Sink or Swim
There was a noticeably youthful feel to both Spurs cup games this past midweek, from the pitch to the reinforcements on the bench. Robert Vilahamn utilized young players for both rotation and development—even giving one player her senior debut with the club—while Ange Postecoglou did so out of necessity during the ongoing injury crisis. Only Spurs Women managed a win in their League Cup group stage finale, but at least Spurs Men gained a point to maintain the status quo in the Europa Leaguephase table.
In this issue: Crystal Palace recap | Rangers recap | Previewing the weekend fixtures
This weekend, Spurs Women play their last match until the FA Cup campaign begins in mid-January. Unlike Spurs Men, they get a winter break to rest and recover. I wish the Premier League believed in such concepts, but alas, the grind continues.
Since I only got to watch about 60 minutes of Women's game (no) thanks to SpursPlay technical issues and was heavily multitasking during the Men's game, I'm going to shorten the match recaps even more than usual for the midweek issue. The real recap was the friends we made along the way.
Women's League Cup Group Stage Matchday 3 recap | Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Tottenham
Vinberg 50', Dennis 71'
Honestly, this was the platonic ideal of a midweek cup game. Lots of players got minutes, the scoreline was fairly comfortable (albeit after a scoreless first half), and a handful of young players got to shine under the spotlight.
Starting XI:
Robert Vilahamn had promised rotation for this game, and he made seven changes from the previous WSL match lineup. Only four of those rested players were even on the bench, and only two of them (Clare Hunt and Beth England) made it onto the pitch as substitutes. Vilahamn also made use of a halftime double change (which included Hunt) to keep the squad fresh and balance the workload for players who recently returned from injury (Luana Bühler and Maite Oroz). Overall it was smart, effective player management that didn't jeopardize the result.
Highlight headlines:
• Third straight start for Eleanor Heeps in all competitions, and second cup clean sheet.
• Maite Oroz makes first start since injury spell.
• Player-of-the-match-worthy performance from Lenna Gunning-Williams.
• Proof of life from Wang Shuang as she makes her first appearance of the season—and impresses!
• Still no goal for Martha Thomas, but her selfless assist started the scoring.
• Matilda Vinberg strikes for her first goal of the season.
• Araya Dennis scores her first Spurs goal with a first Spurs assist from Anna Csiki.
• Zara Bailey makes her senior debut at left fullback.
• Nearly a perfect group stage, except for the one conceded goal on matchday 1.
Bonus bookmark:
You have to watch Zara Bailey's post-game interview simply for the adorable cameo from Beth England.
Who wouldn't want that vote of confidence from their captain?
Europa League Matchday 6 recap | Rangers 1 - 1 Tottenham
Igamane 47' | Kulusevski 75'
This was always going to be one of the toughest away games in the Leaguephase because of the Ibrox atmosphere, but it was made doubly so by the current injury crisis. We are truly down to bare bones with four Academy players making up the numbers for the bench (five if you want to include Will Lankshear, though I don't think I would). Speaking of the bench, we needed a spark of quality from Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski to rescue the point.
Starting XI:
With Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur both suspended for Sunday's Premier League match against Southampton, they both started the midweek game—and got subbed out early at the same time, in the 60th minute. This weekend will be a huge opportunity for Lucas Bergvall if he can seize his moment, although I don't feel entirely confident that he can.
Surprisingly not the problem:
• Fraser Forster — He made several big saves and (more crucially) no major errors in distribution.
• The centerback duo of Radu Drăgușin and Archie Gray — They stayed organized and didn't directly contribute to the goal concession, while also getting a potential Rangers winner chalked off for offside by holding their line.
Definitely the problem:
• Both fullbacks, Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro — They are simply exhausted and cannot be held fully responsible for their mistakes, in my opinion. They both desperately need more rest, but unless Ange finally decides to trust Djed Spence this weekend or Ben Davies makes a miraculous early recovery from his hamstring issue, rest won't be happening for either of them.
• Pretty much the entire midfield contingent — It's telling that both of the players who literally can't see the pitch on Sunday were nevertheless yanked early. And Lucas Bergvall was dangerously close to getting himself sent off for the second time in this competition.
Was in all the right places but lacked the proper finishing:
• Brennan Johnson — get back off Instagram, my dude.
On Santa Ange's naughty list:
• Timo Werner — Zurück nach Deutschland im Januar, I'm afraid. Ange said it all after the game:
He wasn't playing anywhere near the levels he can. When you've got 18-year-olds, it's not acceptable to me. I told him that. He's a senior international, a German international. In the moment we're in now, I need everyone to be at least going out there and giving the best they can. What he produced wasn't acceptable. When I'm asking the younger players to do massive jobs, I expect more from the senior players like him.
Previewing WSL Matchday 10 - Brighton & Hove Albion
Robert Vilahamn noted that we are now "looking upwards instead of downwards" at the Women's Super League table after a couple of valuable wins in the league (plus a further morale boost in the League Cup).
But in my estimation, this next fixture against Brighton will be the true indicator of how the campaign is going to progress. So far we've only beaten teams below us in the table and Brighton have had an unexpectedly strong start to the season. Indeed, fail to win and the gap to reach 5th place probably becomes insurmountable barring a drastic dip in form from Brighton for the rest of the season. In such a small league, the margins for table movement can quickly become very slim.
Brighton have been far less consistent than Spurs in the last few games across all competitions, but they do come into this game with a bigger goal-scoring boost than we do; they put six past Championship side Bristol City (admittedly inferior opposition to our own opponent, WSL team Crystal Palace). Before that, they had a dramatic 4-2 loss at Chelsea in the league and a scoreless draw against Leicester City in the League Cup (losing the bonus penalty shootout).
I've not had a chance to watch much of Brighton yet this season, but I'm excited to see their new signing Kiko Seike in action. She transferred to the Seagulls from Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan's top-flight WE League. Seike has already scored five WSL goals, joint third in the Golden Boot race (I say this like it even matters when we all know Bunny Shaw is going to—deservedly—win).
But Seike isn't the only attacking threat for Brighton; they've also had contributions from two veteran signings, Nikita Parris and Fran Kirby. Jelena Čanković was another smart signing for their midfield.
For Spurs, Beth England is really starting to heat up, so expect her to be front and center in the forward line. But elsewhere in the lineup, plenty of players are starting to challenge for spots, none more so than in the centerback partnership. On a positive note, I'm feeling better about our ability to bring on game-changers from the bench with more players getting healthy and young players like Lenna Gunning-Williams and Araya Dennis starting to make their mark.
Fitness-wise, we had two players who missed out on the cup game with illness, Becky Spencer and Amanda Nildén. They've both been back in training but only Nildén is likely to feature.
It's not going to be an easy game, but if we can pull off a win, those three points are going to feel very satisfying.
Previewing Premier League Matchday 16 — Southampton
Rounding out the weekend, Spurs Men have a must-win game (if only for morale) against relegation-threatened Southampton. We can at least be relieved that they've already earned their first Premier League win this season (against Everton), so we can't suffer that indignity again like we did with Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace before them.
Alex McCarthy has been starting for them in goal while who I presume would be their first two choices for keeper (Aaron Ramsdale and Gavin Bazunu) are both injured. Elsewhere in the squad, we'll be welcoming back our old friend Kyle Walker-Peters. I'm not saying this just to be sassy, but the Southampton squad had big "he plays there now?!" energy. Or in some cases, "he's still playing?".
I'm kind of bummed that Ross Stewart is injured because I enjoyed watching him on the Sunderland 'Til I Die documentary series.
Y'all already know what our injury situation is. It hasn't changed. I joked earlier about Ben Davies making a miraculous recovery, and although that's not an actual possibility for Sunday, Ange shared that there's a chance he does return before the new year after all. We'll take the (somewhat) good news where we can.
I guess their manager, Russell Martin, has been saying kind things in defense of Ange Postecoglou's policy of sticking doggedly to the plan. Martin has done the same with his squad, encouraging them to play on the front foot despite being outmatched by the majority of the teams in the league. So this one could be fun. Or it could be an absolute mess. Tune in to find out!
One quick note before the weekend begins: the Women's League Cup quarterfinal draw will be taking place on Monday 12/16 at 12:30 UK time/6:30 CT. There is only one remaining Championship club, Durham, so fingers crossed we luck out and draw them. All three of the WSL clubs that had byes for the group stage due to participation in the Champions League—Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City—will be entering the fray, with Manchester United, West Ham United, and Brighton rounding out the draw.
I actually have a fairly good feeling about both teams' chances this weekend. With that,
COYS
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