Inches from Advantage
After conceding an early goal to Eintracht Frankfurt, a series of near-misses (and saved shots) along with an unlikely backheel goal from Pedro Porro ended the first leg all square. We're by no means out of the tie, but I can't help feeling the aggregate advantage was there to be won and we may be ruing the consequences by this time next week.
In this issue: Eintracht Frankfurt recap | Previewing Wolves | News from around the Lane
Before the away leg takes place, Spurs Men are back in Premier League action this weekend for another round of rotation roulette.
There's some exciting Academy news to round up and some general club updates as well, so read on!
Europa League Quarter-final Home Leg recap | Tottenham 1 - 1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Porro 26' | Ekitike 6'
I could have just copied and pasted the intro from the midweek issue, but suffice it to say that I was both encouraged and discouraged by this result.
Most of the encouragement came from individual performances; it seems like several players are finally starting to get back into some form post-injury, although there is still room for improvement for a few of them. But the goal droughts for Dominic Solanke and Son Heung-min continue to concern me—and besides his brace in the last game, Brennan Johnson's return hasn't been any better over recent weeks. There were several candidates to fill the gap with their own close efforts—Lucas Bergvall's strike that hit the woodwork was nearly as agonizing as Micky van de Ven's stoppage-time header gone wrong—but we need to be able to rely on the experienced forwards to lead the line.
I don't yet feel comfortable expressing full confidence that we can beat Eintracht Frankfurt away to progress to the semi-final, but I at least feel we will give it a decent go. Considering everything the team has been through this season, that's probably as close as I'm going to get to optimism.
Starting XI:
Ange Postecoglou made a controversial decision to bench Djed Spence for Destiny Udogie, and the gamble only partially paid off. Although Udogie ended the game well and looked much closer to his first-season form than we've seen in a long time, it still took a bit of a ramp-up during the course of the game—and the payoff will only be felt in the coming matches. Considering how valuable a win in this home leg could have been for our prospects of advancing in the competition, I'm not sure it was the wisest choice.
And for me, that tension touches on one of the strangest aspects of Postecoglou's man management all season long. Is he focused on developing players for the future or opting for a short-term strategy? It kind of feels like he's landed awkwardly in between and done himself (and quite a few of the players) a big disservice. It's frustrating to see players who have had periods of growth on the pitch (like Archie Gray and Mikey Moore, for example) left out in the cold for several game stretches. We've seen that play out in a micro sense with individual players seeing their minutes fluctuate and in the macro sense with the inter-player relationships not given time to build & thrive.
Other than the Spence call, the lineup was fairly standard. There was some pre-game rumor-mongering about a Wilson Odobert muscle injury, but it turned out to be unfounded and potentially part of Postecoglou's mission to flush out the "mole" in the club's staff.
Top three things:
- Marking assignments gone awry. Seriously, we just can't seem to get the defensive positioning right lately. Normally I would chalk it up to the ever-changing lineups in the back line due to injuries, but this was our traditional "strongest" lineup under Postecoglou (see above for the Spence caveat). But even with his preferred lineup, it has never felt like defense was top of mind for Ange. Perhaps the defensive approach should be overhauled in the pre-season, whether he's still in charge or not. As for Hugo Ekitike on his opening goal, he did have too much space to work in but still had to pull off a precise shot to beat Guglielmo Vicario. Ekitike reinforced why he's one of the most in-form strikers in Europe at the moment.
- Leaving the subs late. Although we were creating plenty of opportunities with the starters, we had a clear advantage to be exploited with the strength of our bench depth relative to Frankfurt's, and Postecoglou waited far too long to call on reinforcements. On a positive note, it was good to see signs of life from Richarlison.
- Well-kept Frankfurt. Kauã Santos put in a very strong stint between the sticks for the opponent. It turned out that Kevin Trapp missing out wasn't such a miss after all.
SAtP Player of the Match: Pedro Porro
The obvious choice, but also the correct one, I believe. It goes without saying that his backheel finish for the sole Spurs goal of the game was a real season highlight for him (and the team), but I was just as appreciative of his spirited mentality. He was frequently gesturing to the crowd to increase the noise in the stadium and seemed to truly understand the stakes of the home leg fixture. I'm not saying that wasn't true of the other players (Udogie in particular looked absolutely gutted when the Frankfurt goal went it), but he was a step above the rest in translating that pressure into performance.
Porro does have a penchant for scoring an absurd goal when he's most needed, but the fact that it came from a shot inside the box this time was unusual for him. Like many players in the squad, I think he would benefit from a little more freedom of movement within the Angeball system, as we conceive of it.
Notable & quotable:
• Postecoglou remarked on replicating the attacking intent from this leg in the away fixture:
I said to the boys, you can be disappointed with the result, but not the performance. If we repeat that performance next week, we’ll give ourselves a great chance. There is no reason why we can’t. They not going to change their approach, we won’t change ours, so we can go there, play in the same manner and the fine margins that went against us today, hopefully go our way.
He also offered a wry perspective on our luck this season:
I'm resigned to the fact that the football gods have got their eyes elsewhere this year. They're obviously busy with other clubs and other managers so whatever we get, we're going to have to do it without them this year.
Previewing PL Matchday 32 — Wolverhampton Wanderers
I'm tempted to think the club might forfeit this match if it wasn't a terrible look. But joking aside, we all know the focus this coming week isn't going to be on the Premier League fixture, but rather on the upcoming away leg against Eintracht Frankfurt. This match against Wolves is one to get through, not to dominate.
That's only from a result perspective, of course. The team will want to build on the improved performance from mid-week and string together some collective form. You can't come to a standstill ahead of the most important match of the season.
Wolves are in a fairly comfortable position, relegation threat-wise, with a 12-point gap over Ipswich Town in the final drop spot. Ange Postecoglou credited their new manager, Vítor Pereira (who joined the club in December after Gary O'Neil was sacked), for "stabiliz[ing]" them after a tough start to the season. Wolves are currently on a four-game unbeaten streak in Premier League play. So at least this isn't a situation where they are fighting for Premier League survival—especially in a literal sense, since we can't afford any injuries from over-eager tackles at this stage of the season.
As for our current fitness, we'll have the same squad availability as we had for the Europa League game. Destiny Udogie and Micky van de Ven had both experienced cramps in that game but are fit to play against Wolves. It's too soon for Dejan Kulusevski to feature, though Postecoglou confirmed that he will likely get game time on Thursday—though not be able to start. Kevin Danso's return is now uncertain.
Postecoglou also promised that there would be plenty of rotation, but not merely for the sake of resting players.
...looking into next Thursday, it's not about resting guys or managing guys, it's also about having guys ready. It could go to 120 minutes and we'll need people ready to go, so with a combination of those factors, we'll make some changes.
All of Wolves' injuries are long-term absences, including Yerson Mosquera and Saša Kalajdžić.
We could see former Spurs player Matt Doherty start for the opposition, and Matheus Cunha is newly available after serving an additional match suspension on top of his original three-match ban from being sent off in Wolves' FA Cup penalty shootout loss to Bournemouth.
Our table standing doesn't matter much at this point now that we're all but mathematically safe from relegation, but for what it's worth, we're heading into kickoff already down a place due to Everton's win against Nottingham Forest.
Let's hope for a decent performance, some attacking momentum to carry into the Europa League, and no further injuries.
News from around the Lane
Rejoice—it's not a trophyless season for the club after all! Two teams from both sides of the Academy have won their cup finals.
• The Men's U17s won the Premier League Cup for the second time in three seasons, defeating Charlton Athletic 5-2.
Luca Williams-Barnett was the star of the game, scoring a hat trick. Harry Byrne and Reiss Elliott-Parris also got on the scoresheet to secure the win.
I really loved this passionate reaction to the win from the U17s coach, Stuart Lewis:
To win it again, there’s no better feeling! I’m so emotional right now—I'm a Tottenham person, as everyone knows, and this means a lot to me.
• The Women's U16s won the Professional Game Academy Champions Trophy, beating Blackburn Rovers 6-2. This was the first trophy for this age group on the Women's side!
Eloise Summers-Mee netted a hat trick to propel the side to the win, alongside a brace from Cairo Eva-Antoine and a further goal from Poppy Neill.
First-year coach Sabiha Jamal was delighted with the win:
It’s hard to reflect on this game without smiling... I’m just so proud of everyone involved, players and staff, we’ve worked so hard throughout this season and it’s so good to see these celebrations at the end, very much deserved.
Jamal had also noted in her pre-match remarks that the U16s normally compete in a boy's league, so this was an important occasion to gain a "glimpse into what their careers could look like."
• Elsewhere in Academy news:
- Jamie Donley scored yet another goal on his loan with Leyton Orient in their 1-3 win at Crawley Town, drawing within three points of entering the playoff promotion spots in the League One table.
- Will Lankshear got a much-needed start for West Bromwich Albion in the Championship, playing 74 minutes.
- Zara Bailey has been training with the senior Spurs Women squad this week—could we see this promising young defender make another appearance before the season ends?
• The Women's Super League key dates for the 2025/26 season have been released. Spurs Women will begin the season on the weekend of September 6/7 and will end the campaign on May 16/17. There will be a winter break from December 22 to January 10/11.
• On a club-wide note, Tottenham have appointed Vinai Venkatesham (previously of Arsenal) as Chief Executive Officer of the board. I don't have much of an opinion on this appointment—besides the usual bemusement at the club's knack for announcing things at the most awkward time possible—but Venkatesham has been credited as spearheading the growth of Arsenal Women, so I'm all for it if he can likewise invigorate Spurs Women's potential, which has been neglected for too long.
Jay Harris
A reminder that Spurs Women are not playing this weekend due to it being FA Cup semi-final weekend. They'll be back next weekend to take on Aston Villa in the WSL.
All right, let's think happy thoughts about the bright future for our Academy players and not dwell on the scary fixture coming up for Spurs Men.
COYS
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