Pigeon Dancing into the New Year
Happy New Year, COYS family! I hope 2024 has been kind to you so far.
It definitely has been to Spurs Women, who have already made two new signings since the transfer window opened on January 1. I'll get to that later, but first, let's look back at the final two games of 2023 for Spurs Men and preview the upcoming FA Cup match. Plus, I have another bonus bookmark roundup to share.
In this issue: Brighton recap | Bournemouth recap | Previewing Burnley | Transfer talk | News from around the Lane | Pub chat
PL Matchday 19 recap | Brighton 4 - 2 Tottenham
Hinshelwood 11', Pedro (pen) 23' • (pen) 75', Estupiñán 63' | Véliz 81', Davies 85'
This match was a case of Spurs taking too long to get into the game—at least in a positive sense. There were unfortunately a couple of impactful moments that went against us in the form of needless penalty giveaways. Brighton also benefited from an absolute wonder goal from Pervis Estupiñán. We mounted a late comeback with the help of some fresh legs, but it was all for nought in the end.
Starting XI:
Ange Postecoglou made two changes to the lineup from the Everton match, replacing the injured Cristian Romero with Emerson Royal as Destiny Udogie resumed his left fullback position after being suspended in the previous game. Oliver Skipp dropped out of the matchday squad due to a knock and was replaced by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in the double pivot.
The early stages were marked by several key saves from Guglielmo Vicario, most of them caused by a lack of pressure from the rest of the Tottenham squad. Besides looking disorganized at times, I have to say the players looked borderline disinterested, too. But there was a visible mentality change in the second half, so I'll chalk it up to fixture fatigue and the strain of missing nearly a full starting XI's worth of teammates to injury. I'm sure the knowledge that there aren't many (or any) true backups for some of them must be starting to get to the players. Regardless, that lack of focus resulted in Brighton's first goal by 18-year-old Jack Hinshelwood as he was left completely umarked inside the 18-yard box.
I mentioned the penalty concessions above, and truly, they were so unnecessary and frustrating to watch. For the first, Dejan Kulusevski blatantly pulled on the shirt of Danny Welbeck. For the second, substitute Giovani Lo Celso went through the back of Brighton's substitute Evan Ferguson, getting nowhere close to the ball but taking out the young striker. These two careless errors ended up costing us an additional two points.
The aforementioned Estupiñán goal really was an incredible kick, but he was given far too much space to receive the corner kick and leisurely line up his shot. Too many times this season we have failed to make it difficult for opponents to score.
On the attacking end, Richarlison struggled to stay onside but the other starting forwards didn't have their best games either. Still, Son Heung-min was able to contribute an assist on our first goal of the night, and the first goal for Alejo Véliz with the senior team (he had previously scored for the U21s).
Our second and final goal came courtesy of a Ben Davies header off a superb Pedro Porro cross. As with Véliz, it was a bummer to see two players who haven't scored much for Spurs barely get to celebrate because of the game state. There was a slim chance that we could have eked out a draw in the nine minutes of stoppage time given, but it wasn't to be.
The late surge kept this game from feeling like a total write-off, at least from a morale perspective, but the loss meant we failed to take advantage of other teams around us dropping points. It ended our three-game winning streak as well.
SAtP Player of the Match: Guglielmo Vicario
Yes, he conceded four goals, but two of them were penalties and one was a Goal of the Month contender. Venom was left completely out to dry by his outfield teammates in this match but still put in some great saves and kept the scoreline from getting truly ugly.
I would have liked to select Ben Davies since he did score, but he holds some culpability for the first goal. That being said, I think he's done a lot better at left centerback overall than we may have expected.
Notable and quotable:
• The final whistle marked the end of the first half of the Premier League campaign. Keep an eye out for my mid-season review, coming soon.
• Both teams maintained their respective PL goal-related streaks: Spurs for scoring in every match, and Brighton for conceding in every match.
• This was the first game under Ange's management that we went 2-0 down.
• Sonny's assessment of the loss:
It is a very disappointing performance. This is not how we've approached the season. This performance was nowhere near the level we want to play at. We know what our mistakes were but now is not the time to point fingers at each other because the games are coming fast.
Every team is strong in the Premier League and if we're not playing like the last 15 minutes in every game we're going to struggle and this has to be a big wake-up call.
He also remarked that the penalties were a big problem.
• As for the role VAR had to play in the penalty decisions, Ange had this to say:
There are no grumbles from me with the penalties. They were clear and obvious. It's amazing that VAR picks up everything apart from a tackle that maybe puts out another of our players.
He was referencing Lewis Dunk's challenge on Kulusevski. We did end up scoring on the same play, but surely player safety has to matter more than the sporting outcome.
PL Matchday 20 recap | Tottenham 3 - 1 Bournemouth
Sarr 9', Son 71', Richarlison 80' | Scott 84'
This was a much more straightforward (read: better) performance from the team, but because we cannot have nice things, it also included two injuries. I guess that's the full Tottenham experience this season. But on a positive note, we got one return from injury that was a huge surprise for the starting lineup.
Starting XI:
Rodrigo Bentancur is back! And not a moment too soon, with two of our other midfielders about to miss several games while away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Dejan Kulusevski, who had been filling in at attacking midfield lately, was suspended due to yellow card accumulation, so Giovani Lo Celso replaced him in the lineup.
Otherwise the lineup was the same as the Brighton game, with the four fullbacks backline still in effect. Emerson Royal played a little better in the centerback role this time but it still was far from ideal.
We ended up getting a massive performance from the midfield. Pape Sarr scored just his second goal for Spurs in the 9th minute, with Bentancur integral to the buildup, pressing and winning the ball high up the pitch after a poor pass out from Bournemouth's keeper, Neto. He progressed the ball to Lo Celso, who made a tackling pass to Sarr. Pape had options to pass but used that to his advantage to wrong foot the keeper and shoot from long range.
Lo Celso then provided another assist in the second half, this time a lightning quick, first-touch through ball to hit Son on one of his famous runs toward the box. The quality of Son's finish was just sublime. He hadn't had a great game up until that point, but this just goes to show why you keep him on as long as possible (fitness permitting of course—and I'm directing that comment at one Jurgen Klinsmann, manager of the South Korean national team).
Richarlison also overcame a quiet game overall to get on the scoresheet, giving Spurs a decisive third goal off yet another Brennan Johnson cross—they combined in the Everton game as well.
I mentioned earlier that there were two injuries, and sadly, one of them was to the first goal-scorer, Sarr. He appeared to pull up with a hamstring pull or tear and was visibly distraught with the possibility that he could miss out on representing Senegal at AFCON. Thankfully, it sounds like it wasn't a major injury and he has been called up to the Senegal squad.
The triple-substitution in the 82nd minute was ill-fated. Not only did we concede not long after Eric Dier came onto the pitch, further cementing his transfer fodder status, Bryan Gil missed an absolute sitter of a header. But worst of all was Alejo Véliz picking up a fairly serious knee injury. He had put in a bright performance in the last match, including his goal, and I think we were all eager to see what he could do with more game time—either with Spurs in Son's absence or out on a loan. We won't get a chance to see him now for quite a while. There was then a touchline fracas as Ange took umbrage with the suggestion from Bournemouth's technical area that Véliz was merely wasting time and not painfully injured when he went down for treatment.
Alex Scott did get that consolation goal for Bournemouth, ironically since he is himself a Spurs fan. He nearly scored a second goal to make the end of the match a little more tense, but we were saved by the linesman's offside call. We were linked with Scott in the summer transfer before he ultimately moved to Bournemouth, but he's a promising talent that we should keep an eye on in the coming seasons.
Finally, I should mention that the weather was absolutely dreadful, looking like hail (or sleet?) at one point. We got some very cinematic photos out of it, though.
we're about to be singing "ain't no Sonshine when he's gone"
After this first game of the second half of the season, we remain in 5th place but just six points off first. We are technically in the title race, I'm just saying. And we still have key players like Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, and Cristian Romero to return. "Could we?" is back on the menu.
SAtP Player of the Match: Giovani Lo Celso
It has to be Gio. He really needed a redemption game after giving away such a stupid penalty in the Brighton match, and he did so with two superb assists. Plus, he defended Véliz's honor when the Bournemouth manager, Andoni Iraola, implied that the young striker was time wasting instead of genuinely hurt.
I do wish we could see more consistency from Lo Celso, but when he's on he is really on. He will have more opportunity to step up and leave an impression on Ange during the upcoming Asian Cup/AFCON period of midfield absences.
Notable and quotable:
• Spurs have scored the most goals from open play in the PL this season.
• Ange on the decision to start Bentancur:
Rodrigo trained during the week. He’s a warrior. He wanted to play. I let him train with the team and there was nothing I saw that was going to prohibit him from contributing.
And contribute he did! I can't wait until he is back to being able to play a full 90 once again.
• Son on the mindset around the squad:
Everybody is taking a big responsibility. It is a big credit when compared to the last couple of years. Everybody is very close in the title race but we don't really want to talk about it because there are still 20 games to play and we're still missing many important players. We're going to focus on ourselves and game by game give everything. We try not to focus on any other teams, approach it looking for better football and better mentality and then we'll see what happens at the end of the season. Focus on ourselves, not look at the table and just see what happens.
• Sonny has overperformed his xG more than any other PL player this season, scoring 12 goals on just 7.1 xG.
• Lo Celso on his time playing under Ange:
In pre-season he told me that he wanted me to stay. I was really grateful for his belief in me, so I worked hard and showed every day that I wanted to be here and play. I've felt really comfortable - in training and in the way he coaches. I love his idea of football which gave me the belief that I could find a place in his team.
With Ange he's a real motivator and he gives a lot to the team in games like that. He's really into the finer details and prepares for games meticulously with a way of playing that means we're the protagonists against whoever we face - this is a great thing. I think the team is on the right track. I’m just really happy and enjoying this new era at the club with my teammates and feel more and more settled. I think that the coach has got the most out of all of the players because he has a clear playing style that we love – me especially – and we’ve always shown our best side and had chances to win even when we’ve lost.
I just love that bit about being "the protagonists." That's really all we've wanted to see after so many seasons of passive, reactive football.
Previewing FA Cup Round 3 — Burnley
Burnley manager Vincent Kompany has said that this tie comes at the "right time" for them, and it's hard to necessarily disagree with him. If they are going to have a chance of beating us this would be the time to do it, with several key players for Spurs still injured or absent due to their regional tournaments. Notably, when we beat them earlier in the season in the PL we had goals from Son Heung-min (a hat trick), Cristian Romero, and James Maddison—the full captains scoreline. None of them will feature in tomorrow's FA Cup matchup.
However, we can still do some damage even with our weakened squad. Dejan Kulusevski will be back from suspension and required at right winger so Brennan Johnson can fill in for Son on the left. In the midfield, Giovani Lo Celso will likely assume the #10 role while one of Oliver Skipp or Pierre-Emile Højbjerg joins Rodrigo Bentancur in the double pivot.
And on a positive note, Micky van de Ven is likely to be involved in the squad, though perhaps not starting. It would be great to see him get his first minutes back since picking up his hamstring injury against Chelsea on November 6. We won't have too much quality available off the bench though, and are particularly thin in the forward depth chart with confirmation that Alejo Véliz has a knee injury that will keep him out for a couple of months (thankfully not requiring surgery).
My general disclaimer about needing to take the cups more seriously still applies, and it seems like Ange is on the same wavelength if his press conference is anything to go by.
It's about putting yourself in a position where you can compete for these things regularly and give yourself a real opportunity to win every competition you're in... I'm determined to bring success to the football club.
Hopefully the misstep against Fulham in the League Cup was an aberration. We don't play again until next Sunday, so there's really no reason not to go all out in the quest for a Round 4 berth.
Transfer talk
Most of the long-term movement has been on the Women's side, so let's start there.
Spurs Women
• Matilda Vinberg has signed on a free transfer from Hammarby IF, with a contract running until 2026.
The club has billed her as an attacking midfielder but I believe she has primarily played on the wing. She noted in her welcome interview that physicality is a big part of her game, and you can see that in the clip below.
🇸🇪🌬️pic.twitter.com/VaOGcnb0lc
— Simon Yemane (@simonyemane) January 2, 2024
The pressing, the audacity of the shot, the quality of the shot! Wow. Join me on the hype train. Plus, she's only 20-years-old, so who knows what her ceiling is.
• The next day we got news of two transfers, one outgoing and one incoming.
Shelina Zadorsky is departing on loan to West Ham for the second half of the season, and her Spurs contract will be expiring in the summer. I'm sure she has plans to move back to NWSL to be closer to home, but you never know. She's been a great servant to the club so we can only wish her well—except for when we play West Ham, when she will be ineligible to play anyway.
Then, the long-rumored signing of Charlotte "Charli" Grant finally came to fruition with a contract till 2026. Her contract with Vittsjö GIK was also up, so it's another savvy free transfer for Spurs Women's recruitment team. She had interest from Arsenal as well and it's encouraging to see us finally becoming a bonafide destination club in the WSL. Both she and Vinberg cited their excitement to work with Robert Vilahamn, whom they are very familiar with having played against his BK Häcken team in the Damallsvenskan. At 22 years of age, Grant is another young player with lots of potential and an important addition to the left side of the defense.
Both of these January signings represent Vilahamn's focus on youth development, and particularly developing our own players rather than loan players.
Spurs Men
Although the Men's team has yet to make an incoming transfer, there has been plenty of other activity, including loan recalls, another contract extension, a retirement, and more.
• Dane Scarlett has been recalled from his loan at Ipswich Town. Since they are making a strong push for promotion he hasn't gotten as many minutes as Spurs would have liked for his development. Unfortunately, he made an appearance for us in the League Cup before leaving for his loan, so he is unable to go out on another loan for the second half of the season. Scarlett is likely to be a rotation option for Richarlison in the next stretch of games as Son Heung-min is away at the Asian Cup and Alejo Véliz looks to be facing an injury layoff.
• Sergio Reguilón was also recalled early from his loan at Manchester United—or rather, sent home early by United (h/t Dan Kilpatrick).
Djed Spence was also returned early by his loan club, Leeds United.
It's unclear whether one or both of those players will be immediately heading out on another loan, but it seems likely from my perspective, with Reguilón perhaps more likely to stay since Destiny Udogie's usual backup, Ben Davies, has been deputizing at LCB instead.
• Academy goalkeeper Josh Keeley has joined National League side Barnet on loan for the remainder of the season. You may recall that Spurs already have a connection with this club, as Spurs Women shared their stadium, the Hive, until moving to Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road last season.
• Pape Sarr extended his contract until 2030 in a major coup for the squad's long term prospects. As an added boost, he will soon qualify as a homegrown player for Spurs.
• Finally, the club announced on Saturday that Hugo Lloris was departing the club to join LAFC in MLS. He got a farewell presentation during halftime of the Bournemouth game so fans could thank him for his many years of service to the club.
Hugo reflected on his exit from Tottenham:
It's time for me to say goodbye but it's goodbye from the player not from the man. I will be a Spurs man for the rest of my life.
Prior to this season, he had been captain of the club since 2014 and is 7th for all-time appearances for Spurs. Besides winning the World Cup with France during his time at Tottenham, he also led the club out for the Champions League final in 2019.
As a relatively recent adopter of the COYS lifestyle I can't say I have super strong feelings about Hugo as I know many of you do, but no one can doubt his loyalty to the club. Hopefully he will follow in Gareth Bale's footsteps and help LAFC win another title.
The transfer window is only just beginning, so expect some more moves soon (fingers crossed).
Every time we try to pull out of transfer gossip nonsense, they Dragusin. https://t.co/NnIjJio52Y
— Adam Powley (@adampowley) January 2, 2024
News from around the Lane
• Molly Bartrip played every single minute of the WSL for Spurs last calendar year, and also led the league in minutes played.
• Bethany England was joint-third top scorer in the WSL in 2023, tied with Elisabeth Terland. Keep in mind that she only played the second half of the 2022/23 season plus the last two games of the current campaign.
• Ria Percival was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to football, including co-captaining her national team to its first-ever win in the World Cup last summer.
• Ange Postecoglou reflected on his first half-season with the club:
I've loved my first six months as head coach of this fantastic football club. We are still very much in the early stages of our journey. We have been moving in the right direction in terms of the squad, style of play, results and hopefully you are enjoying the team we are becoming.
Are we ever!
Pub chat: Bonus bookmarks roundup
Just a few articles I have enjoyed in the last few weeks:
Asif Burhan
With all the speculation around the first keeper spot at Spurs Women, this interview sheds some light on Barbora Votíková's struggles to rebound from an ACL injury with PSG and revive her career at Tottenham.
This feature from the club is a very candid interview with Spurs Women captain Beth England about her recent injury and return to play, as well as her working relationship with new manager Robert Vilahamn.
Charlotte Harpur and Charlie Eccleshare
This piece from the Athletic was making the rounds a couple of weeks ago, but seriously, if you haven't read it yet please do. There's so much to dig into, from Robert's management philosophy, the assistant coaches and staff's various roles, and quotes from the players themselves. I also appreciated the insights into Spurs Women's executive approach.
Charlotte Harpur
Likewise, this piece about the lack of scouting infrastructure in the women's game was quite illuminating. There are a couple of Spurs Women-related bits in there.
View more posts
I'll be sharing my mid-season review for Spurs Women after the official halfway point of the WSL campaign (after the next match against West Ham), but in the meantime, check out this piece by Rachel Cohen that recaps the entirety of 2023 for the team, over on the newly rebranded Impetus 71.
Whew, that was a lot! Thanks for your patience as I enjoyed some much-needed holiday quality time with visiting family. The newsletter will be back to regularly scheduled programming now.
I also wanted to say thank you for all the support y'all showed to the newsletter last year. I have reset my Ko-fi fundraising goal for 2024 to hopefully get the hosting costs on Ghost covered again. Last year I reached 128% of that goal, so again, thank you for making this humble fan newsletter possible and allowing me to keep subscriptions free.
COYS
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