Marquee for Moore

The midweek win over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League was low on goals, but high on narrative—mostly positive.

Our position in the table is looking very positive after picking up three wins in three in the league phase so far. The next few fixtures in the competition are tougher matchups, so it was important to pick up maximum points in the early stages.

In this issue: AZ Alkmaar recap | Previewing Crystal Palace

Up next in the Premier League is our second London derby in a row. A crucial knockout match with Manchester City in the League Cup lurks midweek, however, so we could see some interesting lineup decisions from Ange Postecoglou for the weekend game.

Europa League Matchday 3 recap | Tottenham 1 - 0 AZ Alkmaar

Richarlison (Pen) 53'

There were enough changes to the starting lineup to give fans pause before the game, but the rotated side got it done—albeit without scoring from open play. And former player Troy Parrott did not come back to haunt us, despite putting in a respectable shift.

Starting XI:

I may owe Fraser Forster an apology. When I saw his name on the teamsheet I felt instantly nervous, but he came up with some big saves and only gave me one minor heart attack. I still would prefer to see Vicario playing as many of the Europa League games as possible (and he certainly looked antsy himself on the sideline, trying to get involved in some coaching rather than sit still on the bench), but the man with frying pans for hands was a decent stand-in for this match.

Amongst the other notable changes from the lineup against West Ham United, Radu Drăgușin got his redemption moment after serving his red card suspension in the previous Europa League game, while Richarlison made his first start since returning from injury. Wilson Odobert also appeared in the game as a substitute after going through a lengthy injury spell himself—and promptly had another injury scare! Thank goodness he appears to be okay.

Top three things:

1. Solid at the back. For a backline with so many changes from the previous game, I thought the defense looked pretty well-organized. Which isn't to say that there weren't a few moments when Forster was called upon to make a save, or a centerback had to make a last-ditch intervention. But at least the understanding of who was responsible for marking who seemed to have been ironed out already in training—not something we could say about the defending in a few of the recent league games. Credit goes to Ben Davies for providing some much-needed experience for the younger players with him in the back four, but also to Drăgușin and Archie Gray for making the most of their starts with some spirited efforts.
2. That penalty spot squabble. One of my biggest pet peeves in football is watching players argue about who will take a penalty. It doesn't matter that our usual designated PK-taker, captain Son Heung-min, was being rested. For a moment that requires so much focus and preparation, it shouldn't be a spur-of-the-moment decision as to who executes it. If you need to go through the whole squad to determine a pecking order to plan for contingency upon contingency (red cards, substitutions, etc.), so be it. Now, that being said, it sounds like what happened in this specific scenario (if we trust James Maddison as a reliable narrator which.... no comment) was that Maddison was meant to take the penalty, but Richarlison requested to take it instead—presumably to boost his confidence on returning from injury by scoring a goal. If Maddison had the authority to give the spot kick over to Richarlison he probably should have done so right away and not allowed it to turn into a visible disagreement, or held firm entirely. Waffling about it and ultimately doing what was the magnanimous thing made what should have been an easy leadership call into a moment that put him and Richarlison both under scrutiny and criticism.
3. Mikey Moore magic. Yeah yeah, let's not put too much pressure on the kid right away. But it's fair to say that Moore was the bright spot of the attack in this game, especially when Timo Werner subbed off and he was shifted over to his preferred left winger position. He was unlucky not to get his first competitive senior goal. There were a few moments when there was a bit too much youthful enthusiasm between him and Lucas Bergvall, but better that than a lack of ideas at all.

SAtP Player of the Match: Richarlison

I did vote for Mikey in the club poll, in full transparency, but I think Richarlison deserves some flowers for scoring the penalty when it mattered. His all-around game was solid, too, and it will be good to see him as a regular contributor again now that he's recuperated.

Notable and quotable:

• Troy Parrott had some kind words about his old club before the game:

Spurs is a good club, they have always taken good care of me. They want to develop young players and deliver them to the first team. That is incredibly difficult because the club is in the top 5 of the Premier League. I have nothing bad to say about the club. It wasn’t meant to be that I broke through there. Now my own journey has begun.

Best of luck to him as he continues that journey with AZ Alkmaar.

• I joked about needing to temper our expectations for Mikey Moore, but James Maddison didn't get the memo:

From minute 45 to 65 I thought we had Neymar on the left wing.

Previewing PL Matchday 9 — Crystal Palace

Let's enjoy the Crystal Palace derby while we can, since it's looking like relegation might finally catch up to them. They've flirted with the drop several times over the last few seasons and always managed to wriggle away, but something just isn't right on the south side of London.

The Oliver Glasner bounce didn't last long, that's for sure. If I'm not mistaken, his time managing Eintracht Frankfurt coincided with new Crystal Palace signing Daichi Kamada's best form with the other Eagles, so reactivating Kamada could be key to salvaging Palace's season—and keeping his job.

The summer departure of Michael Olise (who has been a bright spot in a Bayern season that is rapidly going off the rails again, not that anyone asked) was a major blow to Palace's starting lineup. His former partner in the forward line, Eberechi Eze, has struggled to contribute at the same level without him; he has just one goal in the first eight PL matches.

Palace have had a few draws in the PL, but have only won against lower-division opposition in the League Cup. They're also on a three-game losing streak going into tomorrow's fixture. Spurs, on the other hand, have plenty of momentum with just one loss amongst seven wins in the last eight games, all competitions. Of course, that one loss was a pretty bad one, but the players seem to have shaken it off post-international break.

From the American interest angle, we won't get to see Chris Richards line up for Palace. Spurs will be without Son Heung-min, though it sounds like he's being held out with the Manchester City midweek game in mind. Djed Spence also misses out since he won't resume training until next week. There was some minor fatigue concern for a few players after the Europa League game, but nobody seems to be a doubt for the next matchday squad.

Derby or not, this is a game we should be winning handily. But we may have to rely on some early substitutions to see the game out with the all-important City cup clash just a few days away. The quick turnaround could even mean that we see some of the rotated starters from Thursday get another start—like Mikey Moore. On that point, though, Ange has cautioned that his minutes will have to be carefully monitored due to his young age.

That's all for today, just a short recap and preview before the Men's fixture gauntlet really ramps up next week and the Women's team wraps up the international break.

Candidly, it's because I've been deep in the figure skating weeds with Skate Canada taking place this weekend. Justice for Alysa Liu!

I also missed the apparently chaotic Lionesses vs Germany game yesterday while I was taking care of some important errands (wearing my Germany away kit, don't you worry), so no women's international break commentary today I'm afraid—except to say that I hope Landon Donovan was watching the last USWNT game and feels bad about how he handled Jaedyn Shaw's playing time for club. With that grievance out of the way,

COYS

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