Grounding the Eagles
Spurs Men made fairly easy work of Eintracht Frankfurt to close out the league phase of the Champions League, earning automatic qualification to the knockouts with a top 4 finish. It was a pretty dominant opening stage of the competition for Spurs overall, with only one loss and two draws, all of which occurred in away games.
Usually, I would say that this weekend is when the vibes reverse since we're back in Premier League play, but since our opponent is Manchester City, you just never know how that game is going to turn out. We already beat them in the away fixture back in August. But at the time, City were having their usual slow start to the season, and our first goal in the 0-2 win was a combination between players who are either no longer with the club (Brennan Johnson) or currently injured (Richarlison). So it's going to take some different tactics this time around to sneak another result.
In this issue: Eintracht Frankfurt recap | Transfer talk | News from around the Lane | Pub chat
Spurs Women are also in league action earlier in the day on Sunday, but thankfully not overlapping with the Men's game. They have a London derby to contend with and need to bounce back after the disappointment of the loss to Liverpool.
I also have a handful of transfer tidbits to round up (mostly on the Academy side, frustratingly) and some bonus bookmarks to close out the issue.
Champions League MD 8 | Eintracht Frankfurt 0 - 2 Tottenham
Kolo Muani 47', Solanke 77'
Candidly, I was paying a little more attention to the PSV Eindhoven vs Bayern Munich match that was happening at the same time, mostly because it was more competitive but also because it featured a player who used to play for both Bayern and Spurs, Ivan Perišić. I'm still holding my grudge against Antonio Conte for wasting Ivan's (non-injured) time at Spurs.
All of that is to say that I don't really have much commentary on the Tottenham match, though it's obviously a relief to have avoided the playoff round. There were even times in the first half where we dipped into the playoff zone in the live table. Some surprising results elsewhere on the final matchday meant that our win not only secured straight progression to the knockouts, but also a more favorable seeding from finishing 4th.
Let's take a moment to celebrate Cristian Romero. After there were rumors of him contemplating a move away from Spurs in the summer, he instead doubled down on his commitment with a four-year contract extension and took over the captaincy from the departing Son Heung-min. There hasn't been much consistency in the team this season, but Romero stands out for his goal contributions and strong mentality. He registered the assist for Randal Kolo Muani's opening goal, which makes it four games in a row in all competitions with a goal contribution for the skipper. This was his 150th appearance overall for the club, so what better way to mark the milestone than ensuring the team capped off the successful league phase with one more win.
Romero's efforts earned him the official Player of the Match award, but you could also argue that he's a shoo-in for Spurs' Player of the Season honor. We'll see if anyone else makes a late bid, but he'd have my vote at this juncture of the season.
Dominic Solanke has a small streak of his own going, scoring in two Champions League matches straight. He scored this one off the bench, as his minutes are still being managed—which is not a given with this manager and medical staff, so thank goodness he's being protected.
The club has confirmed our four possible opponents from the playoff draw:
- Juventus
- Galatasaray
- Atletico Madrid
- Club Brugge
Those playoff ties take place over two legs in February, so we'll have to wait a while to find out who we will face in the Round of 16. The next relevant draw for Spurs takes place on February 27.
Notable & quotable:
• We earned our sixth clean sheet of the league phase—the most of any team in the competition. Of course, this means that Guglielmo Vicario leads the race for Golden Glove, despite not needing to make a single save in Frankfurt.
• We finished the league phase with 10 distinct goal-scorers (11 if you count Own Goal... who chipped in three!) and, ironically, a goal difference of exactly 10, with 10 assists on 17 goals.
• Spurs earned the Player of the Match award in six out of the eight league phase games, with Xavi Simons the only repeat winner for the club.
• Thomas Frank gave a bit of a back-handed compliment to Randal Kolo Muani for scoring against one of his former clubs:
I'm very happy Kolo scored the goal, very happy for him. I said to him it would be nice if he also chipped in with some goals against not only his former clubs! I did that with a smile on my face, of course, because there's nothing he wants more than that.
• Archie Gray reflected on the achievement of the team's top-4 finish:
I mean, it's a kid's dream. I was just saying to Dom, we've just seen the table, finishing top four in the Champions League, we'll never take that for granted. You see the teams in the Champions League, it's the best of the best, and that's where we want to be. It was unbelievable tonight—now let's carry it into the Premier League.
Transfer talk
• Elisha Sowunmi has signed with the Men's Academy. The 18-year-old forward joins us from West Ham United and was straight into action with the U21s in their 0-2 loss against Everton, featuring as a substitute.
• Tye Hall signed a long-term contract extension, having just been included in the senior team's matchday squad for the first time in the Champions League midweek.
• Dane Scarlett is going out on loan at Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership.
News from around the Lane
• Time for a mini Spurs Men loan army update:
- Luka Vušković scored the equalizer for Hamburg in the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich. He had also attempted another overhead kick earlier in the game, so I suppose that's his signature strike now. His actual goal was a header, though.
- Yusuf Akhamrich scored a brace in his first start for his new loan team, Bristol Rovers. They earned a 3-0 win over Newport County.
- Jamie Donley is still out with a shoulder injury he picked up on his debut with loan club Oxford United.
Pub chat: Bonus bookmarks
Perhaps one day this section will actually include some articles about men's football... but today is not that day.
• Bummer news for our players headed to the Women's Asian Cup in March: There won't be an increase in the prize pot for this year's edition, despite gains in the commercial profile of the tournament.
Samantha Lewis
• And the disappointing women's football financial news continues with this report from The Guardian explaining that, despite the introduction of minimum salaries in the WSL2 this season, U23 players are not guaranteed a living wage.
Tom Garry
• On a more positive note, WSL Football is ensuring that player compensation won't get out of hand at the Academy level with new contract rules. These young players are still completing schoolwork alongside their football development and do not need the added pressure of outsized expectations, nor to be constrained in their choice of academy because their local club can't compete with the top-tier clubs financially.
Charlotte Harpur
The new contract framework isn't finalized yet, but it seems like a smart move to require "standardised rate of pay bands" at the different age groups, so wealthier clubs can't monopolize the top talent by paying more.
• Finally, here's a breakdown of WSL Football's 2024/25 financials.
Chris Weatherspoon
As the article observes, WSL Football's first-year operating loss does not reflect the new broadcast deal that just took effect at the start of the current season. WSLF are therefore expecting a profit for the 2025/26 season.
Chris Weatherspoon notes in this analysis from The Athletic that planning for sustainability has been a focus in the startup phase of WSLF, particularly in protecting WSL2 clubs by not reducing club distributions from the broadcast revenue.
“Driving visibility” is listed as one of WSLF's primary goals going forward.
Up next:
February 1 | Spurs Women @ West Ham United
Team news — Same availability as last weekend; Charli Grant is back on the grass but not available for selection yet; Ella Morris is close to returning to team training
February 1 | Spurs Men vs Manchester City
Team news — Micky van de Ven is questionable; no other changes from the previous matchday squad availability
Fingers crossed for a six-point Sunday!
COYS
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