Leedsanity Comes to Tottenham

Spurs Men make yet another comeback to end the pre-World Cup PL campaign on a high note | About that World Cup... | Previewing the Women's match at Stamford Bridge

I don't really know how it got to be this late in the week before I realized I never wrote a Leeds recap, but you'll have to cut me some slack. I had a very busy, exciting weekend (including a linkup with the Austin Spurs SG to watch the Leeds match—thanks for the hospitality!) and wasn't quite back in the swing of things in time to put out the usual Monday issue, so a Thursday issue it is.

As wild as the win against Leeds was, I have to say the highlight of my weekend was watching my USL Championship team, San Antonio FC, win the league final. In classic San Antonio style, they celebrated at the River Walk last night and this happened:

(note:  do not jump into that river. It is filthy. And shallow!)

Back to our regularly scheduled programming, let's talk about the Leeds match.

Tottenham 4 - 3 Leeds

Well, to be fair, I'm not very good at watching Spurs matches with a super-focused lens when I'm at a watch party (I was perhaps more focused on my breakfast taco in the first half), but I'll do my best to capture some of the key moments.

(Yes, Sonny looking dapper as hell in his Burberry cardigan is a very key moment.)

Lineup-wise, it was significant that both Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison were fit enough to start alongside Harry Kane in the front three of a 3-4-3. With Ryan Sessegnon injured, Ivan Perišić played at left wingback while Emerson Royal started on the right. Conte stuck with the back three of Ben Davies, Clément Lenglet, and Eric Dier that he'd been experimenting with recently. And it does continue to be an experiment; although Dier has enjoyed a chance to contribute more on offense from the right-hand side of the defensive line, his actual defense has suffered from the switch.

It did feel somewhat inevitable that Cryscencio Summerville would score against us, only because he'd been on such a hot streak lately. Credit must also be given to Brenden Aaronson (aka my favorite USMNT player) for a skillful assist—he had a pretty strong game overall. Summerville's goal in the 10th minute probably should have been saved by Hugo Lloris, but Dier was also culpable. This bad habit of conceding the first goal has become a troubling trend.

Spurs responded fairly quickly, though, equalizing in the 25th minute off a rebounded corner kick. It was a nice poacher's goal for Kane. There was a bit of controversy on this goal since Lenglet fell over onto Leeds keeper, Ilan Meslier, but I think it was just Lenglet's natural momentum after the fair challenge rather than an intentional attempt to impede Meslier. Either way, Kane had a free shot and didn't miss.

Leeds got their second goal in the 43rd minute thanks to a poor clearance from Spurs on a Leeds set piece. Liam Cooper flicked the ball into the box and Rodrigo had far too much space to work with in between Dier and Lenglet.

Spurs wouldn't get a chance to equalize again until after halftime but got right to it in the 51st minute. Davies capitalized on yet another rebound with a rocket of a shot which did take some deflections along the way but was decidedly on target. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, after all.

Leeds got their third and final goal in the 76th minute when once again, Rodrigo was afforded acres of space to work with, this time at the expense of Davinson Sánchez, who had subbed in not long before. It was a good shot from Rodrigo, to be fair, but you have to think on another day Lloris would be saving it. Definitely not the best performance from our Skipper on the whole.

Then, starting in the 81st minute, our own Rodrigo (Bentancur) came alive to score a brace in less than three minutes and secure the comeback win. His equalizer was a similar shot to Davies' goal, and came after Leeds' Cooper headed a Matt Doherty cross into the box straight out to Bentancur's feet. Not long after, Sánchez redeemed himself with a clean through pass to Kane, who connected with Kulusevski running into space on the right side of the 18-yard box. Deki took a deft touch to bypass Robin Koch and made an outside-of-the-foot pass back to a waiting Bentancur, who had a clear shot into the net. Rodrigo is quickly becoming a difference maker for Spurs in big moments, and Kulusevski, of course, has already proven the importance of his playmaking abilities many times over since joining in January.

Leeds sealed their own fate when Tyler Adams got a second yellow card and was sent off in the 87th minute. Spurs only had to see out the game and got to celebrate one last win at the home ground before the World Cup break.

We end this non-stop portion of the season in 4th place despite a few frustrating losses and multiple injuries to key players. I'll do a deep dive into the season so far in a post next week, but for now, suffice it to say that we can be pretty happy with still being in the CL spots in the league and also finishing as winners of this season's CL group. While some of the players are heading to Qatar to compete in the World Cup, others will be participating in friendlies with their national team, while the rest of the squad will be fully focused on training with Conte for the next few weeks.

The human rights abusing elephant in the room

I have thought long and hard about how I was going to approach this World Cup, both as a Germany fan and as a football content writer and podcaster.  It feels like a very fraught decision no matter where you come down on it, and I certainly won't judge anyone for their own individual choices. (Okay, maybe I am judging you a little if you actually go to Qatar—I personally can't see how anyone would feel comfortable doing that unless you're there working as a journalist/pundit/commentator.) This is where I'm at:

I'm going to continue to support Germany by watching the games and cheering them on from home. I will not be writing or podcasting about the particulars of the World Cup (i.e. performances and results). I will definitely be highlighting off-the-pitch matters that are worthy of signal-boosting, because I don't think FIFA and the footballing authorities in Qatar should be allowed to have this tournament proceed without frequent, pointed criticism. We do not have to go along with the sportswashing.

My reasoning, however flawed it may be, is that I think it would be a great disrespect to the migrant workers who lost their lives building infrastructure for the World Cup if the tournament did not go ahead, but I don't think it should proceed like business as usual. I'm also sympathetic to all the pubs and other businesses around the world that will probably suffer from decreased lack of interest in this specific World Cup. I know I don't have the heart to be going to watch parties this time around. It just feels to me like treating this tournament like the World Cups of the past would be signalling to FIFA that all is forgiven and they can continue their corrupt ways. My personal way of drawing a line in the sand is to still watch the games, because I think the athletes deserve to participate in what for many could be a once-in-a-lifetime career highlight, but not be vocal about it. I don't want to contribute to the public spectacle that usually surrounds a World Cup.

I really appreciated Rosa's thoughts about this subject on a recent Hometown Glory episode. Listening to her talk about how she felt like the previous World Cup in Russia had made all of us who watched and engaged in that tournament complicit in the damage Russia has done in the world since. I had been struggling to put my finger on just why I was feeling so conflicted about the idea of following this World Cup at the same level of engagement I would in any other year, and that feeling of complicity is definitely the issue. How emboldened will Qatar be after the final whistle has blown? At this point I would think they're almost wishing they hadn't bid on the tournament in the first place after all the negative press they've already received, but you never know; greedy people in power tend to not be familiar with the concepts of shame or consequences.

While I won't be fully boycotting the Qatar tournament by not watching the games at all, I completely respect and understand why so many others have made that decision. I'm just a big softie at heart and hate the idea of the players' accomplishments going unseen because of the greed of FIFA as a governing body (this is the same reason I watched the previous Olympics despite feeling they should not have been held due to the pandemic—they were happening with or without my approval, and I believe the athletes deserved to have their accomplishments recognized). Again, no choice is the correct choice. We're all doing the best we can in an unfortunate and uncomfortable circumstance. Many of you will disagree with my stance. And it does hurt to feel less invested in the World Cup than I ever have before, when usually, the WC is a milestone event I look forward to with pleasure.

My hope is that 1) enough pressure is put on FIFA to reform the bidding process and 2) that they realize human rights are not something you can just pay lip service to—they need to be key principles the organization stands for and protects with every decision made. I also hope the participating national teams do their best to protest in the ways they see fit, and not treat this World Cup as a normal iteration of the tournament. While I firmly believe they deserve to play, they also need to acknowledge the circumstances that have led them to be competing in this desert nation (which I mention because of the climate sustainability implications and the subsequent effect on the domestic football calendars this season) that frequently violates the human rights of its citizens and its migrant workers. I hope this can be a turning point in world football where players and fans alike reject the capitalistic priorities of FIFA, UEFA, etc., and say enough is enough.

Am I being hopelessly optimistic? It's possible. I just would like to see a day sometime soon when the act of supporting the players is not inevitably bound up in compromising my personal values. Sport is supposed to bring people together be a tool for positive change, at its idealistic best. FIFA has strayed so far from that ideal, but there should still be a way back if fans continue to put pressure on them.

I'll close this section with a photo of Son Heung-min in his special face mask for the World Cup, because Sonny is always a good note to end on.

A showdown at Stamford Bridge

Of course, that doesn't mean Spurs Across the Pond will be going radio silent for the duration of the World Cup, because we are lucky enough to still have Spurs Women matches to keep us occupied in the meantime.

After an international break of their own (which included some great performances from Jessica Naz and Asmita Ale with the England U23s and goals from Shelina Zadorksy with Canada and Eveliina Summanen with Finland, amongst other appearances from Spurs players), Spurs Women are back in action this weekend against Chelsea at an already sold-out Stamford Bridge. It's going to be a spicy one!

On the N17 Women podcast we did a crossover episode with the Chelsea Women pod, Fran Kirby's Fight Club, previewing the match from both teams' perspectives. Our episode is here and theirs is here if you'd like to listen!

In the interest of getting this issue out pronto because Twitter might be dying imminently and this could very well be the end of Revue, I'm going to keep the newsletter preview super short. I'm not even going to do my usual proofread before posting, so apologies for any typos. Anyway, the Chelsea game. These are the main things:

• Pernille Harder is likely out with a several months-long injury for Chelsea, which is undeniably a boost for Spurs' chances in this game

• They still have Sam Kerr though...

• Nikola Karczewska is rumored to be a doubt for Spurs, which is a shame since we'd like to be able to build on the progress in offense from the Brighton game

• In last season's matchups (which if you will recall took place back-to-back thanks to a cruel quirk of rescheduling the first postponed fixture), Spurs were able to stay in the games until late in the second halves by actually attempting to build some possession and stay organized in the attack, not by sitting back and only attacking on the counter, so I'd like to see the same approach this time.

• Our bench is in a bit better of a spot than it was in those fixtures, so at least this time we won't run out of steam by default because we don't have anyone to make an impact as a substitute.

• Crossing my fingers for Ash Neville to get on the scoresheet yet again, England national team be damned.

Okay! That's it! If you've read this far, and especially if you've been reading this newsletter regularly, just know that I appreciate you and really value the thoughtful comments that many of you send in. I hope Twitter doesn't actually disappear and I can continue doing this, as well as remain active in the Tottenham community on Twitter, which I will sincerely miss if it goes away. Fingers crossed that Musk jumps ship and someone brings Twitter back from the brink!

COYS

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