Sluggish Start

Woof. That was not the start to the season that we wanted in any way, shape, or form. There are countless caveats to attach to the result, a 3-0 away loss at Brentford, but at the end of the day, the team that took to the pitch was not competitive enough.

That doesn't mean we need to write off Spurs Men's hopes for the rest of the season after just one game. But it's clear that there is still plenty of work to be done on the training ground.

In this issue: Brentford recap | Pre-season check-in | Transfer talk | News from around the Lane

As we wait for transfer news of further attacking reinforcements following Sávio's signing, it's time for the existing squad to shift focus to the League Cup. We enter in Round Two with a home draw against Charlton Athletic. After the disappointment of opening day in the Premier League, the team will surely want to bounce back with a strong performance, but there is a tough PL matchup with Newcastle United right around the corner on the weekend, so there may be some tough decisions to make about the lineup.

Read on for a recap of the loss at Brentford, takeaways from the latest Spurs Women friendly, and some transfer & club news.

(Programming note: I'm planning to keep things pretty open-ended with my match recaps this season in lieu of a strict format. So some games there will be more free-form thoughts, sometimes good old-fashioned bullet-point takeaways, and maybe even player spotlights or special topics from time to time. The notable & quotable segment will remain an ever-present feature, though.)

PL MD 1 | Brentford 3 - 0 Tottenham

Lewis-Potter 12', Janelt 33', Kayode 49'

It's always difficult to know who has the proper fitness for opening day, especially following this summer's World Cup. The upshot this year is that there were a few surprising and/or suboptimal lineup decisions in the starting XI.

Newly named captain Micky van de Ven and one of his co-captains, Pedro Porro, were both unavailable, and Mateus Fernandes apparently deemed unready for a full 90 minutes. Archie Gray, Marcos Senesi, and Andy Robertson stood in for them in the lineup, respectively. It would have been better to see Gray in his preferred midfield spot where he is more effective, and there was a noticeable difference in quality from Senesi compared to Van de Ven's standard. Senesi barely had a pre-season, so I'm willing to cut him some slack, but this was close to qualifying as a "disasterclass" debut from the new signing. Robertson, on the other hand, was one of the better performers on the day, for what it was worth.

It was less surprising to see Richarlison get the nod at striker considering that Dominic Solanke had been dealing with a knock and Richarlison had a strong pre-season, but the Brazilian was unable to impact the game (in fairness to him, he wasn't getting much service).

Lucas Bergvall was another surprise inclusion, especially as a player who had been linked with a move away from the club over the summer. He struggles when called upon to defend, as evidenced by his error that led directly to Spurs conceding a goal, and as a consequence Sandro Tonali was also forced to play further back than usual to (attempt to) compensate. Tonali barely made an impact in the game as a result, though once Fernandes subbed in at halftime the midfield situation improved. Conor Gallagher remains a weak link and disappointing signing from the January transfer window. His decision to take a wild shot rather than look for an open teammate near the box scuppered a chance to equalize shortly after Brentford's opening goal, and we really could have used some attacking momentum at that stage of the game.

But to circle back to Bergvall, who was substituted at halftime to make way for Fernandes, this was not the performance he would have wanted to show why he deserves starter's minutes. That goes for the entire starting midfield, though, to be fair. I saw multiple posts on Bluesky referring to them as a "golden retriever" midfield lineup, and that sums it up neatly. Too much boisterious energy and good intentions, not enough focus or finesse.

As for the chances we did create, Mikey Moore quailed under the pressure of returning to the starting lineup at the Premier League level and sent a couple of weak efforts at Brentford's keeper, Caoimhín Kelleher. Moore had previously only started in three PL matches in the 2024/25 season, prior to his season-long loan at Rangers, and he has yet to score a goal in the English top flight (his only senior goal for Spurs came in our run to the Europa League title). Part of the pressure Moore faces, it must be noted, is that there is no one currently fit to suitably replace him in the starting lineup, unless playing out of position. This is a real sink-or-swim moment for him, and we should remember that he's still only 19 years old as of this month.

It was interesting to see such divided opinion on Mathys Tel in online discussion of the game. I thought his known issue with defensive decision-making was apparent once again, but he was one of the few bright sparks in the attack from the starting lineup along with Robertson and Moore. The three of them shared the majority of the attacking possession for Spurs.

But if we want to talk about making bad decisions in the defensive third, Rodrigo Bentancur spared Tel's blushes by committing a penalty foul not long after subbing into the game. Bentancur could leave the club tomorrow and I would not miss him. Too often he's a liability on defense, and it's been a long time since he was at his peak in terms of contributing to the attack.

Antonín Kinský also got a reprieve from having his frustrating night in goal become even worse when Igor Thiago sent his penalty kick directly at the goalpost. I have serious doubts about Kinský's ability to be a PL-caliber keeper, but I know most of y'all will not want to hear that, so let's just say it's something I'm keeping an eye on for now. His backup, Martin Dúbravka, undoubtedly was such a keeper, but he's at the tail end of his career now at 37 years old and on his fourth club in the league.

On a positive note, we got signs of life from three players with fitness concerns heading into the season: James Maddison, Solanke, and Destiny Udogie. Hopefully Van de Ven and Porro are just being held out precautionarily, and we might see them within the next two games as well. Unfortunately, there are several more players whose returns from injury are on unknown or extended timetables, and primarily in the attacking portion of the squad—the area we most urgently need reinforcement.

But as I said before, it's too early to be manning the panic stations. Those needed attacking reinforcements sound likely to be arriving through the transfer market this week, and I believe that once Fernandes is up to full fitness and able to start and complement the midfielders with other roles, that area of the squad can also provide a needed boost to the attack. I don't want to ignore the obvious calamity of conceding three unanswered goals, but the defense will likewise be a different picture once our preferred left centerback and right fullback have been restored to the lineup.

We also aren't the only "top team" (it goes without saying that that phrase is based on historical performance, not the last two seasons...) who struggled on matchday 1. Aston Villa did us a favor and lost by four goals, so at least we won't be dead last in the table. I suspect that because this is a post-World Cup season, we will continue to see some strange results for a few weeks yet. After the first three-week international break, we will likely get a better idea of who is going to contend this season and who will have to worry about relegation. Fingers crossed that Spurs fall into the former camp.

Notable & quotable:

• Archie Gray became the youngest-ever captain for Spurs Men in a competitive match at 20 years 163 days old, beating Steve Perryman's previous record of 20 years 260 days. This was an unfortunate result for him to have to carry on his first game as captain, but he did not shirk from the duty of the post-game interview.

• Five players made their Spurs competitive debuts: Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke, and Mateus Fernandes.

• This year's opening result was a total reversal of last season's opener, when we beat Burnley 3-0.

• The last time Spurs were held scoreless in the Premier League season opener was the 0-1 loss to Everton on September 13, 2020 (it was a late start for the season due to the pandemic).

• Last season we were unbeaten against Brentford, and the last time we lost to Brentford was the 1-3 home game loss on May 20, 2023.

Pre-season check-in

Spurs Women are still plugging away at their pre-season preparations, and although we weren't able to stream the latest friendly, the match report offered some interesting takeaways from the 5-3 win over Birmingham City:

• We scored a lot, with five distinct goal-scorers—but also conceded three goals

• Tōko Koga and Caitlin Dijkstra both scored from the back line, with the latter netting her first goal in a Spurs shirt, a header from a corner kick
• In addition to there not being any repeat scorers in this friendly, that has been the case across all three friendlies so far, with seven players in total having scored one goal each

• As for the goals conceded, Martin Ho noted in his post-game comments that:

We didn't win enough duels, we were second to a lot of balls, which isn't good enough for us as a level, and then we gave them too many transitions... We need to be a little bit more disciplined, a little bit more controlled.

• While Lize Kop conceded both goals to Real Madrid in the previous friendly, all three in this game were conceded while new signing Selma Panengstuen was between the sticks, so the battle to claim the starting spot would appear to continue

• Hanna Wijk has returned to play after rehabbing an MCL injury suffered in April, just eight games into her Spurs career

• On the opposite side of availability, new signing Alice Sombath has not yet featured in pre-season nor even been included in a friendly matchday squad, so it seems unlikely that she will be ready for the opening match on September 6

• Clare Hunt and Lenna Gunning-Williams have also not featured due to injury/surgery recovery, and Jess Naz and Maite Oroz are both still recovering from ACL injuries

There is one more friendly left before the season starts, against Bristol City on August 30. It is also taking place at Hotspur Way and will not be streaming.

Transfer talk

Spurs Men

• Brazilian winger Sávio has joined from Manchester City. His game time at City had dropped off in his second season at the Manchester club, only making seven starts in the last Premier League campaign. But at 22 years old, he still has lots of untapped potential to develop.

I do worry about what this signing means for Mathys Tel in terms of competition for the left winger spot, though if the current striker options continue to underwhelm, he could be given a chance in that role (arguably his preferred position since his time at Bayern Munich). However, Sávio can also play on the right side, which is a bigger area of need right now with only young Mikey Moore available to fill that position otherwise.

Frankly, while we're still carrying so many medium-to-long term injuries in the forwards contingent, it's better to have competition for spots than not. And he seems genuinely jazzed to be at Spurs, so I'm all for it.

Spurs Women

• Anna Csiki has departed the club on a permanent transfer to Benfica. Let's be honest, her signing never made a lot of sense in the first place, and the length of the contract was absurd. But I still wish her well in her post-Spurs career, because none of that was her fault.

• Araya Dennis is going on loan to Leicester City in the WSL2 for the season. As I mentioned last issue, she was going to need a loan for regular game time since both Ella Morris and Hanna Wijk have returned to fitness. But as one of our homegrown prospects, I hope Dennis has a successful loan and comes back next season ready to fight for a place in the squad.

Men's Academy

• Oliver Irow is going on loan to Plymouth Argyle in League One this season.

News from around the Lane

• Following the informal announcement of the leadership group for Spurs Men earlier in the week, the club has now officially confirmed Micky van de Ven and his co-captains, and also shared who the equivalent leaders will be for Spurs Women this season—though Martin Ho prefers to call them the "performance group" instead.

Drew Spence will join Van de Ven as the club's First Team Captains, and Spence is joined in the performance group by Jess Naz, Eveliina Summanen, Tōko Koga, Julie Blakstad, and Caitlin Dijkstra.

Spence was the clear frontrunner to wear the armband for Spurs Women; she has the necessary tenure and experience, leads by example on the pitch, and has always earned the respect of her teammates and coaches. She has also served as a mentor for players in the Academy. Big congratulations to Drew!

I was a little surprised by a few of the players chosen to make up the rest of the performance group. Naz and Summanen made sense as long-tenured players who have already demonstrated leadership throughout their time at Spurs, but other players who have been with the team for several seasons were passed over in favor of much more recent signings. Koga has shown a lot of maturity in her performances, so I have no problem with her being selected and look forward to her growing into her leadership role, but I will admit I'm a bit skeptical about Blakstad and Dijkstra. Blakstad has never struck me as a particularly composed player, but perhaps she's showing other qualities off the pitch that we don't get to see. And Dijkstra may bring a lot of experience from her previous clubs, but I'm not a huge fan of giving a brand new player captain's armband privileges, even if it's unlikely that there will be a scenario where she's actually called upon to don it. I know Ho will have his reasons for including each of these players that we are not privy to, so I suppose we should just get behind them!

• The Men's Academy U21s had a successful start to their PL2 campaign, beating Newcastle United in a 1-3 away win.

Up next:

August 26 | Spurs Men vs Charlton Athletic (League Cup)
Team news — Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven are both available for selection after missing the Premier League opener, as well as new signing Sávio; James Maddison is out of contention after suffering a shoulder injury; Mohammed Kudus is not yet available

It doesn't always mean much at this early stage of the season, but Charlton Athletic enter our League Cup matchup with some positive form thanks to their Round One away win over Cheltenham Town followed by two wins to open their Championship campaign. That includes an away win over newly relegated West Ham United in matchday 2. So, in other words, we can't take them too lightly as lower-division opposition early in the cup.

A Charlton player to watch is goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo, whom they just signed on loan from Wrexham. I watch a lot of Wrexham, and I get why they opted to bring in Anthony Patterson as their #1, but Okonkwo has some brilliant saves in him, so it's definitely Charlton's gain. Put it this way: Mikey Moore is going to need to be far more ruthless with his chances in this game than he was against Brentford if he wants to get past Okonkwo.

As for Spurs' goalkeeping, I suspect Antonin Kinský will start rather than getting an early cup game rest, merely to boost his confidence after the tough Premier League opener. The rest of the lineup decisions will be about balancing fitness concerns with the need to continue bedding in the new signings—not to mention, you know, progressing in the cup. I certainly do not want to see the domestic cups sacrificed this season since we are not realistic contenders for the league title.

I'll close with a link to a new feature from ESPN's Emily Keough on Spurs Women, covering the team's summer transfer business, Martin Ho's impact, and the culture change taking place at the club.

Ho has not only sought to improve Spurs on the pitch, but to establish a culture throughout the organization that makes competing at that level feel achievable rather than aspirational.

Fingers crossed that the progress we've seen under Ho so far continues this season.

And let's also hope for a successful cup result from Spurs Men tomorrow!

COYS

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