Could We?

That's the question on every Spurs fan's mind after the latest Premier League victory under Ange. Could we possibly challenge for the league title this season? And you know, we could!

But for me, the most important thing is that we're finally feeling again. We spent far too many seasons numbed by pessimism under Mourinho, Nuno, and Conte. Now, we don't just hope for comebacks—we believe that they will happen.

Oh, and we beat the Manager of the Month curse 😉.

In this issue: Sheffield United Recap | Previewing Arsenal | News From Around the Lane | Pub Chat: Fan Forum

PL Matchday 5 recap | Tottenham 2 - 1 Sheffield United

Richarlison 90+8', Kulusevski 90+10' | Hamer 73'

It took some (very) late heroics, but this was a deserved win for Ange's Spurs who "never stop." Sheffield United paid the price of their profligate time-wasting by giving Spurs ample stoppage time to work with.

Starting XI:

It was an unchanged starting XI from the Burnley game. Ironically, not a single one of the players with a goal contribution from that game (please recall there were five goals on four assists) got on the scoresheet for this one. Sheffield United presented a much different challenge from Burnley's diabolical high line, taking a much more pragmatic approach with their low block, which Spurs nevertheless created plentiful chances against—just lacking clinical finishing.

And indeed, the breakthrough only came when substitutes Ivan Perišić and Richarlison combined on a corner kick for the first goal in stoppage time, quickly followed by Richarlison providing an assist of his own for Dejan Kulusevski to score the winner.

Deki had shifted into a more central role after the first round of substitutions and he got to show off a different dimension of his game. Ange had made a conscious decision to go all-in on the attack in stoppage time, replacing one of the centerbacks (Micky Van de Ven) with an additional midfielder (Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who was involved in the build-up to the second goal).

Another key change was bringing in Brennan Johnson for his Spurs debut in the 80th minute. Although his goal was ruled offside, the superb control he displayed with his first touch as well as his composed shot emphasized the dynamic element he can bring to the attack.

Perhaps more than any other game so far, this match demonstrated Ange's tactical flexibility and awareness of the proper timing for adjustments. He noted later this week that he had been fully prepared for Sheffield United's excessive timewasting and had consciously chosen to hold back his substitutions until later in the game than usual, giving us a freshness advantage for the extended stoppage time. Of course, he probably didn't know the referee was going to accommodate us with quite that much stoppage time by failing to penalize United for their stalling maneuvers during the match, but the gamble still paid off.

I don't want to dwell too much on the officiating, but you could definitely make an argument that we should have had a penalty for a foul on Maddison, but the no-call thankfully didn't end up being a result-changing decision. And in fairness to the head official, Peter Bankes, his card happiness extended to both teams, and he finally made the right decision to send off a United player (Ollie McBurnie) for a second yellow. I just wish he had done a better job of penalizing their rampant time-wasting because it ruined the flow of the game.

As for Sheffield United's sole goal of the match, which they scored about midway through the second half, set piece defense continues to be a weakness for our backline. A long throw-in was allowed to bounce near the far side of the goal and an unmarked Gustavo Hamer scored off a pinpoint shot that ricocheted in off the near post—leaving Guglielmo Vicario with no chance to save it. Quick shoutout to Vicario though: he didn't have a ton to do in this game but nevertheless made a huge save in the first half that ended up being integral to the result. He also displayed incredible speed to get into the thick of the celebrations after Deki's game-winning goal. He always manages to bring the vibes in every single game.

A few more photos of the celebrations, because I simply cannot help but include them:

It was super heartwarming to see captain Sonny pushing Richarlison to the front of the celebrations after the game so he could bask in some much-deserved love from the fans. On that note...

SAtP Player of the Match: Richarlison

Who else? With the equalizing goal and game-winning assist, Richarlison made a massive impact off the bench and definitely made an argument for future starts against teams playing defensively like Sheffield United, where his goal-scoring threat from set pieces and clever movement in the box are key strengths.

And goodness knows Richarlison needed this moment of triumph. He spoke openly about his mental health challenges after a recent betrayal by a close advisor. He's had a tough stretch of games for both club and country, but hopefully this will mark an opportunity to turn the page and go on a strong run of performances. The Spurs fanbase is definitely behind him!

Notable and quotable:

• This win set a new record for the latest comeback win in the PL—a record previously held by Spurs thanks to the infamous Bergwijn brace against Leicester. We do love a bit of drama as a club, don't we?

• There were two big milestones in the squad for this match: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg made his 150th appearance while Ivan Perišić made his 50th appearance.

• I was amazed by this stat: Ange Postecoglou is undefeated as a manager in his past 50 home games, going all the way back to his time with Yokohama F. Marinos (the team he managed before Celtic and now Spurs). Incredible! Of course, Liverpool is going to put that streak seriously in danger later this month.

• Ange on Sheffield United's timewasting (quote is from the recent Fan Forum—more on that later):

We work hard, we are the fittest team in the competition, if anyone wants to add 30 minutes on, bring it on.

He also noted that the team had to "stay disciplined and not get frustrated" by such negative tactics from the opposition.

• I also loved this quote from Ange in response to whether or not he needs to temper Spurs fans' expectations:

No, no, no, let them go, let them go and enjoy it. My role is not to burst people's bubbles. Let them get excited, let them get ahead of themselves. That's the beauty of being a supporter. They go through enough pain mate, you want to let them enjoy it. If they think we're going to be world beaters then great, that's up to us to match that expectation. Our supporters deserve to have some happiness and enjoy it any way they want to.

• This undefeated start to the Premier League campaign (4 wins, 1 draw) marks the best start to a season for Spurs since 1965.

Previewing PL Matchday 6 — Arsenal

deep breath

We can do this. We really can.

Sure, Arsenal had a good performance in the Champions League midweek that will boost their confidence, as well as afford them the opportunity to rest their starters early on. But we'll still have the relative rest advantage, for what it's worth. And I've watched most of their league games so far and haven't been overly impressed. They're certainly not as entertaining of a watch as Angeball, and that's not just my bias talking.

And confidence couldn't be higher in Spurs' camp after the comeback win last weekend. The only thing slightly marring the good mood is the terrible news of Ivan Perišić's ACL injury. His experience and composure were always assets in big games and he will be missed not only for the NLD, but the rest of the season. With his contract up at the end of the year, his future at the club—and indeed in football—will be uncertain. Trying to find a silver lining, this injury will provide an opportunity for Bryan Gil to gain minutes when he returns from his own injury (hopefully soon).

But back to the upcoming fixture. Impressive and important as Richarlison's super sub performance was in the Sheffield United game, I don't think he's the ideal starter for the Arsenal match. There will be space to exploit in Arsenal's defense, and Sonny will be the man for the job. Richarlison could still start at left winger, although Solomon has shown promising signs there in recent games.

Brennan Johnson is also an option to insert into the starting XI, though Ange may hesitate to give the newcomer his first start with Spurs in such a pressurized rivalry match—then again, Ange has been very vocal about his determined pursuit of Johnson in the transfer window, so he clearly has a lot of belief in him. He is most effective on the right wing, so that would necessitate dropping Kulusevski, but having Deki as a substitute option for Maddison is certainly not a bad thing. We saw in the Sheffield United game how effective Deki can be from the central area.

The other swap I've seen floated is Royal replacing Porro at right fullback, but with news that Martinelli might miss out for Arsenal with a hamstring injury, we might not need Royal's more defensive edge—so why sacrifice Porro's attacking threat?

Honestly, as long as we put in a proper effort this time and don't just collapse under the expectations like we have in recent visits to the Emirates, I will be happy regardless of the result. Stay true to the Angeball way. That being said... please don't lose, Tottenham. Let's keep the undefeated streak going!

If you still need some convincing to feel optimistic about the NLD, let Sonny sway you:

Any away game is tough in the Premier League - not easy. We had a tough year at Arsenal last season. I know what it means for the club, the fans and players as well. We should understand what kind of game it is. It’s going to be a really difficult game but they won’t want to face us at this time. We just have to give it everything we have and it will be a difficult game for both sides, but we’re looking forward to this game because it’s the right time to play against them. We’ll have a good game!

Aye, captain.

News from around the Lane

• In what I presume will be the final pre-season friendly for Spurs Women (since there's an extremely ill-timed international break right before the WSL opening weekend!), Manchester United defeated Spurs 1-0. On the positive side, that was the only goal we conceded in the entirety of the pre-season. On the negative side, we didn't score in any of the friendlies against WSL opposition.

I know I lamented the defense countless times last season and any improvement will be welcome, but if we continue to struggle to score goals until Beth England returns from injury, we could be in for a painful start to the season.

• The squad numbers have been finalized ahead of the WSL campaign. The only real "surprise" is that Bethany England has claimed the #9 shirt now that Nikola Karczewska is out on loan for the season. Perhaps that doesn't bode well for Niki's future with Spurs, though.

I do wonder if the club will ever release the full WSL squad list including the U21 players, because that would be interesting info to have—but knowing the club's usual communication threshold when it comes to the Women's team, I wouldn't count on it being a priority.

• Djed Spence is going to miss about eight weeks of loan play at Leeds due to a knee injury.

Academy check-in

The U21s had a great start to the group stage of the EFL Trophy, defeating Colchester United's senior team (albeit rotated) 0-5 away. After scoring just one goal in the first half, they really turned it on in the second half. Both Jamie Donley and Jude Soonsup-Bell scored braces, with Will Lankshear rounding out the scoresheet. I didn't realize that both Soonsup-Bell and Lankshear had missed so much of last season through injury, so this season is the first chance for us to really get to see them in sustained action. Tyrell Ashcroft was another standout player in the match, as well as keeper Josh Keeley.

But perhaps the biggest talking point of the match was Alejo Véliz finally making his Spurs debut—on his 20th birthday! While he didn't score, he got into some dangerous positions and was only thwarted by Colchester's offside trap. Hopefully, he'll get some more quality minutes through January and then possibly get a chance with the first team in the FA Cup early rounds. Donley and Soonsup-Bell will be good candidates for January loans to get a taste of senior football. They certainly look ready from what I saw in this match. Ashley Phillips also started the match and continues to gain experience in the Academy while hoping to make his first team debut soon.

I'm going to try to keep a better eye on the youth teams this season, especially in these cup matches, although as my friends at Hometown Glory noted, it's quite frustrating that we've had more Men's U21 matches available to watch on Spurs Play so far this year than Spurs Women pre-season matches (that would be: zero). We've also never had an opportunity to watch the Women's Academy teams on the club's streaming service. As I've mentioned before, the more often this kind of thing happens, the more it seems like a conscious programming decision than benign neglect.

Anyway, what is encouraging is the rapid improvement of this U21s squad over last season. Those aforementioned injuries surely didn't help, but it really seems like the whole squad is starting to come into their own—and the club's direction to have the Academy teams playing in the same style as the senior team to aid their progression has been a beneficial change. This empowerment showed up in the bold yet smart decision-making on display and the persistent determination to attack with and without the ball. Good stuff!

The U21s' next group stage match isn't until Halloween, but they have a few Premier League 2 games in the meantime.

Pub chat: Fan Forum reflections

I thought this week's Fan Forum was well worth a watch, despite the obvious fact that it was carefully managed and comes at a time of overall contentment within the fanbase. In other words, it wasn't too difficult for the club to avoid having difficult questions asked of the panelists. The majority of the questions asked were pre-submitted, and even when it went to the open Q&A portion of the event most fans just wanted to ask friendly questions and keep the positive vibes going.

To be clear, I don't think this is a bad thing. I don't view my role as a fan as one of constant confrontation with the club's ownership and chairman (although I have criticized both at various times in this newsletter), and I don't think the fans who were lucky enough to attend were under any obligation to ask "hard-hitting" questions if they didn't want to. It's okay for the prevailing attitude to be one of excitement and hope for the future amidst a lot of change at the club.

If you haven't seen the recording yet, it's available on Spurs Play or on the club's YouTube channel.

The panelists included Daniel Levy, Men's team manager Ange Postecoglou and captain Son Heung-min, and Women's team manager Robert Vilahamn and captain Beth England.

My main takeaways and favorite quotes

I think it's worth watching the full forum if you have the time (approximately an hour and a half), but if you don't, these were the ideas and quotes that really stood out to me:

• I was really heartened to see the level of interest from the fan audience in Spurs Women and hope some of that enthusiasm will translate into better attendance at Brisbane Road this season. On the topic of attending matches, one fan asked when we can expect to see all of the Women's team matches at the main stadium. While we didn't get a concrete timeline from new manager Vilahamn's response (not that I would have expected to), we did get confirmation that 3-4 games will be played at THS this season. Hopefully that won't include a repeat of the double-header strategy, which was a failed experiment in my opinion.

• Sticking with the Women's team, I was once again impressed with Vilahamn's thoughts, as I have been every time I've heard him speak since his appointment was announced. Like Postecoglou on the Men's side, he seems committed to creating a positive environment in the dressing room in order to support positive performances on the pitch. He also sounds very energized by his move to managing in the WSL, which he praised for its competitiveness and its potential. When asked about targets for the 2023/24 campaign, he said the primary goal is to implement an attacking style of football, whilst still getting the necessary results to progress within the pecking order of the league.

• One way that Robert plans to gain more positive results this season is to help the players better react to challenging games by staying calm at halftime and finding solutions. And even after the results have been decided, “don’t get too down when you lose or too high when you win, because you still need to develop.” 

• Robert acknowledged that it won't be an overnight transformation into a team that can challenge for the title, but he believes we can make that a real ambition within the next few years. I will reserve judgment on how realistic that is until we've actually seen some games under his management, but I admire the confidence—and clearly, the club has given him reason to believe that he will be supported with proper resources and recruitment.

• Another thing Robert stressed was the importance of players feeling like they can be themselves within the team environment, know their role, and know that they are valued. Beth echoed this thought in her answer to a question from one of the Proud Lilywhites' members about LGBTQ+ inclusion at the club. She talked about how much it means to her to be able to be herself as a proud gay woman and that all fans should feel welcomed and included the same way. She also mentioned the Proud Lilywhites when talking about Spurs Women's most dedicated fans, which was lovely.

• On that note, Beth mentioned that having such loyal fans at games, even during the difficult losing streak, was hugely appreciated by the squad at a time when morale was low. Alluding to the relegation battle of last season, she insisted that a club of Spurs' stature should be contending for titles instead, and hoped that with Robert on board, we won't get anywhere near that situation again. She assured fans that the whole team is committed to restoring the club's reputation by "making a big impact in the women's game this year" and that they fought "tooth and nail" to avoid relegation last season to have that chance to rally this season.

• Beth herself "love[s] pressure" and relishes her new role as captain, which she described as her "biggest achievement." She also said that she feels like royalty at the club, as she should! And she knows that the captain's armband is more than just "a bit of cotton on [her] arm." Oh, and the fun fact we learned about Beth? She completed a law degree! Following in the great tradition of Ossie Ardiles, apparently, as one fan pointed out.

• Shifting to the Men's team, I hardly feel like I have to share all of Ange's quotes because a) I do that every week and b) y'all are already fully aware of how wonderful and wise he is. But the thing that really struck me about his answers in the fan forum was just how huge a part of his life football is. Perhaps that sounds obvious considering that he is literally a football manager, but it's more about the way his most important relationships have revolved around or come about because of football. He even met his wife because she worked at a football club. And his determination to make his late dad proud by coaching his teams to play an attacking & entertaining style of football is already well-noted.

• Piggybacking off of that, Ange is fully committed to playing an attacking brand of football no matter who the opposition is. He was asked how to be successful when all teams have similar goals (like winning trophies), and replied that it's possible to redefine success "if you believe in something beyond just three points at the weekend." In other words, enjoying the game and staying true to who you are as a team. That doesn't mean that Ange is blasé about results though; he wants to win. And he said that Tottenham is “a club that should be contesting all competitions" and able to dominate against any team.

Our goal is to make you happy and proud every time we go out there.

• We also got some interesting insight into how Ange views the transfer window and his recruitment process. He candidly admitted that he doesn't have a long list of targets and is usually pretty selective, not offering Levy "three other targets" for every main target because he doesn't "want just anybody in." He also noted how keen he was on signing "young Brennan Johnson." Side note: I think it's funny that we all feel compelled to add "young" before Brennan's name.

• Ange and Daniel Levy were both united in stressing the importance of the Academy to the current project, not just in the sense of getting a return on investment but in the sense of keeping a promise to young players who choose to dedicate their time to our club. Basically, they deserve a real chance of eventually playing for the first team if they work hard enough.

• I think Levy is just as delighted with Ange as we fans are, to be honest. When reflecting on Ange's interview, he called him "a breath of fresh air" and explained that Ange was the right man for the job because of three reasons: his values and coaching philosophy line up with the club's DNA, he understands the importance of fully integrating the Academy in the club's strategy, and he prioritizes forming a connection with the fans and building that relationship. So basically, everything we as fans have been hoping for during all these years of the post-Poch wilderness.

• I really enjoyed all of the questions around the captaincy for both teams. It was interesting to learn that Sonny really was totally surprised at being named captain in that team meeting, a surprise which Ange insisted upon because it was "a moment he should share with the people that are the most important—the players.” Ange stressed that Sonny is both a fantastic person and a fantastic player and that he and Madders have both embraced their leadership as older members of a very young squad overall.

• Part of Sonny's leadership philosophy includes the belief that the work of the whole team throughout the week contributes to the 11-16 players who actually play being able to succeed in the game come the weekend. And it's obviously a very tight-knit squad at the moment, with the players committed to each other both as friends and teammates. Ange noted that there is a strong connection between the players who "probably spend more time with each other than with their families." All of this feels like a stark contrast to the dressing room dynamic under José Mourinho and Antonio Conte's management, with a strict divide between the "A team and B team" and individuals singled out for mistakes.

• I'm still not entirely sure how to feel about Levy after this fan forum because he did skirt a lot of the questions with incomplete or unsatisfactory answers. For example, he didn't give a concrete answer to the fan who asked "how much is too much to watch Tottenham Hotspur?" regarding ticket prices, and he still believes he was "acting in the best interests of the club" during the European Super League debacle. At the same time, he appeared genuine when saying "We've got our Tottenham back!" (yes, that was a real quote) and stated “We need to all be one, and that gives you the best chance of winning,” when asked about the foundation for winning a cup.

• Levy touched briefly on matters like the stadium naming rights (purposefully being selective, but the process was also slowed down by the pandemic), club finances (stable, despite said pandemic), and the existence of a buyback clause in Harry Kane's contract with Bayern Munich (real, it would appear!). He also contributed a moment of levity by remarking that he told Madders he "can’t keep coming to the training ground in a red car."

Okay, hopefully that was a thorough enough recap for anyone who didn't watch! As you can see, I took extensive notes. Perhaps too extensive.

I hope the fan forum will become a regular occurrence from here on out because I do think it was a useful opportunity to further unite the club—from the board level to the managers and playing staff and all the way to the fans. I wish we saw the Men's and Women's teams working together more often, especially. If we're going to have a "one club" mantra we need to actually live it.

Closing with a shameless plug for N17 Women's season preview episode:

COYS

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