Extended Stay in Europe
Spurs Men are still in it to win it after knocking out Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final. It looked like the opposite of Angeball for large stretches of the away leg and took a penalty to take the lead, but a win is a win, and we're into the semi-final.
In this issue: Eintracht Frankfurt recap | Previewing the weekend(ish) matches | Pub chat
Before the team returns to Premier League action on the very unusual fixture date of Monday, we get to see the long-awaited return of Spurs Women on Sunday.
Europa League Quarter-final Away Leg recap | Eintracht Frankfurt 0 - 1 Tottenham
Solanke (Pen) 43'
Candidly, I've been finding it hard to focus on football over the last week because of some personal stuff, so as relieved as I was to see the lads pull this one off, it still hasn't quite hit me emotionally that we're two games away from reaching the final. Maybe I'm just not ready to get excited about that prospect until it's closer to the actual dates of the semi-final home and away legs.
But even through my distraction, I was thrilled to see Dominic Solanke convert the crucial penalty (albeit mixed with concern for James Maddison after his collision with the Frankfurt goalkeeper—who, it turns out, has torn his ACL, presumably in that challenge). That was a big moment for Solanke and the best possible time to break his goal drought. It was also heartening to see Destiny Udogie looking back to his best, as well as a confident performance from Mathys Tel, filling in for the injured Son Heung-min. It's hard to find much fault in anyone who played; they all stepped up when it mattered.
Ange Postecoglou took some gambles with his game management, but they seem to have paid off. We'll see if there are any unwanted long-term effects from sticking to late and limited substitutions—outside of the need for a first-half replacement of Maddison, which was out of the manager's control. The upshot was that Dejan Kulusevski played far more minutes than expected, which could prove helpful for the coming games.
Starting XI:
The choice to start Udogie over Djed Spence was controversial, but ultimately the right call—or at least not overtly detrimental. Otherwise, the lineup was as expected since it always seemed unlikely for Kulusevski to be prepared to start.
Kevin Danso did end up featuring off the bench, making his first appearance in over a month due to injury. His entrance to the game necessitated a rare formation change under Ange, shifting to a back-three. Danso helped see out a late flurry from Frankfurt to preserve the clean sheet and the aggregate lead.
Top three things:
- First-half injuries—for both sides. Before Maddison's early exit, Frankfurt suffered one of their own with Mario Götze picking up a hamstring injury. Much like Maddison is for Spurs, Götze is the creative fulcrum of Die Adler's attack, but unlike Spurs with Kulusevski, they did not have a truly comparable swap in their squad. This setback limited their ability to create chances and definitely gave Spurs the edge. Overall, it was a far less attacking approach from Frankfurt than I was expecting from them in their home leg. Hugo Ekitike was kept fairly quiet compared to his performance from the first leg of the tie, while right fullback Rasmus Kristensen had a hat-trick's worth of chances that he managed to fumble spectacularly.
- Penalty clarity. Unlike the last time we were awarded a penalty and there was confusion—and some consternation—over who would take it, the process went much more smoothly this time. Postecoglou was observed ordering Solanke to take it, and Tel dutifully acted as a distractor for the opposition, holding onto the ball until handing it over to Solanke at the last second. The end result was a confident and confidence-boosting goal for Solanke.
- Taking a leaf out of Mourinho's book. Okay, maybe it wasn't a full parking of the bus, but there was some distinct tapping of the brakes with the defensive substitution of Danso coming on for Brennan Johnson. I will admit that I wasn't in favor of that strategy in the moment, and I question whether it suits a squad like ours in most game situations, but thankfully, it worked out this time. Danso's professional cameo played a big part, but to a man, the entire defense was locked in from kickoff to final whistle. Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven once again looked like a centerback partnership that can and will strike fear into the heart of opposition forwards.
SAtP Player of the Match: Mathys Tel
It was really hard to pick a PotM for this game because many, many of the players deserved it. So I'm going with a player who may not have expected to start this game until just a couple of days prior, and didn't let the pressure daunt him at all. Regardless of Son's recent form (which we now know has been affected by a lingering foot injury), he leaves big shoes to fill, especially for a 19-year-old loan player.
He forced one save from the Frankfurt keeper that was almost reminiscent of a classic Sonny shot, as it happens. Their skill sets aren't a total overlap, so some of what Son provides in the team was inevitably lacking, but by the same measure, Tel can offer a fresh approach. Seeing that small moment of similarity was nevertheless comforting, at least to this fan who is a big admirer of both players.
Notable & quotable:
• Solanke's penalty goal was his first goal since January 4 against Newcastle.
• All three players who risked a suspension in the semi-final if they had picked up a yellow card (Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall, and Yves Bissouma) managed to avoid a booking.
• Danso made his first appearance since March 9 against Bournemouth.
• Postecoglou commented on Maddison's heroics to draw the penalty:
He is fine. Unbelievable courage in that moment to put his body on the line knowing full well that he was going to get a pretty severe knock and I was surprised it wasn’t a red card. Super courageous from him. He is sore, but I’m sure that has all been numb knowing that he has helped us progress to the semi.
• Solanke on his composure to convert the penalty:
I was just trying to stay cool, really. Their fans were making as much noise as possible. It's quite loud. I just need to stay cold in that moment.
The semi-final tie will be against Bodø/Glimt (first-time European semi-finalists for Norway!) and take place on May 1 for the home leg and May 8 for the away leg.
Since we progressed to the semi-final, our Premier League fixtures against West Ham and Crystal Palace have both been rescheduled from Saturday games to Sunday games.
Previewing WSL Matchday 19 — Aston Villa
This is it, the final stretch of games before Spurs Women turn the page on what ended up being a rather disappointing season. There are only four matches left; the WSL campaign ends in less than a month. Here's to hoping we can at least finish on a high note.
Aston Villa aren't the worst team to face after a three-week layoff. They've had their own struggles this season and are still not mathematically safe from relegation. They've had a mid-season managerial change to contend with, which surely didn't help. Robert de Pauw was dismissed in December after allegations of unprofessional remarks and verbal abuse in training sessions. Natalia Arroyo, formerly of Real Sociedad, was appointed to replace him and has had a challenging start to her WSL management career. She noted to the press this week that she and the Villa squad are well aware of the threat of relegation and acknowledged the tension between fighting for safety and trying to build for the future.
As for Spurs, we realistically need just three points from our remaining fixtures to clinch a spot in the WSL next season, thanks to our superior goal difference to current relegation candidates Crystal Palace.
Although we drew the reverse league fixture with Villa back in September, we earned a shutout win when we hosted them in the League Cup group stage. Interestingly, Eveliina Summanen scored in both games—a penalty in the league match, and a goal of the season contender in the cup match. We won't have to worry about one of Villa's goal-scorers from the league fixture, Adrianna Leon, as she has since transferred to the San Diego Wave alongside her teammate Kenza Dali.
The Villans also haven't been in action since March 30, when they beat Liverpool 1-2 away. Prior to that victory, they'd been on a streak of five straight losses in all competitions, including their exit from the FA Cup courtesy of Manchester City.
They'll have a boost in the return from injury of their captain, Rachel Corsie, while Sarah Mayling is still out.
We hope to see our own captain, Beth England, make her own return after missing the last three games. She has been involved in team training, and Robert Vilahamn has said that she could be involved tomorrow. Unfortunately, there are three new additions to the injury list, with Charli Grant, Luana Bühler, and Hayley Raso all unavailable. Raso will miss the remainder of the season and Bühler is a doubt to return before the end of the campaign.
Fans who are not attending the match at Brisbane Road have two options for streaming: the WSL YouTube channel or SpursPlay. Much as I prefer the Spurs-centric commentary on our own platform, I'll probably opt for the more convenient YouTube stream. The club really needs to work on getting the Tottenham app available on TVs rather than just mobile devices (especially since the casting connection isn't always smooth—I experience a lot of glitches, hence why I'll be opting out of that method this weekend).
We haven't won a game since January 26, but a win against Villa could take us as high as 7th in the table.
Previewing PL Matchday 33 — Nottingham Forest
Spurs Men are also at home this weekend (well, on Monday), playing host to former manager Nuno Espírito Santo and his Nottingham Forest side.
I think you would have to live under a rock to have missed Forest's meteoric rise in the table this season. So suffice it to say that this won't be an easy fixture, especially coming off the highs of advancing in the Europa League. It would be tempting to take our foot off the gas and continue coasting in the league to preserve energy for the more important European fixtures, but I'm of the opinion that picking up some momentum in the league can only be a positive for team morale and form.
We will quickly learn which way Ange Postecoglou is leaning with his team selection strategy. One player he won't be able to call on is captain Son Heung-min, who remains out with a lingering foot injury. This will be his third missed game. On a positive note, Son's absence provides Mathys Tel another opportunity to build on his confident performance from the Eintracht Frankfurt away leg. Unfortunately, co-captain James Maddison is a doubt due to the soreness from his collision with Kauã Santos on Thursday. Everyone else is available outside of long-term absentee Radu Drăgușin.
In the same team news update, Postecoglou confirmed that he will be making several changes to the lineup; hopefully we see a less disjointed performance than we did in the previous league game.
Nottingham Forest also have a fairly clean bill of health, with only Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi missing out.
With Everton already losing earlier today, we could go as high as 13th in the table with a win, assuming Manchester United drop some points to Wolves.
Pub chat: Bonus bookmarks
Here are just a few of the Spurs-related media I've been reading and listening to lately.
• The Guardian had a nice interview with Lenna Gunning-Williams, touching on her transition from acting as a footballer on TV to actually becoming one.
Emillia Hawkins
• I always enjoy these scrapbook features on the club website. This one is by Luana Bühler, and she talks about the challenges of becoming a footballer in Switzerland, where the women's game still has a lot of growing to do. If I'm not mistaken, that's Laura Naschenweng (currently of Bayern Munich) in one of her photos from her time at Hoffenheim.
• This GQ profile of Brennan Johnson is from March 2024, but I am just now getting around to unearthing it from my saved browser tabs (shoutout to the Toby extension for Chrome, which is essential to the making of this newsletter!). Among the topics covered are capes, skateboarding, and the Wales national team.
Sam Diss
My favorite detail was learning that Brennan is also in thrall to the Duolingo owl. Solidarité.
• Full disclosure, I haven't had time to listen to this podcast episode yet, but I fully plan to since Molly Bartrip is always an interesting listen. Plus, there's an extra Spurs connection with Joe Hart being the host!
All right, enjoy the bookmarks and get ready for an interesting couple of days of league football.
COYS
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