Have You Played a Lot of Darts?

Alternate title: Don't poke the bear.

For real though, Brentford learned (maybe?) a valuable lesson about when it's the appropriate time to taunt a player with their own goal celebration. My personal feeling is that it's only acceptable at the death when said player and his team have no hope of a comeback. Unfortunately for Neal Maupay and the Bees, they got a little too cocky a little too early in the game.

And as Maddison responded after the game:

He's not scored enough goals of his own to have his own celebration so he's copied mine.

Although we won the battle, it was far from a perfect performance. The defense is giving away far too many easy goals, although that's to be expected from some of the younger players on the team. Ange Postecoglou has often spoken about how important it is for his players to feel like they can make mistakes—but also learn from them.

We'll be without one of our most experienced players for a while longer (more on that later), but other players can and will step up in the meantime as we enter a crucial stretch of winnable games. The top 4 battle is not slowing down, let alone the title race we are still technically in with a shout for contention.

In this issue: Brentford recap | Previewing the weekend matches | Transfer talk | Pub chat

Both transfer windows have closed and the final moves have been completed. I'll wrap up the winter transfer period for each team and make a few projections for the future summer windows.

PL Matchday 22 recap | Tottenham 3 - 2 Brentford

Udogie 48', Johnson 49', Richarlison 56' | Maupay 15', Toney 67'

I'll say this: the Premier League's broadcast partners got their money's worth with all the various dramas in this game. First, there was Ivan Toney's blatant attempt at betting market manipulation as he tried to force a booking on himself, then there was the darts goal celebration taunting from Maupay, and finally, the thrilling eight-minute goal spree from Spurs to claim the win. It was definitely a fun game for the neutral.

Starting XI:

The big talking point from the starting lineup was the first iteration of James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur together in the midfield—plus Oliver Skipp, who had earned a start with a strong substitute performance in the previous match. Brennan Johnson was dropped to the bench as Dejan Kulusevski returned to his usual right winger role, which was probably for the best considering how much criticism the young Welshman has come under lately. He was originally signed for his super sub potential and to develop into an eventual starter, but had notched more starts than initially expected this season due to necessity (read: injuries in the squad).

After an initial flurry of promising Spurs attacks, Brentford got on the scoreline first through Maupay. Destiny Udogie and Bentancur gave away the ball in the middle third and although Micky Van De Ven chased Toney down, his tackle was a bit too late and Guglielmo Vicario had to make a save from short range. His parried save went straight into Maupay's path and Cristian Romero reacted too slowly to put in a block. Brentford had also had an offside goal shortly before, so the high defensive line was working at times, but the first goal was an example of the dangers it poses when our passing breaks down.

It quickly became a very physical game, with Brentford (and Christian Nørgaard in particular) focusing more on disrupting Spurs' game than attempting to score a second goal. Too often our players rose to the bait. And unfortunately, head official David Coote was playing along with the Bees' strategy. Perhaps the most aggravating moment was when Nathan Collins (who had already attempted to dive twice on the attacking end) went down like a sack of potatoes under the slightest (if any actual) contact from Richarlison just before the Brazilian scored. The goal was chalked off and we would enter halftime behind 0-1. Richarlison had also come close with a long-range effort and Timo Werner had a couple of big chances as well.

At halftime, Ange made a tactical decision to sub off Skipp and Bentancur (the former had been one of the best performers of the first half, while the latter is still struggling after his recent injury) and brought on Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Brennan Johnson, tweaking the shape of the formation a little as a result. While Johnson shifted into Deki's vacated position, the Swede partnered with Maddison in the attacking midfield while PEH held down defensive midfield duties.

Whether it was the change in tactics or Ange's halftime trick that did the trick—probably a bit of both—we got our first of three rapid-fire goals just after play resumed. Udogie made a marauding run into Brentford's box, starting from within our own half and combining with Werner and Richarlison along the way before finding the back of the net in the six-yard box.

Just over a minute later, Kulusevski found Werner darting down the left wing (pun intended). Johnson ran in parallel from the right side to arrive in the box for Werner's cross, which took out two Brentford players and their keeper, Mark Flekken. All the hard work had been done by that point and Brennane merely had to tap it home. He hit the second darts celebration of the night, this time fully sanctioned by the originator, Maddison.

A quick note on Brennan's productivity this season: I truly don't want to pit them against each other, but I think it's worth noting that Johnson has just one fewer PL goal contribution (2 goals, 4 assists) than Kulusevski (5 goals, 2 assists) in four fewer games played (and eight fewer started). That isn't to say that I think Deki is having a poor season by comparison, just to highlight the beauty of Angeball wherein we can expect multiple goals from across the squad. And indeed, both players have had to play out of their preferred positions at times and have still managed to make a difference. I mostly just want to refute the idea that Brennan has had a disappointing start to life in a Spurs shirt. Far from it! And the best is still to come from the 22-year-old.

The third goal also involved a run from Udogie, but this time he passed to Maddison whose shot was blocked right into an oncoming Richarlison's path. This is the kind of follow-through we want to see from all of the forwards. Right place, right time.

Richy has now scored seven goals in Spurs' last seven PL games. And while we're talking about streaks, Timo has two assists in two PL games for Spurs so far, narrowly missing out on a second assist against Brentford due to a deflection.

Brentford got another consolation goal when Udogie horribly under-hit a backpass to Vicario, rendering Toney's offside position irrelevant. But as Destiny was so involved in the goals we scored I think we can let him off on youthful inexperience and move on with the three points intact.

SAtP Player of the Match: Richarlison

Beyond scoring what would end up being the match-winning goal, Richarlison showcased his tireless work rate and contributed to the defensive effort to see out the game as well.

Notable and quotable:

• Spurs leapfrogged Aston Villa in the table to go into 4th. We're tied on both points and goal difference but have scored a greater number of goals than the Villans.

• This was the first PL match we've won without the involvement of either Son Heung-min or Harry Kane in over five years. Seriously.

• Ange on Destiny's up-and-down game:

I've got no issues with Destiny and I thought he was good. He made a mistake but you know what I've made more mistakes today like that, let alone in a career.

• Brennan on his experience at the club:

I'm loving it, every day coming in, working with this manager and these players. I love playing in front of these fans, playing this style of football every week with great players, players I look up to.

Previewing PL Matchday 23 — Everton

Much like our previous opponent, Everton have been struggling to get results. They haven't won in the Premier League since mid-December, with just a single win in the FA Cup since (only to be knocked out in the very next game). Their last result was a 1-1 draw away at Fulham.

I was curious to see how Dominic Calvert-Lewin had been doing since returning from his early-season injury, and folks: it's not good. For him, that is. Since he last registered an assist on November 1, he has had more cards (including a red) than goal involvements. That would be zero goal involvements since early November. Yikes.

Everton have a few players who are doubtful for injury reasons (like Abdoulaye Doucouré and Arnaut Danjuma) or definitely out of contention (like Dele, who just underwent another surgery). Spurs' own player availability hasn't changed except that Pape Sarr could be available after returning from AFCON. Hopefully he is fit enough to start alongside Bentancur and Maddison, but he would also be a strong option off the bench.

We won't have Yves Bissouma or Son Heung-min back, because they both progressed in their respective regional tournaments. Special kudos to Sonny for putting his team on his back—as he always does—and not only winning the penalty (converted by Hwang Hee-chan) that sent the game against Australia to extra time but also scoring a sublime free kick to win it for South Korea. What a man!

Where was I before I fell into a reverie on Son's greatness? Ah yes, Everton.

We drew the away fixture last season but on the current form of both teams, I think anything less than a win would be a disappointment.

Previewing WSL Matchday 13 — Liverpool

The Women's team will be facing the other club in Liverpool. We're currently tied on points with Liverpool, so a win would see us go ahead of them into 5th place; they have the goal difference advantage currently, so a draw would keep things as is.

Liverpool have just one injury at the moment. Taylor Hinds will be out for several weeks. Meanwhile, we still have Drew Spence missing as well as Ash Neville, who missed the last game with an ankle injury that has now been diagnosed as a grade two sprain that will keep her out for a few more weeks.

With the news of a surprising outgoing transfer (more on that in a minute) and the previous outgoing loan for Asmita Ale, we're now pretty sparse at the fullback position. So expect to see Amanda Nildén and Charli Grant start for the second WSL game in a row.

Luana Bühler is fit again and will hopefully be starting alongside Molly Bartrip in the center back duo.

The only other change I would like to potentially see is Jess Naz getting a start at striker. She's been in great form lately and Martha Thomas has struggled a bit with her fitness after a recent hamstring injury. It might be a good idea to rest Martha and unleash Jess.

I'm also hoping we see significant substitute minutes from Shuang Wang after her promising debut last weekend.

Transfer talk

Should I get the bad news out of the way first? Let's do that.

Women's team

• Angharad James is leaving the club on a permanent transfer to Seattle Reign in NWSL.

I was pretty shocked by this transfer. After some reflection, it does make sense for Angharad's career, but I don't think any of us saw it coming—at least not in the January window. And it's such a shame when she was in the middle of the best period of her career at Spurs so far.

So why now? Although Angharad had proven her versatility this season by playing in the midfield as well as at right fullback (a completely new role for her), we had built up quite a lot of squad depth in the midfield and brought in true fullback options earlier in the window. I'm sure she saw her prospects for playing time dwindling and decided to take this opportunity when she had the chance. It's also possible that the new ownership group at Seattle are throwing their weight around with a boost of investment and the offer was truly too good to turn down, both monetarily as well as from the sporting sense of getting more time on the pitch. The Reign have seen quite a few key departures during the NWSL off-season so they will certainly benefit from Angharad's experience and dependability.

There could have been some benefit to Spurs in this move if we had taken advantage of the open squad spot to bring in another center back, but nothing doing.

On a human level, it's sad to see her and Amy Turner split up on two different continents so early in their marriage. But who knows, Amy may end up seeking a move across the pond in the summer window. In the meantime, someone has to man the coffee van!

• On a happier note, Kit Graham has renewed her contract for a further year, keeping her in lilywhite until the summer of 2025. It's reassuring to see that she's a firm part of Robert Vilahamn's plans during this growth period for the club.

• And finally on the Women's side, we signed 18-year-old Araya Dennis to her first professional contract. She joins us from Crystal Palace, where she was on loan from Arsenal and where she will remain on loan for the remainder of the season. Although she's a defender, she has positional versatility and a penchant for getting involved in the attack. Araya has already scored two goals for Crystal Palace this season as they push for promotion.

Men's team

• Alejo Véliz is rapidly on the mend and heading out on loan at Sevilla for the second half of the season. Hopefully Érik Lamela will take him under his wing. Good luck, Alejo!

• In another player development move, we've signed young Swedish prospect Lucas Bergvall on a contract until 2029. He won't be joining up with the squad until the summer, however. He describes himself as a "box-to-box midfielder" and sounds hungry to test himself at the Premier League level.

• Ange had some interesting comments on Bryan Gil's decision to stay with the club and fight for his place rather than going out on another (perhaps final) loan:

It's not an issue with me. Yeah, there was a bit of interest in Bryan, a bit of interest in a lot of our players, but I've said this before it is not my role to push people out in that kind of situation. I still very much regard them as our players and Bryan is a fantastic young player. He works so hard to improve every day and this first half of the year he's had a couple of injuries. People shouldn't underestimate that, especially in a set-up like ours where most of the guys who had a strong pre-season are the ones that hit the ground running. He missed out on that but he wants to improve, loves the environment and we love having him part of the group. He's still a young player with plenty of time to develop and happy to have him around for this second half of the year.

Grading the windows

Both Spurs teams got the majority of their key business done early in the window, which feels like a novelty for our club but was very welcome from a fan perspective. Plus, the incoming transfers were able to hit the ground running and feature in a lot of the January fixtures.

For the Women's team, the main priority was building defensive depth—particularly at the fullback position (Charli Grant and Amanda Nildén)—and that was mostly achieved. I still would have liked to see a centerback come in to provide some alternative backup to Bartrip and Bühler, but it looks like the latter is finally getting fit again and can hopefully play the majority of the remaining schedule. We also added a versatile and experienced attacker to the mix (Shuang Wang) as well as a young winger prospect (Matilda Vinberg). With established squad players like Jess Naz and Kit Graham making big contributions this season in slightly tweaked roles, there wasn't much need to strengthen at striker or in the midfield.

It's also reassuring to see that there's a real plan for the academy players' development, with several of the top players going out on developmental loans for senior football experience. Speaking of youth, the club will need to do its very best to lure Grace Clinton away from Manchester United at the end of her loan—though the persuasion will mostly be aimed towards her parent club, as the player herself seems more than happy to continue her time at Spurs.

There were some painful outgoings (both loan and permanent) on a sentimental level, but overall it feels like the squad is now in a very good place in terms of having a balance between youth and experience. It also feels like we now have a bench where any substitute chosen has the potential to be a true game-changer, or at the very least maintain the level set by the starters.

The sparseness at center back will definitely need to be addressed in the summer, while a few existing contracts may need to be reconsidered and fresh options assessed for squad roles. But we're in a good spot to finish this season strong and then build on the progress during the offseason.

Spurs Women January transfer grade: B+

The Men's team is still dealing with the legacy of many years of misguided transfer recruitment, mostly in the sense of struggling to move unwanted players on. But the incoming transfers this season have been a complete success, in my opinion. That trend from the summer continued in this winter window, with another young center back option added (Radu Drăgușin) and a useful loan player brought in to bolster the attack (Timo Werner).

The improved academy strategy continued on the Men's side with a few young players going out on new loans for further development, while a young prospect whose path to the first team could be quite accelerated (Lucas Bergvall) materialized at the end of the window—despite competition from Barcelona.

In fact, beating out prestigious clubs to exciting young signings was a trend across both teams this window and a sign of not just how unified the recruitment strategy is but also how attractive Tottenham has become to prospective players.

The only real complaint on the Men's side is that we didn't bring in another attacking midfield option, since our primary options for that role are a bit injury-prone. With Richarlison hitting from, bringing in another striker didn't feel like a top priority, and in fact, Alejo Véliz was allowed to go out on loan while the returning Dane Scarlett took over the understudy role.

Looking ahead to the summer, fullback depth should be a key priority. Although Ben Davies has filled in admirably for Destiny Udogie at times, he's not getting any younger. On the other flank, Emerson Royal may want to leave the club for more playing time. Midfield squad options will also need to be reassessed. But now that the team is on a clearly defined journey under Ange, it seems like these reinforcements will be identified and signed in a timely fashion, allowing him to keep building the project at a steady pace.

Spurs Men January transfer grade: C

Even if it was a much less stressful transfer window for both sides, I'm still glad that it's over so we can focus on the task at hand for the rest of the season: reclaiming Tottenham's reputation as an attacking football club and climbing the ranks of the WSL and PL tables.

Pub chat: the darts of it all

Ange was not particularly happy or impressed with the squabbling between the two teams, saying:

We just needed to get back to concentrating on what’s important to us, not spending time arguing with the referee or the opposition, or doing things that aren’t going to help us achieve our objective. Go out and just play our football.

And when asked if Maupay's darts celebration had fired up the Tottenham players:

I hope not because that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not a fan of it, I don’t like the whole bravado, pushing people around. If you’re that brave about things, my players and their players, get into a UFC cage and I’ll see how brave they are. We’re out there to play football. And that’s what I want our guys to do, focus on playing football. And they shouldn’t get motivated by things that aren’t really that important to us.

I'm of two minds with this. On the one hand, we know discipline has been an issue at times with this team in past games, and I kind of agree with Ange that we don't need to be looking for further excuses to lose focus. On the other hand, I think there's a bit of a generational divide at play here, especially with the youngest members of the squad who have had this type of banter baked into their experience of the game from the academy level on. A certain level of "sh*thousery" is to be expected at this point, and as long as it doesn't go past the line of becoming unsportsmanlike it's probably harmless. Ultimately, it seems like a happy team is better able to perform (just look at the Mourinho and Conte eras for evidence of the opposite effect) so it's not our place to say what should or shouldn't motivate them, I suppose, as long as they still are enjoying their football.

And quite frankly, I enjoyed Maupay being humbled. That man has been a menace at multiple clubs and I'll be glad to see the back of him when he finally leaves the league! The same goes for Toney, whom Vicario was equally unimpressed with.

One of my concerns when we first signed Maddison was that he sometimes lacked maturity, and it sounds like Ange had a similar concern after this game since he said Maddison "spent more time in the first half chatting to the ref than getting on the ball." For him to single out one of the vice-captains when criticizing the overall team behavior feels pretty pointed. And this is a separate issue entirely from the banter between teams and individual players; it's super frustrating when opponents have an obvious strategy to foul us until we lose all fluidity & momentum and the referees enable it by not calling the game fairly. All we're asking for is some consistency, not just within games but between games across the league as well. But it's not a productive use of players' time on the pitch to argue with the officials. I agree with Ange that they need to focus on the things they can control: the crispness of their passing, the cleverness of the runs they make, and the quality of their shots.

As Ange concluded:

For me we concentrate on how are we going to become the team we want to become and what obstacles do we need to overcome? Part of that is the maturity and laser focus to not veer away from the importance... a lot of our game is based on fluency and tempo. All those kind of things and there is always going to be natural stoppages in games, particularly against a team like Brentford who a lot of their game structure is around set-pieces and long throws, but what you don't want to do is add to that with our wastage of time.

Leave the whinging (to use the British term) to us fans instead.

Let's hope that both teams have a successful weekend in Liverpool and return to Tottenham with a handful of points.

I'll leave y'all with some sage words from Ange:

For all of us, mate, if we’ve got people around us who love us and they’re all healthy and we wake up with some purpose every day, we should all be pretty happy in fact with what we’ve got.

COYS

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