Forgettable Fixtures

They were forgettable games, let's be honest. And it's sad to say that about what should have been a marquee matchup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for Spurs Women, but even watching the broadcast, you could tell the atmosphere was a bit flat, just as it was across town for Spurs Men's away derby. I'm not sure any of the teams involved were feeling motivated with nothing left to play for in the leagues—in a reigning champions kind of way for Chelsea Women, to be fair.

I'm not particularly eager to relive those games in great detail and also have a lot going on this midweek (including a forthcoming N17 Women episode for your ears), so I'll keep the recaps brief.

In this issue: West Ham recap | Chelsea recap | Previewing Bodø/Glimt | News from around the Lane

For the Men's team, every Europa League match has been the most important match of the season, until the next one... and if we get through Thursday's semi-final away leg with at least a draw, we'll be heading to the actual most important game of the season—the final. So no pressure or anything.

PL Matchday 35 recap | West Ham United 1 - 1 Tottenham

Bowen 28' | Odobert 15'

My main positive takeaway from this game is that the linkup between France U23s teammates Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert has a lot of potential—and it would be nice to see that potential unleashed if Tel's loan is converted to a permanent deal in the summer. Fingers crossed.

My main negative takeaway is nothing new, which is to say, the league campaign will continue to be a slow and painful slog until the end so long as the Europa League quest is still alive.

It was another mixed bag performance from Guglielmo Vicario in league play, but at least that shakiness hasn't carried over into the Europa League games (so far).

I'm not sure how Lucas Paquetá ended the match without a second yellow, but he tends to get away with things, infamously.

Starting XI:

There was heavy rotation from the previous game against Bodø/Glimt, some of it enforced, but not quite as youthful a starting lineup as some of us would have predicted. Damola Ajayi was a surprise inclusion on the bench at least, though he didn't end up making it onto the pitch. Mikey Moore did, making his first appearance for the senior team since February 9 in the FA Cup. Curiously, Ange Postecoglou opted to only make the one substitution, keeping likely starters for Thursday, Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma, on the pitch for the full 90. Heavy injuries to the midfield contingent make it all but certain they'll be needed from the start in the next game, and now they'll be battling fatigue.

SAtP Player of the Match: Mathys Tel

I didn't think anyone particularly stood out in this game, as evidenced by the low scoreline all around, but I want to continue making the case that Tel can be a valuable contributor to the team going forward if the club can come to an agreement with Bayern for his transfer fee. He's one of our most versatile forwards in terms of his positional flexibility and skill set, which could end up being important if we wind up making a manager change in the summer (still a distinct possibility if we don't win the Europa League). And of course, he's a young player with plenty of room to develop.

Notable & quotable:

• This was Odobert's first PL goal and Tel's first PL assist.

• Vicario started the game as captain for the first time.

• Postecoglou seemed fairly content with the draw:

It was a tough test and credit to the lads, it's not easy, making eight changes to the team, the players don’t have the cohesion, the fluency of playing regular football, playing together. Also, I only made one substitution, so a lot of guys played a lot more minutes than they have recently, so, credit to them. I thought we were well disciplined, well organised, disappointed with the goal we conceded but, aside from that, I thought they really stuck to the task. Obviously, we didn’t win the game, but I’m pleased they get some reward because I thought their efforts today were first rate.

WSL Matchday 21 recap | Tottenham 0 - 1 Chelsea

Macario (Pen) 35'

Normally, we could say it was a respectable result to only lose to Chelsea by one goal (a penalty, no less), but this was not a full-strength Chelsea side. Because the Blues have such strong squad depth, that meant it was still a formidable team, but nevertheless, we've faced worse from them. The gap in squad quality also came up when it was time for second-half substitutes.

And with attendance just shy of 10,000 fans, we can't say this main stadium matchup was much of a victory in growing the fanbase either. Everything seems to be contracting around the Women's team this season, and the club has a lot of soul-searching to do in the summer.

Still, it wasn't an unmitigated disaster, and there have been plenty of those across the two senior teams this season, so let's be thankful for that small blessing.

Starting XI:

If we thought it was somewhat concerning that Robert Vilahamn is attempting to convert Charli Grant from a fullback into a winger, it was even stranger to see her more often popping up in the central spaces ahead of Beth England, our actual striker. Whether it was a coincidence or a concerted strategy, it didn't pay off—she couldn't capitalize on two very decent chances on goal, one of which was provided by a potential assist from England operating out on the wing. Once again, why always the square pegs in round holes with Vilahamn?

Otherwise, it was nice to see Eveliina Summanen and Drew Spence back in the midfield after serving their yellow card accumulation suspensions last weekend.

As for the substitutes brought on to chase a result, they've only scored one goal between them in WSL play—and that was the only defender of the sub group, Amanda Nildén. I put less blame on Lenna Gunning-Williams, who continues to only get stoppage-time minutes and is not getting the development she needed in this season without a loan. But Matilda Vinberg and Martha Thomas have both had disappointing seasons after showing so much promise in their first year at the club last season.

SAtP Player of the Match: Lize Kop

Kop made some of the best saves we've yet seen from her, including a double save in the second half that bailed out the lax defense in a moment when we probably deserved to concede. I definitely won't count the penalty against her, considering that Catarina Macario is no slouch.

Notable & quotable:

• This was the first penalty kick Kop has faced since joining Spurs in January; Becky Spencer had conceded two penalties in the first half of the WSL campaign.

• These next stats come courtesy of Alex Mitton's fact-finding on Bluesky:

• We have successfully avoided a lowest-ever points total in the WSL (which was 18 points in the 2022/23 season, the season we nearly got relegated); we have 19 points so far with one game left.
• We could still have our lowest-ever table finish at 10th or 11th, depending on how our game, Aston Villa's game, and Leicester's game all go on the final matchday.
• The highest we can finish is 9th place.

• Vilahamn reinforced the club line on playing at the main stadium:

We love this stadium. We can feel it with the fans, this is our home, this is where we want to be, and I can see everyone that is here is also enjoying it. I think the football becomes so much better here because you can play the style you want to do here, the pitch is so much better and bigger, so this is our happy place and even though we lost, we feel at home, and we really enjoy to be here with our fans.

• Kop reflected on her four-save performance:

I always try to focus on my task and there are always little things, of course you want to make the saves, support the team in these moments, because it’s only 1-0 and you only need to score one goal to get a draw. Those moments were important, but the whole team worked so hard.

Previewing Europa League Semi-final Away Leg — Bodø/Glimt

Here we go again—this time in the Arctic Circle! Fortunately, it doesn't look like the weather is going to be too different from the average winter day in England, but there is still the artificial pitch surface to factor in. For that reason, Ange Postecoglou may have to make some shrewd decisions for his starting lineup and substitution timing to ensure everyone makes it back to London injury-free.

His hand is being forced with a few players already ruled out. The biggest blow is the confirmation that James Maddison's season is over; he picked up a significant knee issue (likely an MCL, though not actually acknowledged as such in the club's injury update) in the home leg against Bodø/Glimt and now faces a few months out of action, possibly delaying his inclusion in the pre-season plans for next season as well. Maddison's injury is a huge concern for Postecoglou and the team since he has been something of a talisman for them in the Europa League. And with Lucas Bergvall already ruled out for the rest of the season, we're left with a lack of creativity, especially if Dejan Kulusevski can't regain his usual form.

Son Heung-min is also guaranteed not to play any part in the semi-final tie as he did not travel to Norway. Postecoglou suggested he could be available for the weekend Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace, but it still looks like it's going to be a race against time for him to be fully fit for the potential Europa League final.

We do have to get through this away leg successfully first, of course. And it won't be as easy of a task as the home leg was since Bodø/Glimt will have three players back in contention that weren't involved in the first fixture, including their captain and defensive midfielder Patrick Berg.

There's one positive injury update for Spurs: Dominic Solanke is expected to play after also picking up a knock in the previous leg. All things considered, our forward contingent is probably the strongest part of the team at the moment and will be leaned on heavily to secure a place in the final. Regardless of who is picked to start, we have great options to bring on as impact subs as well.

I'm not sure what else there is to say, except: light your prayer candles!

I'll close on some words from Ange:

We know what we have to do. We have to be disciplined and make sure we follow the game plan and allow our quality to take us through.

News from around the Lane

• The club was successful in its request to have the away fixture at Aston Villa rescheduled to an earlier date; it will now take place on Friday May 16, rather than Sunday May 18, which would have been just a few days before the possible Europa League final.

• If I'm not mistaken, we've had our first outgoing transfer to start the summer activity: Persis Oteng, a standout player from the Women's Academy U21s (to the tune of 26 league goals!), has left Spurs to join RB Leipzig in the Frauen Bundesliga. Besides her obvious potential, this move is especially disappointing since we never got to see her make her senior debut at the club. But best of luck to Persis on her new adventure in Germany.

• Josh Keeley and Jamie Donley are headed to the League One promotion playoffs with their loan club, Leyton Orient, while George Abbott will be doing the same with Notts County in League Two. Good luck to everyone!

• Speaking of the Leyton Orient loanees, Donley finished the season as top assist maker in League One, while Keeley was joint-4th in the race for Golden Glove but led the league in goals prevented. Both players picked up awards at Orient's fan-voted Star Man awards (including Best Goal for Keeley—please remember that he's a goalkeeper!). Well done, lads.

• Two Spurs Women players have been nominated for awards in the newly revamped Barclays WSL Awards: Ella Morris is nominated for Rising Star and Molly Bartrip is nominated for Champion of Change. Good luck to them!

Deep breaths, and we'll get through the semi-final second leg one way or another.

COYS

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