Grimace and Bear It

Happy New Year!

Well, kind of. It's not that cheerful for the Men's team so far, with more bad injury news (of a sort) ahead of a crucial game. But the Women's team has had its first signing of the January window, so it's not all doom and gloom across the club. There have also been a couple of key contract extensions in the Men's Academy to celebrate.

In this issue: Wolves recap | Previewing Newcastle United | Transfer talk

But first, let's take a quick look back at the last Premier League result. And I mean quick, since kickoff is in just over five hours.

PL Matchday 19 recap | Tottenham 2 - 2 Wolves

Bentancur 12', Johnson 45+3' | Hwang 7', Larsen 87'

I mentioned in my preview for this match that we've had a pretty poor record against Wolves in recent seasons, so coupled with the current injury crisis, this doesn't feel like the worst result. However, it was another case of Spurs dropping points from a winning position late in the game. Usually the phrase "a game of two halves" has more to do with opponents adapting their tactics, but in this match, it was simply shorthanded Spurs running out of gas.

Starting XI:

Even as we inch closer to having our ideal starting XI, we are still far from full fitness. Radu Drăgușin was perhaps the best example; he was a doubt to play but featured almost out of necessity. Elsewhere, there was evidence of fatigue all across the pitch, and the slow decision-making only became more costly as the game went on.

We also had the midfield pivot of Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma—or as I call them, Double Trouble. In another twist on the "game of two halves" trope, Bentancur was in full giveth-and-taketh mode, scoring in the first half then picking up a costly fifth yellow card in the second half. He'll miss the next match, his eighth suspension of the season in total.

Top three things:

1. Still vulnerable to counter attacks. This isn't going to change until Cristian Romero and (particularly) Micky van de Ven return from injury, so it's not worth dwelling on.
2. Bentancur's aerial ability > his discipline. As much as we all fussed about Bentancur's previous seven-match suspension, I don't actually think we missed him that much outside of his attacking threat on set pieces. He scores a great header. But the downside of his play was also on display in this match, making a rash challenge to pick up his fifth caution of the first half of the season, earning him a one-game suspension. While it's true that his goal was pivotal to the result, his hasty decision-making from open play could be a factor in the next one as well; at a time when injuries are decimating player availability, we can ill afford an absence due to discipline.

3. Big man shrinking. Jørgen Strand Larsen's equalizer just before stoppage time began was undoubtedly a quality finish from a tough angle, but if ever there was a keeper you'd hope would stop it, it would be a keeper of Fraser Forster's large stature. Unfortunately, he reacted far too slowly to take advantage of his large frame to stop the shot. It's frustrating in light of our lack of reasonable options to replace the injured Guglielmo Vicario, but Forster is becoming more of a liability than a potential asset in recent games. His weakness in distribution is a known issue, but now he's not even keeping out the shots you'd reasonably expect him to contest. He also looks very low on confidence. I feel a bit sad about the whole situation because he does seem like a good guy and a good teammate, but something has to be done in the January window to take him out of the picture for playing significant minutes.

SAtP Player of the Match: Brennan Johnson

Johnson was able to capitalize on the momentum of the first half to score an important second goal and has also looked like one of the least labored players in recent games—probably because he's benefitted from the occasional rest thanks to Dejan Kulusevski rotating with him when he's not featuring in the midfield instead. Either way, it was a lovely team goal that culminated in Johnson's cool finish.

Notable & quotable:

• Sergio Reguilón made his first Premier League appearance of the season as a second-half substitute.

• Spurs were awarded their first penalty call of the season, but Son Heung-min failed to convert the kick.

• This quote by Ange Postecoglou about playing through the injury crisis was from the pre-match press conference ahead of the Newcastle game, but I think it corresponds to the Wolves game as well:

I keep telling the guys in there that it’s just going to make the story better and more interesting at the end, wherever we end up.

If we do manage to squeeze some silverware out of this season it will be a shocking success. Of course, that isn't going to happen in the Premier League, where we're currently in the bottom half of the table at the midway point. But the fact that the players are still putting in their best effort to avoid losing further ground says a lot about their character as well as their commitment to playing for Ange.

Previewing PL Matchday 20 — Newcastle United

I definitely agree with Ange that the players are still putting in the effort. But as the injury crisis continues it's clear that the physical and mental capacity of the players is dwindling.

Unfortunately, the situation isn't going to improve any time soon. Besides the fact that none of the injured players will be returning to face Newcastle, Destiny Udogie has been confirmed to have picked up a hamstring injury that will keep him out for around six weeks. Worse, an illness bug has swept through the squad and multiple players could be missing from the matchday teamsheet. According to some rumors, only seven senior players trained on matchday -1. You do have to wonder why the club hasn't requested a postponement, but if the match must go ahead, we have to assume there will be heavy youth player presence to make up the numbers.

We're also in a troublesome situation where players who haven't necessarily earned another start (I was not impressed with Timo Werner's body language in the last match at all) will be playing out of necessity with so many players missing. And the few remaining senior players who are reliable squad members are already at the breaking point of their fitness threshold.

As for hoping that newly joined winger Yang Min-hyeok could feature, Ange has remarked that there is no specific timeline for his introduction to the matchday squad, and the young player needs time to adjust to his new environment. He also mentioned that captain Son Heung-min has taken his fellow countryman under his wing "at the club and outside the club." This is probably all for the best in the long term for Yang's progress at Spurs, but frustrating in the context of the injury crisis.

Newcastle have also had to deal with an injury crisis this season but are slightly farther along the road to recovery than Spurs. They'll still have several key players out, including the suspended Fabian Schär. Most significantly, first-choice keeper Nick Pope won't be able to feature. They could get a boost from Sven Botman returning from his ACL injury.

The Magpies are on a strong run of form lately, with a five-game winning streak in all competitions. They've also kept four clean sheets in their last four Premier League games.

Do I feel good about our makeshift defense trying to shut out red-hot Alexander Isak (currently on an eight-goal streak in the PL)? No, I sure do not. All we can do is hope. Or, you know, dare to do.

Transfer talk

The January transfer window is officially open for both the Premier League and the Women's Super League! No news on the Men's side yet, but Spurs Women have already announced their first signing of the new year. The Men's Academy has also been active with new contracts for some key players ahead of potential loan moves.

• Olivia Holdt joins us from the Damallsvenskan side FC Rosengård, on a contract until June of 2027. The Danish international is an attacking midfielder with a penchant for scoring goals. She has also competed in the Champions League and will bring top-level experience to Spurs.

I can't say that I'm familiar with Holdt, but it's no secret that I don't watch the Swedish league. Now, if we could ever sign a player from the NWSL I might have some meaningful insights!

Still, from what I've heard this is a promising signing that definitely fills a major gap in the squad—and should provide some much-needed rotation for Drew Spence while avoiding the suboptimal trend of putting one of the strikers at the #10 position.

The only downside is that it appears she's recovering from a leg fracture and may not actually feature for Spurs for some time. As my N17 Women co-host Rachel noted, Spurs have often used the strategy of picking up currently injured players when other clubs are less willing to risk signing them. We'll see if it works out in this case.

• Katelin Talbert has officially left the club at the end of her half-season loan, returning to West Ham United. She posted a fond farewell message:

As my loan comes to an end I would just thank my Spurs teammates, staff, and the fans for all of the support they’ve given me. I’m grateful to have improved my game and have learned so much during my time there. Thank you all 🫶

Emma Sanders observed that Talbert will be cup-tied for the League Cup quarter-final between Spurs and West Ham since she made her sole appearance for Spurs in the first group-stage game.

• The Men's Academy made two new contract announcements: Yusuf Akhmarich has extended his deal till 2028, as did Damola Ajayi for the same contract length. Congrats to both of the youngsters!

I couldn't let the opportunity pass to once again thank everyone for the holiday/New Year's Ko-fi tips. Your support genuinely keeps this newsletter going, both in a morale sense and a hosting costs sense. So thank you!

And welcome to the new readers who have subscribed recently! I hope you will enjoy the twice-weekly (ish) issues and continue the conversation here in the comments or over on Bluesky.

All right, time for me to kip for a few hours before I get up at an ungodly time to watch our badly depleted Men's team suffer through another 90 minutes. Ahem, let me rephrase that...

COYS

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