Aug 9, 2021 13 min read

Here We Go (Again)

Ready or not, here comes the 2021/22 season!

It's that time of year again, already, somehow.

I had intended to do a season recap post at the end of the 2020/21 season but was waiting for the manager search to end first. And then it just went on... and on... and on. It took Tottenham Hotspur 72 days to finally decide on Nuno Espírito Santo. Perhaps an underwhelming choice (and one that surely could have happened quicker if he was the club's first choice--so he obviously wasn't), but better than some of the alternatives floated (#NoToGattuso). After being teased with the possibility of Pochettino's glorious return to Spurs, we'll just have to get behind Nuno, who does at least seem like a genuinely nice guy and unlikely to cause too many dressing room conflicts.

So let's look back at where we left off at the end of the previous season.

On the final matchday, Gareth Bale had a real super-sub moment and scored a brace to help Spurs pull off an upset win against Leicester City. At least we ended on a high note, though I'm personally still upset about Bale going back to Real Madrid for this upcoming season--no more magic moments from the Welshman. As a result of Spurs' victory, Leicester were bumped out of Champions League qualification down to Europa League, Chelsea secured CL, and Spurs secured ~*~Europa Conference League~*~.

Really though, it was a thrilling final matchday. Going into the game I thought I would be numb to the result; the Harry Kane situation was getting grim, the team's form had been up and down in the last few matches, and I was trying to temper my expectations. But trust Gareth Bale to get me off my feet and shouting with joy. Was a big part of that joy just sheer pettiness about finishing above Arsenal? Well, it definitely wasn’t about qualifying for the Europa Conference League (which I will henceforth be abbreviating as ECL, cheers).

One last note on Bale: I still think the biggest what-if of Mourinho's reign is what could have happened if he had utilized Bale more often. I genuinely think it could have been the difference between making top 4 and our actual 7th place finish. Regrets...

Kudos to Ryan Mason, who did the best he could under difficult circumstances. I’m not entirely sure the club did right by him by giving him the “opportunity” to be interim manager—it was more like they were selecting him as the sacrificial lamb and human shield all in one. It wasn’t fair to him to have to weather all the criticism for the ESL embarrassment, field questions about Kane's future, or step up to manage a domestic cup final after just a week in charge. Mason didn’t always make the selection decisions or the substitutions that I would have liked to see, but I still think he deserves our thanks and respect for taking on the challenge in spite of everything, and at least bringing back a small sense of pride in the Tottenham way. I hope that when he makes his way back into management, it's under the right circumstances for him to thrive. For now, he's a valuable asset to the youth academy.

Season Recap and Highlights

I think this was the season I truly became a Spurs fan, TTID. Those brief few weeks at the top of the table gave me foolish hope--you know, the kind that kills you. The eventual come down from that initial optimism (we went undefeated for ten matches after the opening day Everton loss!) was hard to swallow, but now I understand what born-and-bred fans have been dealing with their whole Spurs-supporting lives.

In a season where exhaustion was a general concern due to the shortened season, Spurs seemed to suffer from it more than any other team (perhaps with the exception of injury-plagued Liverpool) because of the physical and mental demands of the Mourinho system. Our lack of (quality) squad depth in certain positions led to several players dropping off in form towards the end of the season (PEH and Sonny in particular), and made clear that there would be a lot of work to do in the summer transfer window to bring in reinforcements.

It seemed like every victory this season was tinged with the sinking suspicion that our success was largely down to brilliant individual performances (or duo performances in the case of Son and Kane), not the result of cohesive team performances that could be built upon. Especially in the final stretch, consistency was nowhere to be found. It's frustrating to know that the team is capable of beating most teams on a good day--but never knowing what kind of day it would be on any given matchday. Which Tottenham team was going to show up--the brutally efficient counter-attacking side, or the disjointed disaster?

Looking ahead, I suppose it is good that we got some form of European competition next season, even if it’s less (well, not at all) prestigious than where we’d prefer to be. At least we will be able to give some minutes to the youngsters to develop them, and to the squad players to keep them fresh for when injuries inevitably arise. And I don’t know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to be the first-ever winners of a new competition... probably just jinxed it though.

Best moments:

-beating Chelsea on penalties in the League Cup

-6-1 win at Old Trafford

-the atmosphere at Marine--the magic of the Cup!

Most bittersweet moments:

-Lamela's rabona--followed by a red card sendoff

-multiple comebacks in the Everton FA cup match, only to succumb in extra time

-Mourinho’s sacking--because it came too late

Lowest moments:

-Dynamo Zagreb defeat

-League Cup final

-Brighton loss

Summer of Soccer

The "offseason" promised to be full of action on both sides of the pond, thanks to the Euros, not one but two CONCACAF tournaments, Copa America, and the Olympics (not to mention regular season play for the American soccer leagues).

The Euros got off to a scary start with Christian Eriksen's on-pitch collapse during Denmark's first group stage match. It was hugely upsetting to see the way ESPN and UEFA handled the television coverage of the incident, and I sincerely hope that the standards are being reassessed to consider the impact such broadcasts can have on viewers. I've never been that upset watching a sporting event before, and it was just disrespectful to Eriksen, his teammates, and his loved ones to show their visible distress and treat the moment as a spectacle. I also can't believe the Danish team was allowed to make the "choice" (if you can even call it that, in the circumstances) to resume the match after a short time. Just a poorly handled situation all around, but hopefully it will be a learning experience for the various decision-makers involved.

After we knew that Eriksen was going to be okay (though the future of his playing career is still up in the air), the Euros ended up being a pretty enjoyable tournament. My beloved Germany barely made it out of the group stage and definitely weren't prepared to face eventual finalists England, but there's always the World Cup next year under new management (in Hansi we trust). I was happy to root for Denmark after that and then for England when they knocked Denmark out. What a final!

Since this is a Spurs newsletter, I should probably mention that Gio Lo Celso and new-signing Cristian Romero are now Copa America winners with Argentina. Congrats to them! Another new addition to the squad, Bryan Gil, just won an Olympic silver medal with Spain. Perhaps this early taste of success will spur him on (no pun intended) to help Spurs win a trophy this season.

Transfer turmoil

To me, the offseason won't truly be over until the transfer window closes. Sure, we will technically play three league games before then which 100% count for points, but the final squad will still be up in the air until that last moment. I just want the roster to be settled, and have a clear view of what we're working with before I even attempt to make predictions about what to expect from the 2021/22 season.

The biggest story so far this transfer window is of course the Harry Kane saga. I have to say that I'm incredibly disappointed with how he's handled it--or not handled it, as it were. Nobody would actually have blamed him for wanting to take a new step in his career after so many years of service to his boyhood club if he had just handled it more professionally, like (and I can't believe I'm seriously about to say this, but it's true) Jack Grealish did with his move to Manchester City. Instead, he has made Tottenham look foolish in the media once again, and hurt his own reputation in the process. It's looking increasingly likely that Daniel Levy is going to stand firm in not allowing his star player to leave, so what was it all for? My main worry is not that Harry will refuse to play or not give 100% on the pitch if he does stay (I think he's too competitive to ever do that), but that this drama and lack of communication from Kane will have a negative effect on his relationship with his teammates at Tottenham. The last thing we need after suffering through the Mourinho era is to have a new source of tension in the dressing room--just when things were starting to look more positive in that regard with Nuno in charge.

As much as I feel let down by Kane at the moment, I will of course get behind him if he's still in the team this season, just like I am going to get behind our new manager and new signings. But the trust has definitely been broken, and that's a sad feeling to have about such an important player to the club. It certainly puts Sonny's loyalty to Tottenham in a different light--perhaps our talisman is not the homegrown player after all, but the one who adopted the club as his chosen home.

Whether Kane stays or goes, there's no denying that we still need some reinforcement in the forward line, with Bale back in Madrid and Vinícius just a hazy memory from the Europa League (okay, and a few league matches to be fair). One possible name that had been floated is already off the table; Danny Ings signed with Aston Villa (who are seriously not messing around this transfer window, even with losing Grealish). While Sonny has been functioning fairly well in a center-forward position during the pre-season, it would be a waste not to play him in his preferred winger position, so a striker signing is a must this window, regardless of that player being a second option behind Kane or his replacement. We'll see what Bryan Gil can bring on the wing, though he's got plenty of room for development and refinement at his young age.

Romero is a promising addition to the defense, but there's still a lot of work to be done. A deal for Japan's Tomiyasu is still up in the air, and Dier and Sánchez both leave a lot to be desired. Sánchez seems the more likely to be moved on at this point. I don't think any of us feel confident with Doherty or Aurier at right-back, and there's always the concern of injury with Tanganga (who was superb in the pre-season win over Arsenal). Left-back feels a little better, albeit a work-in-progress type of situation with Reguilón and Sessegnon still needing to mature in their role, and Davies more of a reliable squad player than starting XI regular.

Weirdly, the midfield is the area I'm most concerned about. Seeing that Skipp is likely to be in the starting XI is a heartening sign, and I don't necessarily think he's as defensive-minded as others seem to (have you seen how many big chances he created at Norwich last season with his pinpoint precision through balls?), but I still worry about how much more creativity is needed in the midfield. I want to believe in the Lo Celso hype train, trust me, but this season is going to be a crucial test for him to prove his value. Coming off his Copa America win he should be full of confidence, though, so fingers crossed. Ndombele... *heavy sigh*. I go back and forth on whether I think the club should give him another season to come good or cut its losses, record signing notwithstanding. It just feels like a problem that he's been under three managers now (well, four if you count Ryan Mason) and hasn't appeared to earn the unequivocal trust of any of them. At some point, we might have to accept that he's the common denominator. If he needs Tottenham to be the perfect Petri dish of conditions in order to flourish, he’s probably not a good fit for the club. Because let’s face it, the club is far from perfect at the moment.

Perhaps the most straightforward transfer move this summer has been the addition of Pierluigi Gollini on loan from Atalanta. It's not a pleasant thought to think about Hugo Lloris leaving the club, but that moment is probably coming sooner rather than later. It's good to have a successor already in place, assuming it works out with Gollini. I thought Alfie Whiteman played well during his pre-season run-outs and Brandon Austin is back from his loan to Orlando City SC, so the goalkeeper position has some decent depth at the moment. Best wishes to Paolo Gazzaniga and Joe Hart at their new clubs.

There are still three weeks left in the transfer window, so we'll see if our new Director of Football, Fabio Paratici, can work some more magic.

Season at a glance

While this season's schedule is a little more balanced on the whole than last season's, which had that awful stretch around the holiday fixtures, there are a few clusters of challenging fixtures to keep an eye on. Here are a few highlights from the calendar:

∙ the month of September is just three London derbies, Crystal Palace then Chelsea then Arsenal, with the League Cup third round taking place in between the latter two

• we play Leicester and Liverpool back-to-back in the space of five days right before the Boxing Day match against Crystal Palace

• yet another back-to-back London derbies situation in January, with Arsenal first and then Chelsea

• although we start the season against arguably our toughest opponents, Manchester City, we end with newly-promoted Norwich City on May 22

Up first: Manchester City at home

Again, I'm not prepared to make any sort of sweeping predictions about the season when the roster isn't yet settled (for Tottenham or for any of our opponents, for that matter). But I think it goes without saying that Manchester City are going to be one of our biggest challenges this season, whatever the starting lineups are for both teams. Perhaps City will be feeling a little less confident after losing the (admittedly not very important) Community Shield trophy to Leicester City. Jack Grealish made a second-half debut for his new team and he was... fine.

I don't want to extrapolate too much from our pre-season games either, but we did look well-organized and like there were some actual ideas behind the attack for once. We did finish pre-season undefeated, for what it's worth! And I have a feeling that all of the non-Harry Kane members of the squad will be feeling like they have something to prove to the world. Hopefully, that will be pressure of a positive nature and not the spirit-crushing kind. No more spirit-crushing this season. José's gone!

On a lineup note, it sounds like Romero is unlikely to feature in this first match since he is getting over a knock from the Copa America final. So we're likely to see the Dier/Sánchez center-back duo again, for better or worse. I haven't seen an injury update on Tanganga yet, but hopefully he is ready to start over Aurier at right-back. Reguilón should start at left-back. Ndombele appears to be out of Nuno's plans and is likely to be transferred out before the window closes, so I would expect to see a midfield of Højbjerg, Skipp or Lo Celso, and Dele. I know there's a new report claiming that Kane is available for selection on Sunday, but there's no way he's going to be fit, right? In all likelihood, it will be a front three of Bergwijn, Son, and Lucas as we saw (with lots of success!) in pre-season. And it goes without saying that Lloris will be starting in between the sticks. Of course, my predicted lineup is assuming that we'll be playing a 4-3-3, but you never know. Pep Guardiola loves to throw his opponents a curveball with a surprising formation change, so it would be interesting if he was served a taste of his own medicine. Romero actually getting to start after all would be the biggest curveball of them all.

See y'all on the other side 🙃.

Spurs Women Update

The Women's side has also been pretty active in the transfer window so far, which is good because roughly half of the squad were released/out of contract at the end of last season--including some of my personal favorites, like Alanna Kennedy. I was able to watch the pre-season friendly against Arsenal right after the Men's game, and we honestly didn't look too bad in the first half. The defense was definitely improved over last season, although we did concede a well-taken header. Esther Morgan looked particularly bright. In the second half, however, a lot of substitutions were made and things started to go off the rails, with a final score of 4-0 in Arsenal's favor. The worst part is that Arsenal's star player, Vivianne Miedema, wasn't even playing since she isn't back from the Olympics yet, and certainly will be playing when we face them in the FA Cup quarter-final on September 29. Let's hope all the new signings are meshing by then! The WSL season begins on September 5 with a match against Birmingham City at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, just like the pre-season friendly was. It's nice to see the Women's side getting more exposure and support from the home fans.

I know I've said a million times that this newsletter is just a labor of love and something I do to channel all of my various feelings about Tottenham Hotspur into something productive. But! Is there anything y'all would like to see from this newsletter (within reason)? I appreciate it every time someone shares a post on Twitter or leaves their feedback. It's a joy to connect with other Spurs fans, especially over this past season when in-person gatherings weren't possible. So if you have any ideas for what you'd like to see from Spurs Across the Pond, holler at me on Twitter or shoot me an email.