Missed Kicks and Miskicks
The Men's team has extended their winless streak to five games, but it could easily have been a different story with more clinical finishing in the first half. The second half was mostly a story of bad luck mixed with poor decision-making where we came to rue those missed chances. We gave West Ham too much opportunity to get back into the game and they took it.
I'm definitely of the opinion that we need to be patient as a fanbase and keep the context of this disappointing stretch of results in mind: there are major extenuating circumstances. For the last month, basically everything that could go wrong did go wrong and we aren't catching any breaks on the pitch—quite the opposite.
Still, it's normal and fair to be feeling a little beleaguered after another loss that should have been a win. It's especially frustrating to have had so many glimpses of hope during this difficult period of the season (taking an early lead in each game, Romero scoring on his return from suspension, etc.) only to have that hope swiftly dashed. If I were being cynical I would say this is normal life as a Spurs fan, but truly, I think a day is going to come sooner rather than later when we can put that cynicism behind us. Our injured players won't be sidelined forever, the January transfer window is just around the corner, and we have a manager who's willing to take the time to develop the team the right way. Keep the faith.
In this issue: West Ham recap | Previewing the weekend matches | Transfer talk | Pub chat
PL Matchday 15 recap | Tottenham 1 - 2 West Ham
Romero 11' | Bowen 52', Ward-Prowse 74'
Initially, it looked like our misfortunes were coming to an end when Cristian Romero celebrated his return from suspension with a first-half goal. But as the hot start failed to produce any further goals the old nervousness started to settle in, and indeed... we blew it.
While most of the players looked a bit lackluster in this game, I think the substitution strategy didn't help matters. Ange Postecoglou was slow to make changes, and the order and placement of the subs were also suboptimal. But first, let's look at the starting lineup that got off to such a dominant start—at least possession-wise if not the end product.
Starting XI:
Although it was an easy decision to insert Romero straight back into the starting lineup after his suspension, Ange still had a judgment call to make regarding the midfield and the winger options. I would have preferred to see Dejan Kulusevski starting at the #10 and Bryan Gil starting instead of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, but PEH was chosen and Deki was therefore put back into his traditional right winger spot, with Giovani Lo Celso as the attacking midfielder and Brennan Johnson in his preferred left winger role rather than on the right.
These personnel decisions caused us a few problems. For one, Deki slipped back into old (bad) habits on the wing, where he has a tendency to get a bit complacent & predictable with his movement and fails to take enough shots. Playing more centrally in recent games brought out the best of his creative potential and opened up new passing routes for him to facilitate his teammates' shots, but he also just seemed more confident in his own ability to score. I also would have liked to see Bryan out on the left wing because although he doesn't have quite the same pace as Johnson to beat his defender and get a cross off, he can be very adept at cutting inside and dribbling into a congested box to find space to pass or shoot—which we didn't see nearly enough of from the forwards overall in this game.
But the biggest issue for me was the midfield configuration. I remain unconvinced by Yves Bissouma and PEH as a pivot pairing (too much defensive liability there for my liking), and Lo Celso seems to benefit from playing in a deeper role with room to roam rather than right behind the forward line as he was in this game. We don't get the most out of Gio's passing range (better suited to through balls than working in and around the opponent's 18-yard box) when he's the #10.
As alluded to, I don't think Ange's eventual substitutions solved any of these problems—in a literal sense with Gio, because he was simply subbed off rather than shifted around. Højbjerg also made the first cut in the 67th-minute double substitution, as Oliver Skipp and Richarlison came on. There was some tactical shuffling at this point, with Skipp joining Bissouma in the pivot and Deki falling back to the #10 so Richarlison could go out to the wing. I think I'm remembering this correctly, but there was definitely a point where Richarlison moved into the striker role... though I believe that was only after the second double substitution in the 84th minute when Bryan Gil came on with Pape Sarr to replace Johnson and Bissouma. At that point, Richy was moved centrally and Son and Bryan were the wingers, Deki still in the #10, and Sarr joining Skipp for an extremely makeshift double pivot.
This was an "all gas, no brakes" kind of lineup, which was understandable having gone a goal down by that point, but boy was it chaotic. And then just four minutes later Son was forced off with a knock (to the back, according to reports I've seen) and Alejo Véliz made his fifth appearance of the season. We genuinely might have been playing a 4-3-1-2 or 4-1-3-2 at this point with the two target men (Richy and Alejo) doing their best to try to capitalize on a set piece or a rare cross into the box. There was one headed chance for Richy that he definitely should have done better on.
I realize I've held some powder here by not discussing the goals concretely yet, but the lineup and substitution chess was the most interesting aspect of the match to me. Because let's face it, we scored off a set piece and then gifted West Ham two goals. I do want to give Romero credit for his well-placed header (and kudos to Pedro Porro for a great corner delivery), although part of me also thought Łukasz Fabiański should have done better to keep it out. I thought this man had retired! But he's only retired from international football, it turns out. He probably wished had had retired from club football as well as he crashed into the post.
pasíon!
The goals we conceded were so painful to watch, true head-in-hand moments.
The first came about when Romero attempted to block an initial shot from Mohammed Kudus but it ricocheted right off Ben Davies, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jarrod Bowen, who has been known to have his fox-in-the-box moments, happened to be in the right place at the right time (from a Hammers perspective) to see the ball skid right into his path for a close-range shot. Guglielmo Vicario had already started to dive as a backup to Romero's block and couldn't change directions fast enough to stop Bowen's shot. Bowen was very fortunate to be kept onside in such a bizarre, frenetic scenario. But again, the luck scale seems to be firmly tipped out of our favor over the last few weeks.
West Ham scored their second thanks to a ludicrously poor back pass from Destiny Udogie. I'm willing to cut him some slack because he's still a young player and looked to already be growing fatigued by that point, but it was a costly turnover nonetheless and left Vicario in a bad position. If James Ward-Prowse had not scored, there could potentially have been a VAR check for a possible DOGSO violation. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, that's "denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity." In this case, handling the ball on a back pass when an opponent was otherwise through on goal. At least, that's how I, someone who is not a trained referee, would interpret the rules. After Vicario slid in to shove the ball out of Bowen's reach, Davies tried to put in a tackle to prevent Ward-Prowse from shooting but he was too late, and although the initial shot bounced off the post, both Vicario and Davies could do nothing but watch from the ground as he jogged up for the rebound. The only real fault I can find in this situation is Vicario for not doing better to capture the ball (though again, VAR could have come into play because of the intentional back pass from Udogie) and Romero for not crashing the box to put in a last-ditch tackle.
There was a shout for a handball penalty on Kurt Zouma late in stoppage time, but nothing given. I thought it looked like he intentionally lifted his arm out away from his body whilst in the free-kick wall, but again, what do I, a mere layperson, know? I will note here, however, that we are one of just three teams to not have received a penalty yet this season (Bournemouth and Everton are the other two). This is despite Spurs having the most touches in the opponent's box out of the entire Premier League (h/t Ryan Rosenblatt). Do y'all smell something stinky? Hmm...
I will admit to feeling pretty crestfallen after the final whistle, especially because this was one of our more winnable games in the recent schedule. It was a big opportunity missed, particularly with Manchester City dropping all three points as well as Newcastle.
Still, we remain in 5th place for the third week in a row. Somehow.
SAtP Player of the Match: Cristian Romero
I refuse to hold the unlucky deflection of Romero's pass before the first West Ham goal against him, and other than that one flukey moment he was very strong on his return to play. You wouldn't know he had been out for three games. And with his set-piece goal he is now the joint-third highest scorer for the team.
This is no offense to Emerson Royal, who did the best he could filling in at an unfamiliar position during Cuti's suspension, but the difference between the two is like night and day. Romero is so calm in possession and always—okay, with that one agonizing exception—puts intent behind his clearances. We should start to see the best out of Davies in the CB pairing now as well, and we need to see consistent performances from him until Micky van de Ven is able to return from injury.
And for what it's worth, on the one replay shown it looked like Romero did get the ball on the tackle he was given a yellow card for. Justice for Cuti! He's been far more disciplined in general this season (especially if you believe, as I mostly do, that he was hard done by on the red card decision in the Chelsesa match), only on three yellow cards so far. Sometimes it seems like his reputation does come back to bite him unfairly.
Notable and quotable:
• We've dropped 14 points from winning positions over the last five games. Ouch.
• Additionally, we've held a lead in every game that we've lost this season and in two of the three draws.
• We have the unfortunate distinction of being the first PL team to fail to win in five consecutive games despite taking a 1-0 lead.
• Last sad stat, I promise: this was the first time we've lost three home games in a row at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
• An interesting quote from Ange/Joel Embiid, prompted by a question about the term "Spursy":
If you want to be successful, then like most organisations, you’ve got to learn from the mistakes of the past, you’ve got to come up with a plan, you’ve got to stick to it.
Whatever tags other people want to put on it, that can't be your motivation, that can't be what drives you. If you want to bring success, you've got to have a clear idea of how you're going to go about it and stick to the process.
Okay, it's not "trust the process," but close enough.
• Another Ange quote on his general feelings about the game and the recent winless run:
We weren’t good enough, we had enough dominance to win it and it’s another game where we didn’t show enough conviction.
Previewing PL Matchday 16 — Newcastle United
Normally I'd be feeling more trepidation around this fixture, but Newcastle actually have a longer injury/suspension list than ours at the moment with 13 players unavailable or game-day decisions. I know, I can't believe it either. Their injury crisis has possibly been exacerbated by Eddie Howe naming the same starting lineup for their last four games (including a 17-year-old midfielder), with Jamaal Lascelles going off with a "dead leg" in the Everton game.
I won't list all of their absences because we'd be here forever, but the most important in my eyes are Nick Pope in goal, Sven Botman and Dan Burn in the defense, and Callum Wilson in the attack.
Another reason to feel positive: Newcastle have only won one match away from home this season. Hopefully we can get THS back to approaching "fortress" status like it was early on this season. It's the biggest cliché in football, I know, but we've seen several times during this PL campaign that having the home crowd fully behind the team can be a huge advantage. Sonny hates to see the fans leaving early, he said it himself—although his comments were of course more of a reflection on the team's disappointing performance against West Ham than an indictment of the crowd.
Previewing WSL Matchday 9 — Manchester United
I dread this matchup every year, twice a year. Part of it is because I have an intense dislike of Marc Skinner and hate to see us lose to his team, which has been the outcome in 7 out of our 8 WSL meetings. We'll always have that Ria Percival stoppage time equalizer, though.
United will be without two key attacking midfielders, Hinata Miyazawa and Irene Guerrero. But overall their injury situation is in a much better place than ours.
We will be missing all three of our preferred starting midfielders: Olga Ahtinen, Eveliina Summanen, and Drew Spence. Robert Vilahamn ruled them out in his latest press conference, stating that they won't be playing again until after the winter break. This is a huge blow, particularly since Grace Clinton is ineligible to play against her parent club. Ellie Brazil is also still out.
The big bombshell from the press conference was that Beth England will finally be in the matchday squad for the first time this season. I would be surprised to see her thrown into the starting lineup right away, especially in such a high-pressure match, but I'm also not privy to whether she's on a minutes restriction or not. However much time she ends up playing on Sunday, she will undoubtedly be a big boost to the team from both a technical perspective and a morale perspective.
With the lack of depth in midfield for this fixture, we can probably expect to see Angharad James, Ramona Petzelberger, and Kit Graham start, necessitating another start for Asmita Ale at right fullback to accommodate James in her traditional midfield role. Of course, Clinton being out also affects our depth at the winger positions, though Robert could get creative and employ Shelina Zadorsky at leftback to free Ash Neville up for a start at winger. I'm eager to see how we actually line up.
I hate to be pessimistic, but it does seem like the cards might be too stacked against us to get anything out of this home fixture. It's a matchup against a very good team that would be difficult to beat even with a fully healthy squad of our own. Call it a free hit, if you'd like. I'm looking forward to the reverse fixture when we will hopefully have a more robust starting XI and bench.
Transfer Talk: Spurs Women sign Wang Shuang
I was not expecting to see news of a Spurs Women signing in the early part of December, but I'll take it! The club is getting a head start on the winter transfer window business by tapping into the NWSL market where the season has already ended. We've signed Chinese international Wang Shuang from Racing Louisville, where she had a slow start due to injury but quickly became a fan favorite and integral to the side's recent attacking improvement. Her Spurs contract runs until 2026.
(Side note: I was quite confused by the club referring to her as "Shuang Wang" in her signing announcement despite the convention being to place the last name before the first in East Asian culture—and indeed, when Zhang Linyan signed on loan they did follow that convention. During Wang's time in the NWSL I can only recall the East Asian name order being used. I hope this wasn't just carelessness from the club's comms team, who had been doing a much better job in general this season. Unless I hear that the Western name order is her preference while playing in Europe, I'm going to stick to the usual Chinese name order to refer to her when using her full name. I do sometimes revert to calling players by their first names since this is an informal newsletter, but since we're just getting to know her at Spurs, I'll keep it formal today.)
There are a lot of positives to this signing:
• At 28 years old, Wang is another player in her peak to add to the core of the team.
• Tactically, she's very adept at picking out a line-breaking through ball, which will be perfect for our forwards like Beth England and Martha Thomas. We also know that she's great at penalties from the World Cup!
• She's versatile positionally, playing as a central attacking midfielder, a right winger, or even as a striker in a front-two system (as she did at the World Cup with China).
• She provides a medium-term solution to the issue of depth at the attacking midfield position, as Grace Clinton is only on loan and Drew Spence is approaching the end of her career, as well as short-term while Spence is dealing with an injury. And as Vilahamn noted in the aforementioned press conference, having competition for places is important for a developing squad trying to "take the next step.
• On that note, she will be a great example for Clinton to learn from alongside Spence, with her career's worth of experience playing internationally and at clubs like Racing Lou and PSG.
• Wang is very highly regarded in Chinese football, having won Chinese Women's Footballer of the Year four times. She was also on the team with Zhang Linyan (and former Spurs loanee Tang Jiali) that won the Women's Asian Cup in 2022. I'm sure Zhang will appreciate having a familiar face at the club, as well as another mentor.
• And on a pure vibes basis, I've always thought Wang plays with a lot of swagger and confidence. We need more swagger, no?
Apparently, Robert Vilahamn reached out to Wang at the start of the WSL season to begin the recruitment process and really sold her on his "vision" for Spurs Women. It sounds like she's excited to be joining and eager to get started in a new league:
I think my dream has come true when I can be on such a stage to challenge the best teams and players in the world.
The only downside to such an early signing is that we won't get to see her in action until January. According to the club's announcement, she won't be able to join the team in training until January 1 when her Racing Louisville contract officially expires.
She also had an injury at the end of the NWSL season that appears to have still been a problem this past week, enough to keep her out of China's friendlies with the US. I can only assume that she's expected to be fit in time to play in January since we've had quite a few midfield injuries lately and it wouldn't make a ton of sense to recruit a player who won't be available right away.
I'm super excited to see how Wang fits into Robert's system as we continue to transform into a more attacking team.
Pub Chat: Bonus bookmark
To wrap things up, I wanted to share this insightful interview Ashleigh Neville did with Sky Sports. She talks about experiencing growing levels of professionalism along her journey with Spurs, balancing football and motherhood, and the new era at Spurs Women under Robert Vilahamn.
Charlotte Marsh
One of the many quotes I enjoyed from Ash:
Everyone is on the same page and invested in what Robert, Ange (Postecoglou) and the club are looking for with the Spurs style of play. Once you're invested, then you just enjoy the training, you enjoy playing matches and getting the results too so it's been great.
We know Ash has been fully invested and committed during her long career with Spurs so far, so it's nice to see her getting some media attention now too—including the fact that she's on track to lead the WSL in tackles for the third year running.
I wish we didn't have to wait until Sunday for both games, but it is what it is. I'm going to miss the second half of the Women's game because of a Christmas party, so if you don't see me on social media reacting with glee to Beth England's substitute season debut, that's why. Perhaps I will somehow feel a frisson in the air when it happens, all these miles away... Or I'll just have to catch the replay. Sigh.
As ever,
COYS
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