Nevertheless, She Persisted

I've got Elizabeth Warren on the brain tonight after reading her important call to action.

Candidly, this newsletter issue is delayed because I simply didn't have the heart to write about soccer after the election. But sports can be an important comfort during difficult times, so I'm going to lean on them for some joy during the daunting four years ahead. Yes, even our mercurial Tottenham Hotspur can be a balm.

The last few games across the club were a good reminder that it's always worth mounting a comeback, even if you fall short—it lays some groundwork for the next battle.

In this issue: Aston Villa recap | West Ham United recap | Galatasaray recap | Previewing the weekend(ish) matches | News from around the Lane

The weekend fixtures start early this week with a Friday match for the Women's team. Plus, there was some unexpected contract news that broke earlier this week.

I'll keep it super brief with the recaps since a) I'm behind the curve and b) it's a midweek issue, so just a summary, lineup, player of the match, and perhaps some post-game quotes and stats if relevant. I was in a race against time to get this issue out ahead of the Women's team match at Manchester City, so feel free to skip ahead to that preview first.

PL Matchday 10 recap | Tottenham 4 - 1 Aston Villa

Johnson 49', Solanke 75' • 79', Maddison 90+6 | Rogers 32'

This game had the full Spurs Men experience: the lack of a clean sheet, the mandated Brennan Johnson goal, a struggling striker roaring back onto the scoresheet, and a direct free kick goal. Wait, that last one isn't so typical...

Injuries were a big storyline in the game—injuries avoided and injuries unexpected. Son Heung-min wasn't very thrilled about being subbed off at an apparently pre-determined time, especially after provided such a beautiful, pivotal assist for the equalizing goal. But with the injury ranks continuing to grow game by game, Ange Postecoglou made the right decision in preserving Son's fitness as he is just coming back from an injury himself. Unfortunately, Richarlison's triumphant assist was marred by a fresh hamstring concern. And Cristian Romero also left the game early, further constraining personnel availability in the backline.

It was good for Dominic Solanke to get a brace after several games without a goal. He appears to have kickstarted a fresh run of form, if the next match is anything to go by.

The less said about the set piece goal we conceded, the better.

Starting XI:

SAtP Player of the Match: Dominic Solanke

Notable and quotable:

• This result brings us two points behind Aston Villa and just three points off 3rd place.

• We have the second-best goal difference in the league with +11, two goals behind Liverpool.

• James Maddison scored his 50th Premier League goal in style with a free kick.

• Dominic Solanke scored his first brace for Spurs.

• Son Heung-min has ten goal contributions against Aston Villa in nine PL games.

• Ange Postecoglou on his decision to sub Son out early in the second half:

He was never going to play more than 55 minutes. Last time he came back from injury he got to the 60-minute mark and got injured again. He got through unscathed.

• Dejan Kulusevski's assessment of the game:

At half-time I said to the lads, ‘If we score one, we will score four'—and exactly that happened. As soon as we scored one with a lovely cross from Sonny and a good finish from Brennan, I knew we were going to win.

• And some interesting candor from Aston Villa's captain, John McGinn, about the atmosphere at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:

We've got to keep our heads a wee bit in there and have some perspective. Many teams will come here and suffer that defeat. It got loud. Probably as loud as I've heard it as an away player.

WSL Matchday 6 recap | Tottenham 2 - 1 West Ham United

England 51', Sáez (OG) 90+2' | Ueki 37'

This game was happening simultaneous with the Men's match against Aston Villa, so it was quite bemusing to see the Women's team also concede a set piece goal before halftime—not least because it was one of West Ham's shortest players that scored the header.

But Spurs rallied fairly well to claim all three points, even if it took a strange own goal in stoppage time by West Ham to secure the result. Although the Hammers had more possession, Spurs registered more shots on target and had the better opportunities of the match, with Becky Spencer only being called upon for a handful of saves.

Ella Morris was a bright spot for Spurs on her first start for the club—which is reassuring, since we have no idea why Amanda Nildén is currently absent from the matchday squad. Morris nearly had an assist for her full debut, but was called offside.

The one goal that Spurs scored themselves from open play was a bit of a farce, with several players missing their opportunities to take a shot or seeing their efforts thwarted, but captain Beth England finally found the back of the net after some quick close control in the six-yard box. Seeing her movement look that sharp again is also a boost.

Youngster Lenna Gunning-Williams' insistent pressing forced the own goal from West Ham's centerback Camila Sáez. It feels inevitable that Lenna is going to get on the scoresheet herself within the next few games, and indeed is putting pressure on the more experienced forwards for a starting spot.

Starting XI:

SAtP Player of the Match: Beth England

Notable and quotable:

• Luana Bühler made her first league appearance of the season off the bench.

• There is a three-way tie for most goals between Beth England, Eveliina Summanen, and Own Goal.

• Beth England on the win:

We knew it was always going to be tough—it's a derby game. We know it's going to be a physical game. For me I felt like there wans't much control in the game... this is football, it's not always pretty.

She also took responsibility for the conceded goal as Ueki was her player to mark.

Europa League Matchday 4 recap | Galatasaray 3 - 2 Tottenham

Akgün 6', Osimhen 31' • 39' | Lankshear 18', Solanke 69'

All things considered, this isn't the worst result. We could afford an away loss against strong opposition at this stage of the league phase since we got the business done in the first three games. The injury crisis didn't help matters, nor did the fact that Victor Osimhen is on loan at Galatasaray; we're fortunate he didn't score a hat trick, honestly.

There's no getting around the fact that the defense, and backup keeper Fraser Forster, had a horrid time of it. But there were some positives to be taken from the attack, like Will Lankshear scoring his first senior goal for Spurs in just his second start. It's a pity that his milestone moment was marred by receiving a second yellow sending off. It was the kind of challenge you have to chalk up to youthful inexperience knowing that he will learn from it.

Whereas Lankshear's goal was an equalizer at the time, we went down a further two goals courtesy of Osimhen's first-half brace. Dominic Solanke continued his strong run of form to score and cut the deficit to one goal, and even though we played remarkably well down a man after some key substitutions were made, Galatasary withstood the late onslaught from Spurs to hold onto the win.

Starting XI:

SAtP Player of the Match: Dominic Solanke

This is purely based on the cheekiness of the finish for his goal.

Notable and quotable:

• Will Lankshear put out a heartfelt note on Instagram:

Firstly, I’d like to apologize for letting my teammates and the fans down yesterday. I will learn from this experience and I will continue to keep working hard and improving my game.
On a more positive note, yesterday I scored my first professional goal, which I have been dreaming about since I was a little boy. I wanted to thank everyone who has helped me along my journey and hopefully this is the first of many for Tottenham. A massive thank you to all the travelling fans who came out yesterday to support. Onto the next game. COYS

• Ange Postecoglou reflected on the performances of the young players, including Lankshear:

Will took his goal well. He worked hard for the team. Obviously he hasn't had a lot of experience of senior football. He will have learned a lot from today. It was just an overenthusiastic challenge. He will have learned a lot. The same with Lucas. It's about learning the levels required. I thought Archie was great and all three of them will have learned a lot from a night like this.

• He also noted the contradiction of playing better with 10 men on the pitch than 11:

I just felt it was self-inflicted. We had real simple solutions out there to keep the ball. It wasn't that hard. We showed it with 10 men. We just needed to be stronger on the ball and play the kind of football we play every week. Maybe it was a little bit the changes I made and the environment and atmosphere, but the moments that stick out to me was giving the ball away. We were playing through them quite easily with 10 men but with 11 men we had nowhere near that conviction and that was disappointing.

Previewing WSL Matchday 7 — Manchester City

This match is kicking off in less than 30 minutes as of this writing, so I'm keeping it very brief today! In fact, I can react in real time to the starting lineup:

Looks like we've got a back three on tap, if the club is following their usual order for lineup graphics. Martha Thomas has dropped to the bench to accommodate Luana Bühler getting her first start of the season. It's possible that we may see Molly Bartrip push up into the defensive midfield at times as she did in the previous game, but I would expect for our moments to transition into attack to be few and far between against City.

For the bench, Amy James-Turner and Hayley Raso have returned to the matchday squad, but still no news on what is going on with Amanda Nildén.

City's lineup is full of quality, as could be expected. Bunny Shaw starts to once again terrorize our backline. Interestingly, Khiara Keating seems to have regained her starting spot; she also started in their previous win against Crystal Palace.

With opposition this talented, I will be understanding if some mistakes crop up in the defense. But if the team fails once again to mark Shaw properly, I will be less forgiving. Everyone in the squad should be well aware of her goal-scoring threat by now, and the various ways that she can punish a distracted defense.

Light your prayer candles now, folks.

Previewing PL Matchday 11 — Ipswich Town

I'm also going to keep the Men's preview short because I simply don't know a lot about Ipswich town—besides the Ed Sheeran connection. I also noticed their manager, Kieran McKenna, was receiving a lot of attention from other clubs with managerial openings this summer, but he ended up staying to guide Ipswich in their promotion season.

Our injury situation didn't get worse with the midweek game, but it hasn't gotten much better either. Cristian Romero is the only absentee from that game who could feature against Ipswich. Mikey Moore is still suffering from an illness, Timo Werner is out, and Richarlison is out for an indefinite period. Wilson Odobert, Micky van de Ven, and Djed Spence remain out also.

This leaves Ange Postecoglou with very little choice other than to start Son Heung-min on Sunday. The defense is similarly strained, though Romero being able to play would be a big help. We're likely to see some Academy kids on the bench again as well.

For Ipswich, Kalvin Phillips (on loan) is suspended for the fixture and they have a few injury absences as well, including Axel Tuanzebe (formerly of Manchester United and Aston Villa).

Having a shorthanded side won't be an excuse, and a full three-point haul will be expected in this match against a newly promoted team.

News from around the Lane

Time for a speed round!

• Much to my surprise, Becky Spencer has signed a new contract keeping her at the club through the 2025/26 season. We'll have to wait to pass judgment on this roster decision until after the January transfer window, because it could look better or worse depending on any further goalkeeper moves we might make. For now, I'm still concerned about her fitness and wishing we had a trusted backup, but her years of faithful service to the club shouldn't go unnoticed.

• In the Academy, Tye Hall has signed his first professional contract with the club. I am not familiar with him, but congrats!

• Ben Davies has been elected into the PFA Player's Board. Finally, some election news we can celebrate! And it's well deserved with his wealth of experience and knowledge from his long career.

• The Spurstralia contingent gathered for an event with the Australian High Commission, including a panel discussion with Ange Postecoglou, Clare Hunt, and Scott Munn.

• Tottenham Hotspur Stadium became the first-ever "Fair Change" accredited venue after the recent stadium updates to "make baby changing accessible to all parents and caregivers." Well done, Spurs.

• The date for Spurs Men's League Cup quarter-final match against Manchester United was confirmed for the 19th of December, a Thursday.

That's it! Go support Spurs Women now, airing on ESPN2 if you're tuning in from the States.

COYS

Thank you for reading!

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