They're Some of Our Own

In an already emotional week, Tottenham Hotspur had me going through even more emotions. There was the deflating FA Cup exit for Spurs Women followed by Spurs Men's triumphant qualification for the Europa League knockout rounds, courtesy of three young players who are Spurs through and through. And then there was all the transfer activity... well, plenty of rumors if not finalized deals.

In this issue: Everton recap | Elfsborg recap | Previewing the weekend matches | Transfer talk | News from around the Lane

I'll be honest, I completely missed the news that the Men's transfer window was extended until February 3. But it sounds like we need the extra time to get one (maybe two) more signings over the line, so buckle up for an eventful deadline day. I'll recap the full transfer business for both senior teams in the next issue. For today's transfer talk, there are just a few outgoing deals to note.

Women's FA Cup Round 4 recap | Everton 2 - 0 Tottenham

Gago 48', H. Payne 90+2'

Frankly, this result was upsetting. I worried in my match preview that Robert Vilahamn wasn't making the FA Cup a priority this year (despite the undeniable excitement around the team's historic run to the final last season) and indeed, that lack of focus showed in his team selection and the performance from the players. I don't even feel like it's worth my time to dwell on it here in this newsletter. So I'm going to keep this short.

Starting XI:

While I cannot dispute that it would be unwise to start Beth England in both this game and the upcoming WSL fixture against Manchester United, considering that she's been playing heavy minutes since returning from the winter break, I wholly disagree with Vilahamn's decision to keep her as an unused substitute in a knockout cup match. The simple truth is that she has been the most reliable goal-scorer in the side since she joined two January windows ago. It's unfortunate that we still rely on her to be the difference-maker game in and game out and have yet to see anyone else truly step up, but that's the reality.

Vilahamn also gambled on a barely used centerback combination of Luana Bühler and Clare Hunt, with Charli Grant also making a rare start. Again, there's no denying that Molly Bartrip and Ashleigh Neville both needed a rest during this fixture pileup. But benching them does send a message to the rest of the team (and fans) that this game wasn't considered a must-win.

That Rosella Ayane was one-half of the first double substitution is also telling. She's been a surprise cup hero in past seasons but wasn't able to affect this game in a meaningful way. Her dearth of game time on her first-half-of-the-season loan with the Chicago (Red) Stars was apparent in her lack of sharpness and pace.

The upshot to all of these choices (key word) from the manager is that we are now out of the FA Cup at first asking. The chance of a trophy is always slim for WSL teams that aren't Chelsea, Arsenal, or Manchester-based, but it's now zero for Spurs Women for yet another season. I will now remind everyone that Vilahamn and the club were talking the big talk when he was appointed that the team would be challenging for trophies by his second season. It seems like that brush with glory from reaching the final last season was more of a fluke than a sign of things to come.

SAtP Player of the Match: abstain

Notable & quotable:

• Sophie Jackson, an Academy goalkeeper, made her first matchday squad inclusion.

• We have now been eliminated from both cup competitions in the first knockout round.

• Robert Vilahamn's reasoning for why the team failed to extend the chance of a repeat trip to Wembley:

Rescheduling meant we needed to rotate the squad. We play [Manchester United] on Sunday, a big game for us. It becomes what it does but it's also not giving this game what it perhaps should. It's too bad because I love the FA Cup.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions from that quote, because I'm too annoyed to show Robert any leniency. Sir, you make the lineup decisions, not the schedule!

Europa League Matchday 8 recap | Tottenham 3 - 0 Elfsborg

Scarlett 70', Ajayi 84', Moore 90+4'

And now, a total vibes reversal from the Women's game. I'm so glad this was a home match so the homegrown hat trick could reach its full effect!

The Men's team really understood the assignment. Sure, it took a few second-half goals and a couple of substitutes to make it happen, but the performance was pretty spirited throughout. Son Heung-min and Ben Davies looked especially motivated in the first half—which was all the captain would get to play, as it happened. In fact, let's just jump into the team news.

Starting XI:

Micky van de Ven is finally back! He also was limited to just the first half by Ange Postecoglou, but this was definitely a good match for him to ease back into some game time.

On the downside, his halftime substitute, Radu Drăgușin, only made it to the 66th minute before suffering an unlucky knee injury (prognosis still unknown).

Speaking of injuries, we had a full bench of injured players watching from the sideline.

It was a big night for Academy players and graduates. Not only did Mikey Moore make his third start of the Europa Leaguephase, he capped off the evening with his first competitive senior goal. Dane Scarlett returned from loan and made a strong case for minutes at Spurs with his own first goal to kick off the scoring (side note: it felt much later than the 70th minute in real time!). And in between those milestones was perhaps the most exciting performance of the night, a senior debut for Damola Ajayi and his first goal, assisted by none other than Scarlett.

Not to be totally outdone by the more flashy goal-scoring performances, Brandon Austin earned his first senior clean sheet for Spurs—in European competition, no less!

Not to belabor the point from the Women's section, but the Men's team (including Postecoglou) understands the importance of progressing in the cup competitions in a season where the league is simply not happening. With the way the other results went, we still would have secured a place in the top 8 (and automatic qualification to the knockouts) with a draw, but the players decided it was better safe than sorry and made sure to win.

SAtP Player of the Match: Ben Davies

Hear me out! Not only did he contribute to the clean sheet, but he was very active in the attack as well and was truly leading by example with his mentality. I don't think the young players get their chance to shine if it wasn't for players like him, Son, and Dejan Kulusevski (albeit as a substitute) setting the foundation with their experience.

But I also want to give an extremely honorable mention to Dane Scarlett for his two goal contributions (one goal, one assist) in a situation where he was under a lot of pressure to make a good impression, recently recalled from a lackluster loan.

Notable & quotable:

• In the league phase, we only lost once and had two away wins.

• Mikey Moore became the youngest English goalscorer in European competition at 17 years 172 days old, beating the previous record set by Jimmy Greaves.

• Dane Scarlett made his first assist with the club since February 24, 2021—also a Europa League game, against Wolfsberger, assisting Carlos Vinícius.

• This was Rio Kyerematen's first senior matchday squad inclusion.

• Ange Postecoglou summed up the game perfectly:

A night made in Tottenham tonight. A proud moment for the Club.

• Scarlett alluded to the long stretch between making his senior debut and scoring his first goal:

I've been waiting a long time for this moment. I just want to kick on now.

• Moore made sure to thank his Academy coaches for preparing him for his big moment, including former Spurs player Jermain Defoe. It was almost like an Oscars speech, but I thought it was a nice recognition!

• Damola Ajayi said that he wasn't even expecting to play, but knew he had to take his chance and run with it.

• Our possible opponents for the two-legged Round of 16 are AZ Alkmaar, Midtjylland, Real Sociedad, or Galatasaray.

Previewing WSL Matchday 13 — Manchester United

I'm finding it difficult to be at all looking forward to this fixture since it's clearly taken on outsized importance at the club. It's certainly the only match the club has been pushing ticket sales for—since it's at the main stadium, obviously. But that's not an excuse to barely market the games at Brisbane Road. And I've already said my piece about how it affected the midweek FA Cup match, so I won't belabor the point.

The truth is, we haven't done enough in the transfer window to improve our chances of winning this matchup. Manchester United have benefitted from signing Celin Bizet at the beginning of the season, who (annoyingly) has come alive at her new club and has two goals and five assists in Women's Super League play alone. While they weren't very active on the incomings front in the January window, only bringing in goalkeeper Kayla Rendell from Southampton, they've recently benefitted from Hinata Miyazawa coming back into form.

United have only lost two games this entire season, a 1-0 loss at Chelsea in the WSL and their 1-2 loss to Manchester City that knocked them out of the League Cup. They are currently in 2nd place in the league table.

Our newest signing, Josefine Rybrink, will be available for the matchday squad. Drew Spence, Eveliina Summanen, Ella Morris, and Kit Graham are all out.

For United, Lisa Naalsund is a doubt, while Geyse and Evie Rabjohn are confirmed absences.

A reminder that this game is being televised in the UK and streaming on ESPN+ in the US.

Previewing PL Matchday 24 — Brentford

Well, we can't afford to underestimate Brentford this time around. They're five places and seven points ahead of us in the Premier League table. This is less of a change in status for the Bees (still solidly midtable) and more a reflection of our injury crisis, but still.

Although they have a few injury absences, most of their key players will be starting—including the rumored Spurs transfer target, Yoane Wissa.

Brentford's form has been very uneven over the last few weeks. They broke a long winless streak with a 0-5 win at Southampton (does that sound familiar) but have since been knocked out of the FA Cup by Plymouth Argyle and picked one draw, one loss, and one win in league play.

I'm going to presume that Micky van de Ven is able to start since he only played one half against Elfsborg, so his pace will be a big help in guarding against Brentford's counterattack. It's a good thing he's available since Radu Drăgușin is almost certainly ruled out. We'll also benefit from having Antonín Kinský back after being ineligible for the Europa League game, as well as Djed Spence returning from a knock.

And for the near future, Ange Postecoglou indicated that a slate of players will all be coming back within 10 days time: Guglielmo Vicario, Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert, Timo Werner, and James Maddison. Huzzah! Unfortunately, Dominic Solanke still needs about a week longer after that, and Cristian Romero's return date is still tbd.

Postecoglou quipped about the injury crisis in his latest press conference:

Every time I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel it turns out to be an oncoming train.

The Drăgușin knee injury potentially being long-term is indeed a setback to the depth chart, but at least it was balanced with some good news for once.

It goes without saying that this is kind of a must-win if we don't want to seriously start panicking about relegation, but the second leg of the League Cup semi-final with Liverpool is looming in just a few days. Hopefully the performances of the youngsters in the Elfsborg game give Postecoglou encouragement to utilize the whole squad to make it through this game while still preserving some energy for the all-important cup tie. Like I already said earlier this season, it's cups or bust.

Transfer talk

I wish I had some actual signings to write about, but nothing confirmed yet on the Men's side—and the Women's window has already closed. Instead, here's a roundup of the latest outgoing loans and moves.

• Yang Min-hyeok is going on loan to Queens Park Rangers to start off his experience in English football. It's a bummer not to get to see him make his Spurs debut in a season when so many other young players are getting their chance, but hopefully it will be valuable experience for him in the Championship.

• Will Lankshear is also heading to the Championship, on loan with West Bromwich Albion. West Brom are in the thick of the race to finish in the promotion playoff spots, so it will be interesting to see how much game time he actually gets in such a high-stakes environment.

• Wang Shuang has departed the club on a permanent transfer to Wuhan Chegu Jiangda WFC. We'll always have that penalty against Manchester City. Go well, Shuang!

News from around the Lane

• Despite my negativity around Spurs Women getting knocked out of both cups in the space of a week, they actually had a pretty decent January in WSL play. We have three nominees for the monthly awards:

• Beth England for Player of the Month
• Robert Vilahamn for Manager of the Month
• Olivia Holdt for Goal of the Month

Go vote at the above links!

• Spurs Men's fixture at Fulham has been provisionally rescheduled for March 16, but could move again if we progress to the League Cup final. Perhaps I should say when we progress to the League Cup final.

All right, time for me to get some sleep before we all hop back onto the rollercoaster that is Tottenham Hotspur.

COYS

Thank you for reading!

If you’re enjoying the newsletter, make sure to sign up for a free subscription to receive new issues in your inbox. You can also buy me a Ko-fi to support my writing with a one-time tip. Your support keeps Spurs Across the Pond running and is much appreciated!

You can also find me on Bluesky and podcasting at N17 Women and The Tottenham Depot.shut-eye