Institutions

I nearly moved this issue up a day since there was only the FA Cup match on Saturday to recap, but I'm glad I waited, because we got some momentous news this morning.

In this issue: Gareth Bale retires from football | Portsmouth recap | Arsenal and Aston Villa previews

That news, of course, is Gareth Bale's announcement that he is retiring from football, for club and country.

Since I am relatively new to being a Spurs fan, I was only around for his loan return in the 2020/21 season. But that one season alone was enough for me to fully fall in love with Gareth as a player. I will always regret that he didn't get more playing time that season (and will never forgive José Mourinho for underutilizing him) because it seemed like nearly every time he made it onto the pitch he was able to make an impact. It's hard to think of another recent player with a bigger reputation for clutch goals. He just had a knack for producing a moment of magic when it was needed most. For the most recent evidence of that phenomenon, see:  the 2022 MLS Cup Final.

Limbs in the stadium, limbs in my living room.  

In his loan season back with Spurs, my favorite moment was his brace against Leicester on the final matchday. Not only did he silence the King Power Stadium (our win meant that Leicester ended up qualifying for Europa League rather than Champions League, while Spurs squeaked into the Europa Conference League spot at the last minute and left Arsenal out of European competition entirely), he helped Spurs to end what had been a very downbeat season on a high note. Gareth Bale is the embodiment of the phrase "it's the hope that kills you"—or perhaps he's just "the hope."

It's a shame that Wales' World Cup campaign turned out to be so disappointing, but it's undeniable that Gareth was an integral part of his national team even getting to the tournament in the first place. He can be proud of the way he led Wales as captain for so many years. His farewell to the Welsh team seems to imply that story may not have truly come to an end... perhaps he'll return in a management capacity someday soon?  

What I find peculiar is how ambivalent so many Real Madrid fans are towards him, considering how many crucial goals he scored for that club in key moments. Regardless, the world knows that he brought a winning mentality to every team he played for. It's a shame he didn't win a trophy with Tottenham (or Wales), but I'm glad he still won plenty of titles throughout his career.

Enjoy your retirement, Gareth.

In other notable retirement news, Hugo Lloris is stepping down as France's goalkeeper.

Tottenham will be needing to find a successor for Hugo at the club level soon, too, although he has not officially announced a timeline for his retirement from club football. It probably won't be too far in the future and we must be prepared—or more appropriately, proactive.  

The other "institution" referenced in this issue's title is of course the one and only Harry Kane, who salvaged an otherwise uneventful FA Cup tie against Portsmouth with the sole goal of the game. His goal was significant not just because it gave Spurs the win and a ticket into the fourth round, but because it leaves him poised to equal Jimmy Greaves' Tottenham goals record in the next match—which just so happens to be the North London Derby. You want narrative? You got it.

Knowing Harry's record of scoring in NLDs, there's a very good chance that he equals the record on Sunday—if not exceeds it. More on that match later in the preview.

Tottenham 1 - 0 Portsmouth

There isn't too awful much else to say about the Portsmouth game. It wasn't exactly scintillating viewing and had big "PL team conserves energy in cup tie against lower division opposition" energy. In many ways, we made hard work of securing the win, but on the other hand, we were still able to rest some key players ahead of the NLD. Portsmouth never really looked like scoring, either.

Most of Spurs' struggle was due to the rotation from the lineup that dominated Crystal Palace mid-week. I think it's fair to say that Ryan Sessegnon and Emerson Royal are far from being Conte's preferred starting wingbacks, but Sess at least registered the assist for Harry's goal. We also saw rotation across the entire back-3, with Japhet Tanganga, Davinson Sánchez, and Ben Davies getting the nod. Yves Bissouma was intended to start, but ultimately wasn't fit enough and was a late scratch. Oliver Skipp stepped up to replace him in the starting XI, but had an uneven game and was lucky not to get carded for a late tackle. Pape Sarr gave Pierre-Emile Højbjerg a much-needed rest. Fraser Forster also came in for Hugo Lloris and didn't have much to do, but made one save. Only the forward line of Son Heung-min, Kane, and Bryan Gil was unchanged from the Palace match.

I do think it's worth singling Sarr out as one of the standout performers of the day. In contrast to Bissouma, who as an experienced player had a lot of credit coming into the season but has failed to deliver on the pitch, Pape has taken his limited opportunities to play and shown what he can offer—control in tight spaces, calmness on the ball, and decisive passing. So far, he's given the impression that he can be a very capable box-to-box midfielder, as reliable on defense as he is capable in buildup play for the attack. I don't contrast the two to dig out Bissouma necessarily (though he has been a disappointing signing thus far), just to highlight what a remarkable run of performances Sarr has had in just a few appearances. Sometimes a young player only needs a chance to show what they can do, and the FA Cup is a great opportunity for that to happen.

Speaking of young players, Alfie Devine got his first minutes with the senior team since last season and made his home debut in a (very) brief substitute cameo. The less-young Djed Spence got an extended substitute appearance from the 77th minute on, but failed to impact the game.

Like I said, it wasn't the most entertaining of games. The important thing is that we're into the next round with minimal effort. We already know our next opponent in the cup, away at Preston North End. That match takes place the last weekend of January on the 28th—thankfully not another early kickoff.

Now the focus shifts back to the league, with the all-important and much-anticapted derby against Arsenal up next on Sunday.

The good news? We have home pitch advantage this time, as well as a two-day rest advantage since Arsenal didn't play in the FA Cup until today. You could also argue that we have the form advantage over the last couple of matches, since Tottenham comes off a 4-goal thriller in the PL while Arsenal played out a scoreless draw with Newcastle, and then Spurs put away their lower-division opponent in the cup with a rotated squad while Arsenal had to bring in their experienced players to get the job done against Oxford United.

I hesitate to say too much else in this preview. It's a derby. We all know you can't predict these things. I hope we will get at least one of our injured players back in time; my personal wish is for Bentancur, because Bryan has been holding down the Deki-less right winger spot surprisingly well. As it has been in our last few meetings with Arsenal, getting the midfield right is going to be crucial. I feel slightly encouraged that our defense can get the job done since the preferred starting XI did well in the last league match, Hugo included. Harry will be more motivated than ever to score with that record dangling front of him, and Son is going to want to build on his last league performance.    

And now, we hope.

But first up on Saturday, there's another derby-of-sorts for Spurs, the derby of second-chance signings between Aston Villa and Spurs Women. Both teams have strengthened already in the January transfer window by signing high-quality players who were nevertheless lacking consistent minutes at their clubs (Arsenal for Villa's Jordan Nobbs and Chelsea for our new signing, Beth England). Since there will have been over a week since both of their signings and plenty of time for them to train with their new teams, I think we can safely expect to see both playing in the upcoming matchup.  

Unfortunately, I think Aston Villa might still have the edge because of their superior summer transfer business. It would be foolish to deny the impact Rachel Daly has had on Aston Villa's season (she's currently tied for the Golden Boot with Manchester City's Bunny Shaw), but they've also had key contributions from Kenza Dali and Kirsty Hanson (on loan from Manchester United). They also just brought in midfielder Lucy Staniforth this week on a permanent transfer from Manchester United, who actually had played fewer games than either Nobbs or England but has somehow not been mentioned in the "needed a new challenge" transfer conversation as much as those two. The point is, Aston Villa are seriously not messing around this season.

Spurs are definitely the team with more to prove though, coming off a streak of four straight WSL losses prior to the winter break. I won't sugercoat things and say that the performances lately have been good enough, because they haven't. But I still think this is an exciting time to be a Spurs fan, as well as a general fan of the WSL, because the league is becoming more and more competitive, particularly towards the middle of the table. And with players proving more willing to leave the top teams where they've been resigned to warming the bench, we could even see the dominance of those top teams tested in this second half of the season. Fingers crossed.    

I also have my fingers crossed that we'll hear some more transfer news soon for the Women's team, though journalist Emma Sanders has suggested things are quiet on that front for now. Hopefully it's just the team working stealth mode...

COYS  

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