The Circle of Injury

Truly, the toughest part of being a sports fan is knowing that injuries are not only inevitable but often have the worst timing possible. We already got a taste of that with the Men's team last week and now the injury bug has hit Spurs Women. When it rains, it pours.

While the Men get a slight reprieve with the international break (although most of the squad is involved with internationals, including some Academy players), the Women embark on a stretch of three matches in eight days across the WSL and Conti Cup before their own international break.

At least we got one happy update on the injury front: Ellie Brazil returned to play for the first time since tearing her ACL in just her third appearance for Spurs.

We'll see if she's able to break into a competitive starting lineup as the season goes forward, but regardless, it's great to have more depth in the squad. And Robert Vilahamn suggested that Beth England could possibly make her return from hip surgery before the winter break; there are three games in seven days from December 10-16, so even just having her available as a substitute would be huge for that difficult portion of the fixture schedule.

Read on for recaps of both weekend matches and a preview of the WSL matchup with Leicester.

In this issue: Wolves recap | Liverpool recap | Previewing Leicester | News from around the Lane

PL Matchday 12 recap | Wolves 2- 1 Tottenham

Sarabia 90+1', Lemina 90+7' | Johnson 3'

For the second week in a row, the Men's team got off to a falsely auspicious start—albeit with a less dramatic remainder of the game this time. But the end result was the same, and the team has now picked up zero points from the last two fixtures following the club's best-ever start to a season in the Premier League era.

I'm of two minds with this one. On the one hand, we nearly pulled off a win at a tricky away ground despite dealing with so many obstacles heading into the match, and that effort should be commended. On the other hand, there was such a clear drop-off between this rotated (by necessity) squad and Ange Postecoglou's usual starting lineup that it made me feel pessimistic about our chances of picking up points in the near future.

One thing that is clear: the points we accumulated in the first ten matches are looking even more important now at this turning point, close to the third-way mark of the season. It buys us some time to weather the injury storm until important players like James Maddison and Micky van de Ven return, as well as the staggered returns from suspension for Destiny Udogie and Yves Bissouma. I know I'm thankful that we have this buffer to avoid slipping too far down the table before the turn of the year.

There was a lot of speculation about what the team selection would look like for this Wolves matchup, including in this newsletter, so let's take a look at the lineup Ange chose.

Starting XI:

Because of the lack of a bonafide playmaker in this lineup, it was more of a flat 4-3-3 formation than the 4-2-3-1 we were accustomed to utilizing with Maddison in the #10 role. And I think it's fair to say that the balance of the midfield felt a little muddled consequently.

Ben Davies was probably one of our better performers on the day, but his fellow left-sider, Emerson Royal, struggled—probably because he is much more comfortable on the right side of the defense. It will be good to have Destiny Udogie back for the next game. Eric Dier did about as well as could be expected playing in a tactical system that exposes his personal weaknesses.

Unfortunately, the midfield selection dilemma will continue into the next game since Yves Bissouma earned a suspension for yellow card accumulation. You can't say that he will be particularly missed at the moment, though; he's been playing well below his standard for several weeks now, perhaps due to the looming threat of suspension. It's fortunate that Rodrigo Bentancur is now back from injury and could even be fit enough to start a game after the international break. It says a lot about how far Oliver Skipp has fallen in the pecking order that he's not been a realistic option.

Brennan Johnson made the most of his second start of the season by scoring his first goal for Spurs, after some superb work from Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro in the buildup. Deki pulled off a cheeky backheel pass to Porro, who sent in a dangerous cross that Johnson was able to get on the end of in a congested six-yard box for a tap-in. Porro had also shown some keen awareness to let Royal's switching pass glide past him to Kulusevski in space. This was Angeball at its finest, and it's a shame we didn't see much more of it throughout the rest of the game. Johnson himself will need to work on putting together a more consistent performance over the 90 minutes to take the next step in his career with Spurs.

Let's just fast forward to stoppage time and Wolves' two quickfire goals to win the game.

On the first, they worked quickly off a throw-in (conceded by a poor pass out from the back by Dier) to progress the ball, from Hwang Hee-chan to Matheus Cunha, who registered the assist for substitute Pablo Sarabia's goal. But Sarabia deserves the lions share of credit for the goal; he deftly brought the ball down after beating Pierre-Emile Højbjerg to the chase (although it's more accurate to say that PEH was switched off and never in the chase) and hitting the volley with his second touch. There wasn't much Guglielmo Vicario could have realistically done to save that shot from going in.

On the second, Sarabia turned assister after receiving a pass from just inside Wolves' half by Thomas Doyle, another substite. Mario Lemina entered the box untracked by PEH (once again) and put his shot past Vicario. The sad thing is that Dier would have pulled off the offside trap for Lemina if it weren't for Porro keeping him onside. Dier is a little more savvy with these situations of defending from inside the box, whereas Porro is more adept at defending from near the halfway line (i.e. using his pace to recover). Sadly for Dier, he's a convenient scapegoat for the fanbase to blame because of past performances. As for Porro, I am willing to cut him some slack since he had a very strong game up until stoppage time, including his assist for Johnson's goal.

Substitutes made the difference for Wolves, and it begs the question: should Ange have made a late change or two for Spurs? While I hate to single out individual players for culpability when it comes to goals, it's hard to overlook that Højbjerg was at the scene of the crime for both goals conceded late on. Perhaps a swap for Jamie Donley would have brought some fresh legs and motivation to the midfield to see out the game, even if Donley lacks Premier League experience. Or if Donley weren't to be trusted yet, Skipp could have been given another chance to prove his worth in the squad—with the caveat that we've seen him make similar mistakes in defense in the past. Or for another idea, we could have adopted the "offense is the best defense" strategy and subbed Alejo Véliz in for Son Heung-min to add fresh legs to the attack—although he too could have suffered from the lack of service that Sonny did for most of the game (barring one chance in the second half that he really should have put away). In case it isn't obvious by now, this was a match where Spurs were short on good options and had to settle for "good enough."

Like I alluded to before, this loss doesn't harm our standing in the league too much; we're still in 4th place, just one point below both Liverpool & Arsenal and two points below league leaders Manchester City. It could definitely be worse. On the flipside, fifth-place Aston Villa are only one point below us—but we play them next, so there's an opportunity to put some distance between us if Ange can fine-tune the tactics and get the most out of a depleted squad.

And if you want to find another silver lining, consider that we lost the same fixture away at Wolves last season and didn't even score a goal then. Progress, I suppose?

SAtP Player of the Match: Brennan Johnson

Let's be honest, nobody in the squad put in a consistent performance across the 90+ minutes, so I may as well give it to the only player who scored. Ben Davies and Pedro Porro were the only other real contenders.

Notable and quotable:

• Across the last two matches we have conceded four goals in stoppage time.

• In the same stretch, we've only scored one goal per game.

• The flurry of goals conceded and lack of goals scored has left us with the worst goal difference in the top 5.

• While I think the head official, Tim Robinson, didn't get any major decisions wrong (bar missing a red card strike out on Son's face by Craig Dawson), this was definitely another game where Spurs got screwed by uneven treatment when it comes to fouling. This has been an effective strategy for opposition teams to break up our attack's momentum and it's frustrating to see referees continue to allow it while not showing the same leniency towards our players.

Sorry, no actual quotes this week! I listened to post-match interviews but didn't retain anything, it would seem, except for Johnson's general comment that the team sat back too much after scoring the goal. It wasn't as bad as a Conte- or Mourniho-era level of sitting back, but I agree that the attack was a bit too subdued and it ultimately cost us the win.

WSL Matchday 6 recap | Tottenham 1 - 1 Liverpool

Bizet 27' | Haug 66'

The Women's team had the same scoreline as the previous week, this time against the other team from Liverpool. At least the conceded goal didn't come as late in the game and we had chances to wrest back the win, as did Liverpool have chances to make a comeback. A draw ended up feeling like the fair result all said.

There were a few positives to take from the game, which I'll get into shortly, but the big negative was Olga Ahtinen's injury in stoppage time. We learned yesterday that although she avoided the worst case scenario of an ACL injury, she did injure her MCL and will be out for a few weeks. Although you could interpret Robert Vilahamn's statement that Ahtinen will be back "on the grass directly after the New Year" two different ways, I'm choosing to believe it means that she'll be back in the matchday squad by our first game of 2024 on January 20 since the typical recovery time for an MCL injury is around six weeks, which would put her back in training immediately after the winter break.

With that somewhat relieving though still disappointing news out of the way, let's get back to the game.

Starting XI:

Robert made just one change from the previous match, with Kit Graham replacing Drew Spence as the playmaker. We later learned that Spence had picked up a mild hamstring injury in training and will be out for 2-3 weeks, so we might not see her until after the next break if they're being cautious. And to be honest, I would support a little caution since we have three huge games following the break and will need a player with Drew's experience against the top teams. That being said, I thought Graham had a good game overall and it was important for her to get a start.

Both teams had big chances in the first half, so of course we scored off the complete opposite of a big chance. Celin Bizet's goal (her first of the season) was somewhat reminiscent of the Puskás Award-winning goal Son scored a few seasons back against Burnley, but Bizet arguably had more to do since she was unassisted (yes, Jan Vertonghen would want me to remind everyone that he did indeed pass Sonny the ball). After Becky Spencer's pass out from the box was contested by Bizet and Liverpool's Taylor Hinds in our half, Celin used her physicality to win the ball and carry it away through the center of the pitch, keeping her head up the whole time to find the clearest path. That path was aided by Martha Thomas' clever decoy run that opened up space at the edge of Liverpool's box for Celin to shoot. She kept her shot low and towards the far post, making it too difficult for Rachael Laws to save.

It was an industrious run, and you could see Bizet visibly collecting her breath as she jogged over to the corner flag for a funny boxing celebration.

If you haven't yet watched this clip of Celin explaining her strategy during the goal run, you simply must. I implore you.

She had another chance to score not long after but it hit the crossbar and nearly ricocheted in. On another positive note, she played nearly the entire game for once, not subbing out until the 84th minute. The two things that have been slightly holding her game back have been her finishing and her fitness, and it looks like she may be turning the corner on both this season.

Although Luana Bühler was able to play the full first half, she then received strapping on her thigh from the training staff and did a fitness test at halftime, at which point it was decided that she would sit for the second half. Amy Turner replaced her to make her first appearance of the season in any competition. She got off to a really strong start and I thought perhaps the magic dust surrounding the club this season had positively affected her too, but she made a couple of errors later on—one of which resulted in the conceded goal. Liverpool newcomer Sophie Román Haug rose above both Turner and Angharad James for her headed goal.

I will once again apportion some blame to Grace Clinton, however; she's not been very good about tracking back on defense and in this case, it resulted in Yana Daniëls having acres of space in which to get off her cross for the assist. Ash Neville is able to compensate for a lot, but she still needs some support on that left flank when she's already back on defense. Jess Naz, Clinton's elder by a few years, has enough experience by now to understand the importance of balancing her attacking duties on the wing with pitching in on defense. And although Naz had subbed into the match by this point (for Graham), Robert had made the interesting decision to tweak the formation and have her and Thomas operating as a striker duo, with Naz playing furthest forward and Thomas meant to utilize her holdup play skills to make up for the lack of a #10 on the pitch at that time. Well, Clinton can (and arguably should, in this scenario) be shifted into the playmaker role while Naz goes out wide, but she remained on the wing in this case.

All of that is to say that I didn't think the tactical tweak was particularly effective because it highlighted Clinton's weak point and didn't make the most of Naz's skills either. Perhaps it was an effort to preserve Thomas' fitness by requiring her to make fewer of the runs in behind (not that we were getting as many at this point in the game, with Liverpool relatively happy to play out a draw), but I think I would have preferred to see Ellie Brazil brought on just a bit earlier to get an idea of what she can do as striker, or even let Rosella Ayane get some minutes (her last appearance was October 15 at Brighton). We also haven't seen nearly enough of loanee Zhang Linyan yet. If I were to have one criticism of Vilahamn so far (and overall I think he's done a very good job, to be clear) it's that he doesn't make full use of his bench. This may change as he comes to trust the "squad" players more, but it's been a point of contention in the last few matches.

Actually, I might have one more minor (for now) complaint: are we sure youth development is a true priority on the Women's side at the moment? Asmita Ale was the final sub of the match but only came on because of the forced change due to Ahtinen's injury, and she's still only played 35 minutes total in the league this season. Consider her limited minutes alongside the aforementioned Zhang and zero WSL gametime for Gracie Pearse (she did start in the first Conti Cup group stage match) and its unclear when young players are going to get their chance—besides Clinton, who is more likely than not to return to Manchester United after this season. And on a matter outside of Robert's control, it would be nice if the club provided updates on the Women's Academy teams like they do on the Men's side.

But let's get back on track and wrap up this Liverpool game. The draw probably felt worse than it was because of the late injury to a key player (more on how we can handle that challenge in the preview section), but it was a fairly even match. I'm reassured that although our finishing has slowed down, the chance creation has not.

The league table is pretty tight after the first six matchdays, and we are still in the top 4 after the weekend's action, partially thanks to Brighton securing a surprise win against Manchester City. It looked like Leicester City were going to keep Arsenal below us as well after they got up to a two-goal lead in the first half of that matchup, but their second-half collapse was a complete shambles. And who do we play next? Leicester, of course.

SAtP Player of the Match: Ashleigh Neville

Ash has arguably been our most consistent player across the whole season so far, and too often her hard work goes unnoticed (including by England manager Sarina Wiegman, who just so happened to be at Brisbane Road for this match). Liverpool certainly didn't shrink from making the game a physical matchup, and Ash was up to the task of countering with her team-leading tackles and winning plenty of duels, second only to Martha in this game.

Notable and quotable:

• This was our second draw in a row; for context, we only had three draws in the entirety of last season.

• We're just one point off a Champions League qualification spot almost a third of the way into the campaign.

• We've scored in every game so far with seven unique scorers, two of which (Thomas and Clinton) have scored more than one goal.

Previewing WSL Matchday 7 — Leicester City

Spurs will be heading into this match with a few tough selection decisions for Vilahamn, but at least we aren't going into it knowing we conceding six (6) goals in one half in the previous match like Leicester did. We're either going to see a spirited response or the continuation of a downward spiral from the Foxes. Let's hope it's the latter (sorry to any Leicester fans who may be reading, I genuinely don't have any beef with y'all).

Bigger picture, Leicester have lost three straight games after an unbeaten start to the season. It seems like promising new signing Deanne Rose hasn't quite got off to the start they would have hoped, although it's a moot point for our matchup; she's been ruled out with an injury picked up in the Arsenal game that saw her miss the entire second half (perhaps the key setback in their eventual collapse?). And Janina Leitzig has not looked nearly as imperious in goal as she did during her loan stint in the second half of last season.

But they still have pose some problems in the attack with their pacy forwards like Lena Petermann and Hannah Cain, plus their own Finnish midfielder, Jutta Rantala. Therefore, if Drew Spence is still unable to play as expected, I would prefer to see Grace Clinton shift into the #10 role so that we can get Jess Naz starting on the wing for a little more help tracking back on defense. Light your prayer candles now to ensure Luana Bühler is fit to start. And as for replacing Olga Ahtinen in the starting lineup, I think Ria Percival makes the most sense as a true box-to-box midfielder. Her experience will also be important in helping Spurs reverse the recent trend of dropping points late in games.

With Liverpool facing Chelsea away, Arsenal playing Brighton away, and a Manchester derby happening at Old Trafford, there's some decent potential for Spurs to move back up the table. And besides the mid-week cup fixture against Bristol City we have a very challenging schedule leading up to the winter break, so it's important to get all three points against Leicester.

News from around the Lane

Only Spurs-related news of a celebratory nature this week, thankfully:

• Eveliina Summanen has signed a new contract keeping her at the club till 2026.

The 25-year-old is entering the peak years of her career and has undoubtedly been integral to Spurs' midfield this season. Manager Robert Vilahamn noted in his press conference this week that he wants to "build the team around her," so she's clearly got his vote of confidence.

We've seen Eveliina develop throughout her time at Tottenham and add new elements to her game, so I'm excited to see what the future holds for her in lilywhite.

Congrats, Eveliina!

• And big congrats to former Spurs Women co-manager Juan Carlos Amorós for leading his team to the NWSL championship title! NJ/NY Gotham FC were deserved winners and it was a thrilling final, despite the early disappointment of Megan Rapinoe rupturing her Achilles tendon in her final career match. Not that way you want to see a legend of the game go out, but it was great to see Ali Krieger end her own career with a trophy and to witness Mana Shim & Sinead Farrelly earn champions honors together after all they've been through in the league.

I could have done an early roundup of the Men's international break, but to be honest... I've barely watched any, just the USMNT game last night (which obviously didn't involve any Spurs players). I'm a little burnt out with the constant interruptions to the club season, so mostly I just hope everyone stays healthy and returns to Hotspur Way ready to take on Aston Villa next weekend.

Quick programming note: Spurs Women have a midweek game in the Conti Cup group stage, so I will do my best to get an early edition out on Tuesday with a preview of that match.

Until then, enjoy the international football (or not), support the Women's team, and as always...

COYS

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