment in the Women's team that many fans have expressed in recent weeks, myself included. Investment is not just monetary—it's also attention and care. Spurs have displayed a lack of both in failing to get an account up and running for Spurs Women on a social media platform that is quickly becoming a go-to for the highly engaged core of the fanbase.
News from around the Lane
• In what I believe is a first, a Spurs Women player has won Goal of the Month for the club! Congrats to Eveliina Summanen, and may the Puskás Award nominators take notice.
• I mentioned an interview with Ella Morris earlier in the Everton preview, so here's the full article:
Emma SandersBBC Sport women’s football news reporter
She had some glowing praise for other teammates besides Jess Naz, as well as her transfer to Spurs in general.
It’s been absolutely incredible. I don’t regret it for one second. What was sold to me is exactly what I’m getting.
• From the Academy, Yusuf Akhamrich was nominated for PL2 Player of the Month for November.
• A new housing development in Tottenham was named after former Spurs player Walter Tull, who was the first Black outfield player in the English Football League.
Tottenham Hotspur
It was nice to watch the accompanying video of Tull's grand-niece speaking about his legacy. She was presented with a certificate of Tull's Tottenham Hotspur legacy number by none other than Ledley King. History is important!
• The date for the Men's FA Cup fixture at Tamworth has been confirmed for January 12.
• And for Spurs Women, the Women's FA Cup Fourth Round draw is taking place on Monday at 7 pm UK time/2 pm ET on the competition's YouTube channel. Fingers crossed for a favorable matchup!
What else is there to say... buckle up? But also,
COYS
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