Could We Not?

Well. That was a terrible weekend to be a Spurs fan. There's no other way to put it.

We had one loss that came in a positive performance overall and one loss that was so bad you almost have to treat it as an anomoly. But the injuries that came out of both matches overshadowed the results by far. We are officially in an injury crisis across all teams—even the Academy, it would seem.

I think managing expectations will be key to surviving the month of December as fans. And for the players, all we can hope for is that morale doesn't sink too low in the short term. There will be better days ahead for the club, but patience is required for now.

In this issue: Aston Villa recap | Manchester City recap | Previewing Manchester City | News from around the Lane

PL Matchday 13 recap | Tottenham 1 - 2 Aston Villa

Lo Celso 22' | Torres 45+7', Watkins 61'

This was another match where it felt like we could and should have won—even at (far) less than full strength—but fate once again conspired against us in the form of Matty Cash. Well, that and some terrible luck with finishing in the first half when we practically played Aston Villa off the pitch. But such is life/football. Sometimes the outcome doesn't feel fair.

That's not to say that Villa didn't have their good moments, nor that they were completely undeserving winners. They did finish their chances, which were fewer than ours. But my god, I still feel like they have some karma coming their way at some point soon. We can only hope.

Starting XI:

Ange Postecoglou made some bold changes for this match, some of them enforced and some of them tactical in nature.

He opted for a back line completely comprised of fullbacks-by-training (yes, Ben Davies can count as a centerback if you squint, but it's still not his preferred position) rather than playing the one true senior CB in the matchday squad, Eric Dier. With Ashley Phillips out injured and Alfie Dorrington called upon for backup on the bench, it was looking like a traditional centerback pairing wasn't a realistic option in terms of experience. And although Emerson Royal is no comparison to Cuti Romero in terms of his ability to play out from the back and utilize proactive positioning to effectively press from the backline, he still offered more recovery pace than Dier would have. All things considered, it was probably the best backline available, especially with Destiny Udogie back in the squad after his suspension. Pedro Porro has also been a bright spot during this difficult period, notching an assist for the second game in a row.

Three players got their first starts of the season: Rodrigo Bentancur and Giovana Lo Celso in the midfield pivot as well as Bryan Gil at left winger. Pape Sarr came back from international break with a knock and was a late scratch for the matchday squad. Brennan Johnson got another start, this time at right winger to accommodate Gil on his preferred flank. And to round out the midfield, Dejan Kulusevski started in the #10 role, which myself and many other fans had been clamoring to see for some time now. Son Heung-min kept his striker position.

Although these were some unconventional choices from Ange for several players in terms of their natural positions, the gamble initially paid off. Spurs put in a barrage of attacks over and through Aston Villa's high line, utilizing the pace of the wingers well but also benefiting from the creativity of players like Bentancur & Lo Celso and Kulusevski operating in a more central role than usual.

It was a little surprising to see Lo Celso be the one to finally get on the scoresheet, but it was a much-needed goal for the midfielder; he hadn't scored in a Spurs shirt since way back in November 2020. The only disappointment with regards to the goal is that it came from a set piece (with help from a significant deflection) and didn't build off the progress we'd been making from open play. Gio had already been having a good game up until that point, but the goal further accelerated his confidence. He was also combining nicely with Bentancur, two players we haven't gotten to see much together—if at all. I can't recall if their paths crossed in January 2022 when Bentancur first signed. It looked like Ange may have discovered a promising partnership to get us through the period in February when both Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma will be away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Alas, that tantalizing prospect was thrown into doubt in the 27th minute when known offender Matty Cash put in an extremely late, cynical challenge on Bentancur. Rodrigo tried to play on for a few minutes after receiving treatment, but eventually had to be substituted off, replaced by Pierre Emile-Højbjerg. We got confirmation a few days after the match that the Uruguayan had torn a ligament in his ankle and is projected to be out around two-and-a-half months minimum—so, mid-February is likely the earliest he'll return.

You hate to think that a player would intentionally injure a fellow professional, but Cash has form for this kind of tackle, and against Spurs players specifically. I still haven't forgotten how devastating it was to see Matt Doherty taken out during a period of resurgence at left wingback. Cash then managed to evade a second yellow card before getting the reprieve of a halftime substitution. He wasn't the only Villa player lucky to escape a sending-off, however. Boubacar Kamara was also on thin ice and arguably should have been given a second yellow for a challenge extremely similar to the one that saw Cristian Romero sent off against Chelsea.

Again, nobody likes to spend so much time talking about the officiating, but the lack of consistency makes it very difficult not to feel aggrieved sometimes. I would also like to note that while Unai Emery's team engaged in very physical tactics and picked up four yellow cards as a team (and would have received more in a just world), Spurs didn't receive a single caution. I think that's been a key trend for the Men's side this season, playing a relatively clean game ourselves but suffering from a lack of protection from the referees when it comes to our opponents not being punished for cynical fouls. With the exception of Udogie and Bissouma, both of whom have been undisciplined at times with the timing of their challenges, a lot of our yellow cards have been earned by mere dissent and time-wasting.

Anyway, something definitely needs to be done about Cash getting away with literal injury, but the larger issue of uneven officiating has directly contributed to some of our results, I would argue. I think this match plays out very differently if Villa were reduced to ten men early on, and definitely would have been more positive for Spurs if Bentancur hadn't been taken out of the game.

(That very niche tweet is for my fellow dual Tottenham and San Antonio Spurs fans.)

Unfortunately, the strong performance we saw from PEH when he came on in the Chelsea game has not been replicated in the two games since. I thought he was rightly dropped from the starting lineup for this match, and when he was required to come on in Bentancur's place our midfield's productivity markedly dropped.

If I have to give credit to Villa for one thing, it's that they are very adept at executing the offside trap in a high defensive line. Sonny was the victim of this setup most often, scoring a hat trick of offside goals. He also narrowly missed getting on the end of a superb cross from Bryan with his head, jumping just short.

It's also worth noting that World Cup-winning keeper Emi Martínez had a Player of the Match-worthy performance in goal for Villa. He came up big for our opponents several times in the second half to prevent Spurs from at least taking back a point from the result.

Spurs were able to pull off an offside trap of our own to prevent Ollie Watkins from scoring not long after Lo Celso's goal, but he would get on the scoresheet later on in the second half. More costly was the goal we conceded in first-half stoppage time to Pau Torres. Set pieces are a strength for Villa, and let's face it, we've never been particularly strong in the air and were less so without Dier in the side—an example of the tradeoffs Ange had to consider when making his team selection.

He was also limited with the substitutes available. Alejo Véliz was the only forward on the bench, and he did come on eventually, but not before Oliver Skipp replaced Gil—necessitating some shuffling of the lineup, with Kulusevski temporarily going to his usual right winger spot as Johnson swapped to the left wing. When Lo Celso subbed off just before stoppage time, Deki went back into the midfield, Johnson back to the right wing, and Son to the left wing to accommodate Véliz coming on at striker. This is the kind of shuffling we can expect to see for the next few games as we continue to have a constrained matchday squad. And at some point you would think young players like Jamie Donley and Alfie Dorrington might make their PL debuts out of necessity.

It's disappointing to lose our third match in a row, but I think there are enough silver linings amongst the storm clouds to remain positive about the direction of the team overall. And although the next game (which I will preview shortly) is daunting, there are some winnable games in the near future if we can maximize the talent of the available players.

But did I shed a little tear when I first saw the Bentancur news? Yes, yes I did. And on that note...

SAtP Player of the Match: Rodrigo Bentancur

We just looked like a better side with him in it, and it's a shame that we won't get another glimpse until several weeks into 2024.

But hey, we all know Cuti is probably going to avenge him in the reverse fixture with Aston Villa.

Notable and quotable:

• Now at 5th place in the table, this is the first time we've been below the top 4 since matchday 2.

• We still have not been awarded a penalty yet this season. There was a strong shout for one just minutes into the game when Bryan Gil was elbowed in the face, but the VAR video feed was conveniently not working at the moment. Ahem.

• Some reason for encouragement that we can continue to score goals even with so many key players out: we already have ten unique scorers in the PL, including three defenders and three midfielders.

• On the flipside, this is now three league games in a row that Son hasn't scored in, after a pretty hot start to the season. He's still producing a lot for his national team, however, so hopefully the goals (and assists) will start flowing again soon at Tottenham.

• Ange on sticking to the tactics despite personnel setbacks:

You look at the top teams and there is one common trait amongst them. They all have a plan, they invest in that plan and stick to it.

They don't shy away from it at the first difficulty.

WSL Matchday 8 recap | Manchester City 7 - 0 Tottenham

I'm not writing all that out, but Bunny Shaw scored a first-half hat trick

It's hard to even know where to start with recapping this match. I don't want to do a deep dive into each goal conceded, that's for sure. I'm more inclined to just write the whole match off and move on. That's probably what the team needs to do for morale's sake because unfortunately, the schedule doesn't get any easier in December. We might be greeting the winter break with relief in a few weeks.

The truth is, we weren't doing the basics in this match and it showed in the result. Pretty much nobody had a good game, but you also can't say that anyone stood out as being particularly the worst. It was just a very, very bad day at the office. And in fairness to City, the quality and experience of their XI was reflected in their dominant performance.

Starting XI:

It's tough that Asmita Ale had such a difficult game on her first WSL start of the season—literally tough in the sense that Lauren Hemp is one of the most skilled wingers in the league to have as a marking assignment. Zhang Linyan also struggled on her first start, looking physically outmatched even as her work rate was faultless.

Martha Thomas was doing the best she could with limited service, since the midfield hardly got involved with the exception of Eveliina Summanen—who went off injured, and is now sitting out the international break to rehab a hamstring injury. I really don't want to think about what her absence would mean in a midfield that is already missing Olga Ahtinen and Drew Spence (though she could be back for the December games), so... I won't, yet.

I also don't want to contemplate what this lopsided scoreline could do to Becky Spencer's confidence, because she'd been having a pretty positive start to the season before this match. And even then, not all of the City goals were savable. Perhaps more than any other player that saw the pitch, she needs to put this game in the rearview mirror and focus on responding positively in the next match.

I'm genuinely at a loss for what else to say, so let's wrap things up with the usual closing segments.

SAtP Player of the Match: the traveling fans

That was a very long, late coach journey for the traveling fans to get back from such a dispiriting watch in the cold (at the ironically named Joie Stadium), so kudos to everyone who made the trip to support the team. Their dedication is a good reminder of how important it is to support the club through good times and bad times alike.

Notable and quotable:

• This was the first WSL match in which Robert Vilahamn used all five available substitutions. The subs did their best to impact the match, but the damage had already been done in the first half with Bunny Shaw's hat trick and the team as a whole never looked like recovering. It was a match where there were some notable individual moments, but not enough joined-up thinking to make an impact on the scoreline.

• Another note from the substitutions: Shelina Zadorsky made her first WSL appearance of the season.

• Robert's comments after the game:

I’m taking the blame for the result. I’m never going to blame the players. They tried their best, according to my tactics. They are good people and good players. I need to be a good leader now.

Honestly, I respect this. And it's not dissimilar to how Ange has also shouldered the blame for recent results on the Men's side, reiterating that the most important thing is to remain committed to the project and make that the expectation across the whole squad—because clearly, injury crises happen and every player needs to be prepared to pitch in and understand their role in the new system.

And even something as simple as saying that the players are good people can go a long way to helping the fanbase stay patient instead of giving in to knee jerk reactions. Sure, there were many players who did not have a good game, but they are the same players who have performed admirably in every other game so far this season and contributed to the general improvement compared to last season. We know that they are capable of better performances, so let's have some faith in them and remember that it's still early in Vilahamn's tenure, too.

• We end the matchday in 6th place but still with a four-point buffer on the bottom half of the table. Sadly, our goal difference is now in the negative.

Previewing PL Matchday 14 — Manchester City

Well, now it's the Men's team's turn to experience the challenge of facing a stacked City team with a depleted squad of our own. Fingers crossed that Erling Haaland doesn't pull a Bunny Shaw.

The one crucial injury for City to deal with is the absence of Kevin De Bruyne—but it's not like they've struggled to score goals in the absence of his playmaking.

On our side, the injury outlook hasn't improved. Let's be real, it's gotten worse with Rodrigo Bentancur's medium-term injury. It sounds like Pape Sarr is going to be out for another game or two at least, and although Richarlison is close to returning we probably won't see him this weekend. And of course, Romero has one more game to serve in his three-match ban.

Yves Bissouma will be available again after his one-game suspension, so expect him to replace Bentancur in the lineup. Otherwise, we're likely to see the same starting XI from the Aston Villa match.

Interestingly, City's last two PL results have been draws, so you never know...

Godspeed, lads.

News from around the Lane

• As alluded to earlier, the Academy has had a couple of key injuries recently, with Mikey Moore and George Abbott both set to be out for around six weeks.

• The club has a roundup of all the Women's team players out on international duty:

Once again I am finding it difficult to find TV/streaming access to a lot of these matches since they're happening outside of major tournaments (and even the UEFA Nations League fixtures have been hit or miss), so definitely keep an eye on the club account for updates on how our players get on with their national teams.

• There's a new report out about the economic impact of the club—particularly the new stadium—on the local area. I know some supporters will use this as an excuse to complain about transfer funds, but I genuinely think it's nice to see the positive influence the club has in Tottenham. In an age where so many clubs have become sportswashing enterprises, we can still feel some pride in the way our club does business.

Enjoy the women's international break and as always,

COYS

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