The Guardian

Brighton 3-2 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened

Submitted by daniel on Sun, 06/10/2024 - 15:30

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Here’s David Hytner’s report from the Amex.

Fabian Hurzeler spoke to the BBC: “My team deserved to win, they worked hard and focused on the things they could control. I think Tottenham always have a great start. They play with intensity and we were not ready for that. We also created chances but defensively we have to improve.

“We focused on the positive things, the second important thing was to win the duels to build self-confidence. The players worked hard to gain flow and they used it.”

More Ange via Sky: “Worst defeat since I’ve been here. Unacceptable second half. Nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how were were going.We kind of accepted our fate and it is hard to understand as we’ve not done that while I’ve been here. We paid the price.

“The problem is we are travelling along too smoothly, football and life will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself. There is no message. It is a terrible loss for us - as bad as it gets. Only one way to fix it and that’s my responsibility.

Updated at 19.57 CEST

Dom in Florence gets in touch: “Genuinely Spurs are the weakest mentally in the league. How often can they look world beaters, should be well out of sight, get casual, concede and then IMMEDIATELY just run round like Penelope Pitstop with her hair on fire shouting HEEEEEEEELP!?.

”As soon as Brighton scored my phone lit up like a Christmas tree with family & friends saying we were doomed. And so it proved. TBF it’s not just on Ange, but we need the flattest of tracks to get anything (eg United)

”And when things start to slip, then he just looks at wane after wave of attacks, and then goals, and just says “OK let’s just see where they are going with this….”

Ange Postecolglou spoke to the BBC: “Fair to say that the second half was unacceptable and we paid a price for that. We probably should have put it to bed in the first half. What we did in that second half is unacceptable and we got what we deserved.

“Maybe we just thought we’d roll out there and play well again and that’s not how it works and we paid for it. We’ve conceded before but it is how you react and our reaction wasn’t what it should be. It’s a bad day for us and when it’s a bad day the responsibility falls at my feet.”

Fair to say he didn’t look up while saying that.

Danny Welbeck speaks to Sky: “An amazing feeling. First half was embarrassing. The second half was about attiude. I was really peed off in the first half, there was an opportunity we had to do better with. “We have got to give credit to the senior boys who are not in the pitch the likes, of Steely [Jason Steele] and Milner [James Milner] - they told us the bare minimum is we’ve got to fight. Everyone is together in this.”

So does Georginio Rutter: “We stayed together, and we had to believe. It’s not about tactics, it’s about fighting.”

Updated at 19.44 CEST

Nayson Ratcliffe gets in touch: “Did a fly on the wall hear Fabian Hürzeler at half time say: ’Jungs, es ist Tottenham’”

Here’s the table after the weekend of Premier League action.

Kári Tulinius gets in touch: “I really think that Postecoglou is a football visionary, and that if he had the right team, they’d sweep all before them. However, I’m starting to think that this Spurs squad might not be right for him. The question is whether such a squad exists in the real world, or only in Ange’s vision.”

Full-time: Brighton 3-2 Tottenham

What a comeback from Brighton, what a shambles from Tottenham, who had been so in the first half. Danny Welbeck is as good as ever, and his goal wins a minor Premier League classic. Fabian Hurzeler has a big beaming smile. Ange Postecoglou has seen a ghost, by the looks of things. The ghost of Spurs past, present and future.

Updated at 19.34 CEST

Here’s where the recriminations begin, then. An uncomfortable fortnight awaits Ange if it stays this way.

Updated at 19.19 CEST

Updated at 19.10 CEST

Goal! Brighton 3-2 Tottenham (Welbeck, 66)

Oh my, Rutter sets on a solo run, hits the byline and scoops the ball on to the head of Welbeck. Brighton lead, and Tottenham are in ruins.

Updated at 19.03 CEST

Goal! Brighton 2-2 Tottenham (Rutter, 58)

Lads, it’s Brighton. Mitoma zooms on, slips the ball inside. Rutter has work to do, but steps inside Van der Ven and scores. Ange Postecoglou fixes his eye-line ever lower than normal.

Updated at 18.52 CEST

He’s here, he’s there

We’re not allowed to swear

Barry Lloyd, Barry Lloyd

Brighton 1-2 Tottenham (Minteh, 48)

Brighton back in it. Mitoma’s ball, Udogie and van der Ven fail to clear. Minteh forces it home game on.

Updated at 18.43 CEST

The second half is underway

Half-time: Brighton 0-2 Tottenham

Brighton have been bamboozled, and Tottenham excellent. Brennan Johnson’s finish was fine, James Maddison was a tad lucky. A couple of decent Brighton chances draw only a fig leaf over the gulf in class between these two.

Goal! Brighton 0-2 Tottenham (Maddison, 37)

That Brighton pressure means more room for Tottenham. Solanke out to Werner, the ball slotted inside to Maddison, who strokes it goalwards, and Verbruggen makes a hash of it. The goalie holds his head in despair.

Updated at 18.15 CEST

The Guardian

Sarr and Johnson on target as Spurs hold on to Europa League win at Ferencvaros

Submitted by daniel on Thu, 03/10/2024 - 19:58

Brennan Johnson scored for a fifth consecutive match to help a youthful Tottenham secure a hard-fought win at Ferencvaros in the Europa League.

Ange Postecoglou named four teenagers in his lineup in Budapest and it was an excellent run by 17-year-old Mikey Moore on his full debut which created Pape Matar Sarr’s 23rd-minute opener.

It was Sarr’s second goal in the competition and after Spurs withstood some late pressure from the Hungarian champions, Johnson wrapped up the points with a left-footed finish with four minutes left.

Barnabas Varga set up a tense finish when he volleyed home in the 90th minute, but Tottenham held on to make it five wins in a row.

Postecoglou made seven changes from the weekend win at Manchester United and handed full debuts to academy graduates Moore and Will Lankshear.

An intimidating atmosphere greeted Spurs’ youthful team onto the pitch with the Ferencvaros fans making plenty of noise, but the visitors settled after Varga sent an early effort over.

The influence of Moore, who become the youngest player to play for Tottenham in the Premier League in May, started to grow with a fine dribble followed by a lovely delivery across the face of goal.

Lankshear headed over a Timo Werner cross minutes later before Sarr’s low effort was saved by Denes Dibusz after an excellent pass from Yves Bissouma.

Ferencvaros had the ball in the net with 16 minutes played when Ben Davies was caught out of position and Adama Traoré headed in Eldar Civic’s cross, but it was ruled offside and eventually confirmed after a lengthy VAR check.

It lifted the home side and Postecoglou’s men had to weather a storm with Guglielmo Vicario forced into an outstanding save to deny Varga from close range, although the ball had initially gone out of play.

Moore continued to impress and after he got Civic booked, the highly-rated youngster helped create the opener for Spurs. An incisive dribble got him past Cristian Ramírez and his attempted ball into Lankshear rolled perfectly for Sarr to score from six yards.

The Tottenham players celebrated in front of the 1,200 travelling support before Sarr went close again with a right-footed effort following Lankshear’s smart lay-off.

It was almost 2-0 again when Pedro Porro cut inside Mohammad Abu Fani and curled a left-footed effort which hit the post and evaded Lankshear.

The second half was briefly delayed after 49 minutes due to smoke from flares let off by Ferencvaros supporters making visibility. Vicario had already denied Matheus Saldanha by this point, but the visitors regrouped and stand-in captain Cristian Romero had a header tipped over before Lankshear volleyed off target.

Chances continued to be created by Spurs and they should have scored twice in quick succession just beyond the hour mark. Firstly, Archie Gray drag flicked to Davies after being surrounded by Ferencvaros players and the ball was recycled to Bissouma, who played in Lankshear, but the young forward was tackled.

Two minutes later and another quick break resulted in Moore producing a delightful through ball for Werner, but he tried to round Dibusz and fired into the side-netting. Postecoglou turned to Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Johnson with 65 minutes played.

Johnson almost wrapped up the points with 10 minutes left but fired against the crossbar after Gray played him in. Ferencvaros scented blood and after Cebrail Makreckis shot wide, Gray had to block Abu Fani’s shot before Johnson did clinch the victory.

After Dominic Solanke’s intended pass into Johnson had been cleared to Maddison, he played the ball back to the Wales international, who cut inside and curled into the bottom corner via a deflection.

Varga set up a nervy finale when he slid home a cross by Ramírez as the clock hit 90 minutes, but Postecoglou watched his team hold on to make it two wins from two in the league phase.

The Guardian

Ferencvaros v Tottenham: Europa League – live

Submitted by daniel on Thu, 03/10/2024 - 16:44

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Ange Postecoglou tells TNT Sports that the kids are alright. “They’ve been with us from the start of pre-season so have been fully fledged members of our squad … Mikey has had a couple of opportunities off the bench … we’ve been really keen to get them some game time and think tonight is the ideal time for it … I’m confident they’ll be able to handle themselves … I’ve got no fear about putting them out there … they’ve earned their spot and I’m sure they’ll do well …the best way to keep momentum going is to use the whole squad … I’ve put out a team tonight that I think can do the business.”

Pre-match postbag. “The home side are starting with a Civic while the visitors have got an Austin among the substitutes. From the car angle, Ferencvaros are likely to get better mileage out of this match than Spurs.” Some top gear from Peter Oh there. For the benefit of non-petrolheads, the Civic is a globally popular sedan made by Honda, while the Austin … well, that’s best explained by this “montage of racy shots”.

A reminder of what happened this time last week, when things could have turned sour for Spurs, but didn’t. It’s been a good week for Dominic Solanke, all told.

That Tottenham starting XI is about as youthful, and therefore super-exciting, as it gets. Ange gives the nod to 18-year-old right-back Archie Gray, 18-year old playmaker Lucas Bergvall, 17-year-old winger Mikey Moore, and, making his debut, 19-year-old striker Will Lankshear. Audere est Facere, as they say around N17 way.

The teams

Ferencvaros: Dibusz, Gartenmann, Cisse, Raul Gustavo, Ramirez, Abu Fani, Maiga, Traore, Saldanha, Civic, Barnabas Varga.

Subs: Adam Varga, Ben Romdhane, Pesic, Kady, Zachariassen, Botka, Szalai, Makreckis, Gruber, Toth, Rommens, Misidjan.

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Gray, Davies, Sarr, Bissouma, Bergvall, Werner, Lankshear, Moore.

Subs: Forster, Austin, Maddison, Solanke, Kulusevski, Johnson, Bentancur, van de Ven, Dorrington, Cassanova, Ajayi.

Referee: Igor Pajac (Croatia).

Updated at 17.54 CEST

Preamble

Spurs managed to see off Qarabağ with ten men last week. Can they dispatch Ferencváros with a full team of 11? We’ll soon find out. An emotional journey – not for Spurs, who haven’t played the famous Hungarian club before, but for Ange Postecoglou, who played under the legendary Ferenc Puskás at South Melbourne – begins at 5.45pm BST. It’s on!

The Guardian

Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke recalled by England seven years since last cap

Submitted by daniel on Thu, 03/10/2024 - 12:28

Dominic Solanke has been recalled to the England squad by Lee Carsley, seven years after winning his first and only cap in a friendly against Brazil. The 27-year-old striker has been rewarded for his impressive form at Tottenham after joining from Bournemouth in a £55m summer deal.

Solanke, who will hope to feature in the Nations League ties against Greece at Wembley next Thursday and Finland in Helsinki three days afterwards, has scored in his past three games for Spurs. Solanke enjoyed a hugely successful career at youth level with England, winning the European Under-17 Championship in 2014 and the Under-20 World Cup three years later but his only participation with the seniors remains his appearance under Gareth Southgate as a late substitute.

Solanke told the Observer recently that one of his principal ambitions for the season was to earn an England callup. “Everyone wants to play for their country and it’s definitely something I’m looking to get back into,” he said.

“Was England a part of the idea behind my transfer? Not really. But if you are doing your stuff for a club like Tottenham, it is definitely a lot easier to get into the fold. Tottenham is my main aim. But then hopefully I can get into the England team.”

The Guardian

Bruno Fernandes’s red card against Spurs rescinded in boost to Erik ten Hag

Submitted by daniel on Tue, 01/10/2024 - 19:04

Erik ten Hag has received a welcome boost after Bruno Fernandes’s red card in Manchester United’s 3-0 loss to Tottenham on Sunday was deemed by the Football Association to be a wrongful dismissal. It means the captain’s three-game ban has been reversed.

With United in 13th following the weekend humiliation, and Ten Hag’s job in the balance due to United’s poor start to the season, Fernandes had been set to miss Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa, as well as games against Brentford and West Ham. He can now feature in all of those fixtures after United decided to appeal the decision by referee Christopher Kavanagh to send-off the midfielder just before half-time at Old Trafford for his seemingly reckless challenge on James Maddison as the hosts trailed 1-0. Replays clearly showed Fernandes had slipped as he looked to close down Maddison and that this had a material impact on his subsequent challenge, which was also little more than a light clip, making it somewhat baffling that VAR did not overturn the decision at the time.

“Bruno Fernandes will be available for Manchester United’s next three games following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal,” read a United statement. “The midfielder was sent off for serious foul play during the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, 29 September. Fernandes was set to miss our league fixtures against Aston Villa, Brentford and West Ham but will now be available for selection following the successful appeal.”

The Guardian

Tottenham condemn fans’ homophobic chanting at Manchester United

Submitted by daniel on Sun, 29/09/2024 - 23:02

Tottenham have condemned the “abhorrent homophobic chanting” from sections of their supporters during the side’s 3-0 win at Manchester United on Sunday.

Spurs issued a statement on Sunday evening vowing to take “the strongest possible action” over the offensive chants, which were allegedly aimed at United’s former Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount and the Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta.

“The club is aware of abhorrent homophobic chanting from sections of our away support at Old Trafford today,” a Tottenham statement read. “This is simply unacceptable, hugely offensive and no way to show support for the team.

“The club will be working closely with the police and stewards to identify anyone instigating or joining in with the chanting – we shall take the strongest possible action in accordance with our sanctions and banning policy.

“Supporters in attendance today can report anything they’ve seen or heard in confidence to supporterservicestottenhamhotspur.com. We shall be continuing our work with our LGBTQ+ supporters’ association, Proud Lilywhites, to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans on matchdays.

“We are justly proud of our superb and loyal support, home and away. However, we all have a responsibility to act as ambassadors of Tottenham Hotspur and discrimination of any kind has no place at our club.”

Proud Lilywhites, Spurs’ LGBTQI+ supporters’ association, reposted the club’s statement on X along with the message: “Loved what happened on the pitch at Old Trafford; didn’t love the homophobic chanting off the pitch. We’re all Spurs fans just like you. When you sing these songs you’re telling us we don’t belong; and we do – as much as you do.”

Goals from Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke secured a convincing away win with the United captain, Bruno Fernandes, shown a straight red card just before half-time for a challenge on James Maddison.

The Guardian

Tottenham roll the dice and cash in on United’s sorry shrine to wasted money

Submitted by daniel on Sun, 29/09/2024 - 21:50

Well, Manchester United: here’s your Wembley of the North. Several years ahead of schedule, and perhaps not quite as envisaged in the architects’ drawings, but note-perfect in most other respects. A retail temple with a football concession attached; a shrine to wasted money; a ground where the noise barely rises above a disgruntled murmur, and where Tottenham feel pleasantly at home.

Afterwards, Erik ten Hag tried to maintain some semblance of dignity, like a plumber calmly filling out his invoice even as brown water sloshes around his knees. After all, this is not simply a job but an office, and even in moments of decay a certain carriage is demanded. “Is there a fire drill?” the Tottenham fans gleefully asked as Old Trafford slowly emptied. There wasn’t. But the real thing is beginning to feel dangerously close.

There is, of course, a whole industrial complex built around the idea of United being in crisis. Acid-tongued pundits, YouTube provocateurs, salty influencers, 24‑hour news channels: everyone has to put food on the table. Every defeat is somehow the worst ever, every bad performance somehow the most disgraceful in living memory, every setback parsed and deconstructed as evidence of some essential species sickness, one that can only truly be cured with some more ritual bloodletting, a three‑minute viral rant from Gary Neville and maybe a little more unsourced dressing room gossip.

The more prosaic truth is that United are still an imperfect, evolving side who were ambushed by an early goal, a slightly harsh red card and a highly unconventional opponent. If anything this was evidence for withholding judgment rather than expediting it: a kind of unicorn game played under unique circumstances, against a maverick team resembling nobody else in the Premier League.

For Ange Postecoglou, this may well have been the most impressive win of his Spurs tenure. Not simply because of the magnitude of the opponent, the weight of history, the late withdrawal of Son Heung‑min, but because this was a game they willed and bent into their own weird shape. United did not simply turn up dazed and disintegrated; in large part they were rendered that way by a dazzling first-half performance that forced them to doubt everything.

Take the starting lineup, which on the face of things felt like a system inspired by the Garth Crooks “team of the week” on the BBC website: heavy in forwards and almost entirely devoid of midfield cover, with Rodrigo Bentancur the sole shield behind James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, and then a front three ahead of them. It felt either like a monumental gamble or a monumental ruse, and in a way it turned out to be both.

The pattern was established in the opening seconds. Joshua Zirkzee and Bruno Fernandes formed a barrier in front of Bentancur, preventing Spurs from building up through him. So Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero simply rotated the ball aimlessly among themselves, while United congratulated themselves on a containing job well done. Hey, it took you a decade and seven different coaches, but you finally learned to press!

But in fact United were stepping into a carefully laid trap. Because while United were pressing and squeezing, while the crowd were beginning to get interested, Tottenham were quietly amassing numbers on the flanks. On the left, Timo Werner stayed high with Maddison and Destiny Udogie in attendance. On the right, Pedro Porro formed another battalion with Brennan Johnson and Kulusevski. The aim: to funnel the ball quickly up the wing, burgle the second ball and break at pace.

As ever with Postecoglou’s Spurs, this is a thrilling high‑wire act. Lose the ball and more than half your team is out of position. Two minutes in, such a situation left Marcus Rashford galloping clear with Alejandro Garnacho ahead of him. One misunderstanding and one outstanding run later, Van de Ven was squaring the ball for Johnson to score.

This is how stupidly fine the margins are, how random the breaks. But the reward is being able to set the terms of combat. United were shaken after that, clutching at shadows, whatever plan they had blown to shreds. Tottenham picked them off at will in the second half, and if Werner had shaken his unfortunate habit of missing one-on-ones the scoreline might have been genuinely seismic.

But there was so much to love, from the first-half ornamentation of Maddison to the second-half orchestration of Kulusevski, from the energy of the tireless Dominic Solanke up front to the effervescence of the unfairly maligned Johnson alongside him, the sense of improvement, the sense of a plan surreally coming together.

Of course this is the way Spurs must play, the only way they can play. Order is not their friend. Logic is not their friend. Order means seventh place in perpetuity and constantly getting pecked away by richer rivals. Logic dictates that Postecoglou should still be coaching in the AFC Champions League. But the madness, the fervour, the cult vibes, the high line: perhaps this is how they turn the tables on the casino. It won’t always work. But when it does, it will feel suspiciously like salvation.

The Guardian

Ten Hag says players made 'bad decisions' in Manchester United's loss against Tottenham – video

Submitted by daniel on Sun, 29/09/2024 - 20:45

Erik Ten Hag said his Manchester United players made 'very bad decisions' in their match against Tottenham, which the visitors won 3-0. 'What I saw in the first 30 minutes, that is below the level that we can expect from a Man United team,' said Ten Hag after the match. Manchester United have scored only one goal at home in the Premier League this term, with pressure mounting on the manager.

Tottenham humiliate Manchester United as Bruno Fernandes sent off

The Guardian

Tottenham humiliate Manchester United as Bruno Fernandes sent off

Submitted by daniel on Sun, 29/09/2024 - 18:37

This is the nadir of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United tenure. A slipshod shambolic mess that Tottenham exploited gleefully, pinging the ball about and punching through their storied hosts as if in a men-v-kids knockabout.

The manager claims to have a plan and on this showing it seems to be based on waving the opposition past on a figurative red carpet as Spurs ran through United endlessly. Towards the end, at 2-0 down, a 10-man United rallied, as Casemiro raided and Alejandro Garnacho darted in: this merely showed what Ten Hag’s charges might have done if they were not an embarrassment to their famous shirt.

Ten Hag, drenched in pouring rain, had overseen a duck shoot and this, too, with Ange Postecoglu’s men missing the injured Son Heung-min, who might have given United a six- or seven-nil trouncing.

United are next at Porto on Thursday, in the Europa League, then travel to Aston Villa on Sunday in this competition. After this utter farrago, the manager desperately needs to win again – preferably in both these game – as it is now this defeat and two draws in his side’s past three outings.

As the jubilant travelling congregation sang “When the Spurs go marching in”, the beleaguered Dutchman ended his afternoon dicing with the territory marked “sacking”.

Full report to follow

The Guardian

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League – live

Submitted by daniel on Sun, 29/09/2024 - 16:26

There are some red card candidates in both starting lineups to be fair to Richard. Romero, Udogie, Bentancur, Ugarte, Martinez …

Postecoglou tells Sky on Son’s absence: “Short turnaround from Thursday night, so just wasn’t right for today. We’ve had key players missing before.

“You’re facing a big club at an iconic stadium… you blokes [Sky] are here, so it’s the kinda game you want to be involved in.”

Manchester United are winless in their past three against Tottenham; before that they’d won four on the bounce against them. The one thing we should be guaranteed today is goals. There’s only been one 1-0 in the past 14 meetings between these two sides – and no goalless draws between them for more than a decade.

The last time United failed to score at least two at home to Spurs was when they were hammered 6-1 at home by Jose Mourinho’s side in 2020 – day when Son scored two and United had 10 men for more than an hour. Ten Hag’s team have their issues and Postecoglou’s football can be scintillating … but it’s hard to envisage a repeat of that scoreline today.

Preamble

Good afternoon all. The headline act of this weekend’s football schedule is nearly upon us at Old Trafford and it has all the potential to be an absolute cracker. Two exciting but somewhat flawed teams, both with mixed records in the Premier League so far this season, go toe-to-toe. Will Ange Postecoglou’s high-line and high-risk football profit against an oft-vulnerable Manchester United? Or can Erik ten Hag’s off-the-cuff attackers, buoyed by a home crowd, give the Dutchman some much-needed respite. The midfield battle will be fascinating in itself, given solidity in the centre is the strength of neither side.

The pre-match news: Son Heung-min is missing for Spurs through injury, while for United this one comes too soon for Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and new signing Leny Yoro. Ten Hag has had a few attacking selection dilemmas to consider.

Kick off is at 4.30pm BST and the official team news will come in the next post. Excited for this one!

The Guardian

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