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Crystal Palace didn't do many favors for London rivals Tottenham Hotspur by drawing a rivalry matchup against West Ham United, the main team Spurs are hoping to upend in a Premier League relegation fight that increasingly disfavors the Lilywhites, who are stuck in the bottom three.

But Palace's defense did more than enough to try and give the Eagles the full three points, shutting down a West Ham attack that had run roughshod over now confirmed EFL Championship goers Wolves in the previous weekend.

The center back pairing of Chris Richards and Maxence Lacroix has been impeccable in that Oliver Glasner back three, stepping up plenty after the massive loss of one of England's best players, Marc Guehi, to sudden title favorites Manchester City.

Crystal Palace have outplayed Tottenham defensively

Richards and Lacroix have been no nonsense all season long, making tackles and rarely getting beat one on one while cleaning up danger and covering so much ground at the back of this Crystal Palace defense.

On Monday night against the Hammers, the duo combined for a whopping 16 clearances and did not even have to make a tackle between them, such was the dominance of their marking. They completely shut West Ham out of the game.

Watching how Crystal Palace blanketed West Ham defensively really drives home just how inadequate the Tottenham Hotspur center backs have been lately in this Premier League relegation battle.

Instead of stepping it up with discipline and great marking, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have been all over the place with horrible fouls, no discipline, and a desire to win tackles instead of actually defend. They play like two guys with big heads who want headlines and big transfers rather than helping Tottenham win, and that's going to back fire for them in the long run.

Now, Romero is down for the count with an injury, but Van de Ven still has a chance to step up in this relegation fight before the season closes. And when you watch him this season and compare that to Lacroix and Richards, it is wild to think that he is the one being linked to Real Madrid and Barcelona when his defensive numbers and overall quality of play have been nowhere near.

Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero came into th 2025/26 Premier League season with a lot of hype from Tottenham fans, and they were great in the Europa League last season. But in the Premier League, Romero was not as elite as Spurs fans wanted to portray him as, while Van de Ven was legitimately below average. The real mid table sides this year like Palace are showing Spurs levels all of a sudden, and it's because of differences like this in consistency and in actually knowing how to play the game that exposes the Spurs players.

Even though he didn't start Xavi SImons in his first game as Tottenham Hotspur manager, Roberto De Zerbi had made it clear before he coached his first match that he is a big fan of the young Dutch playmaker and to expect big things from the former RB Leipzig and PSV man in a Spurs shirt.

Well, in his second game in charge, De Zerbi did start Simons, who was the best player on the pitch with a goal and an assist, unlucky not to have led Spurs to a victory over RDZ's former Premier League employers Brighton.

The Tottenham attacking midfielder has been worth the 60 million euros spent to sign him from Leipzig this past summer transfer window ahead of other interested big clubs like London rivals Chelsea. Most of Spurs wins this season have come with Simons on the pitch, while they rarely win when he is not in the starting lineup.

Roberto De Zerbi sees what Xavi Simons sees

And after the match against Brighton, Roberto De Zerbi had more kind words for the Barcelona academy product, even telling Tottenham Hotspur supporters to expect much bigger things from Simons going forward. De Zerbi highlighted how he is uniquely placed to be Simons's coach and get the most out of him, as he was once a No. 10 himself.

The Italian coach said, via the official Tottenham web site, “He’s lucky to work with me - not because I'm good, because I was number 10. What he thinks now, I thought 20 years ago. So, we have a special connection. I have a special connection with all number 10s I work with. I love a number 10. A number 10 has to understand that he has to score and he has to make assists, not just play to be nice to the people – goals and assists. He played very well [against Brighton], a great game. I think he can play better and better, because a player like this, he needs to feel confidence from the manager, and I stay here to transfer all the confidence he needs, because I was a player, I was number 10, and I think I know what he thinks, because I thought the same when I was a player. I think I'm lucky to have this player on my team, but also he's lucky because with number 10, I can understand better than other coaches."

Now that is high praise indeed. Tottenham also needed a manager like De Zerbi and unlike Thomas Frank who can think like the creative players and the stars of the team and know what it is like to be in their shoes as players.

So often, Xavi Simons suffered under Frank because he did not have the right outlets to pass it to or the ability to pick up the ball in dangerous areas. De Zerbi understands what Simons needs tactically and how to best help him be in positions where he can excel, and Tottenham fans should be very excited about this going forward.

Even though Tottenham Hotspur are still on a winless streak of 15 games after being unable to close the deal with a 2-2 draw with Brighton over the Premier League weekend, the positive is that the Lilywhites looked markedly better in manager Roberto De Zerbi's second game in charge than in either his first against Sunderland or, especially, in Igor Tudor's final match before the March international break (a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Nottingham Forest, of all clubs).

Surprisingly, one of the brightest spots of the night was the midfield. With De Zerbi starting Xavi Simons on the left wing - who shone brightly with a goal and an assist in his return to the starting XI - the midfield trio of choice was Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, and Conor Gallagher.

This miscast group actually played very well against Brighton. Bentancur, starting his first match since tearing his hamstring, was exceptional defensively and showed a level of leadership and quality of progression on the ball under Roberto De Zerbi that we had not seen at all under Thomas Frank throughout the 2025/26 season.

Conor Gallagher actually played well

Meanwhile, Conor Gallagher was an even more pleasant surprise. The former Crystal Palace and Chelsea man looked like he was getting closer to his best, playing intelligent defense without running around like a fool while actually progressing the ball competently with that bulldog mentality Spurs fans had heard a lot about.

Tottenham Hotspur need any semblance of a life line they can get in this dreary Premier League relegation battle, because they are on the brink of going down to the EFL Championship in 2026/27, sitting 18th in the table with the other teams in the relegation fight all outperforming them both in football and in spirit.

But a 2-2 draw with Brighton is indeed a bright spot compared to what was before, and the performances of the veteran midfield duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and Gallagher was a surprising shot of hope from an unexpected source.

De Zerbi has to be praised for utilizing these two well, but Gallagher and Bentancur also have to be credited for not only playing well but also for their mentality in the face of criticism. This is the sort of hard work, leadership, and ability to take responsibility in the middle of the park that Tottenham have been begging to see from these two. Spurs can only hope it is not too little, too late.

Tottenham Hotspur are on the brink of relegation. Although they were able to get a point out of this past weekend's clash with Roberto De Zerbi's former employers Brighton, they were still unable to break a winless streak of what is now 15 Premier League matches.

Spurs are 18th in the table and sinking fast. But even though the EFL Championship appears to be on the horizon, Spurs are not giving up on signing potential additions to a Premier League squad. Defensive free agents Andrew Robertson and Marcos Senesi are on the radar, much to the chagrin of fans, who want to see younger and better players on the project if Spurs were to stay up.

And now, in addition to a left back and a center back, Tottenham are looking at a new goalkeeper if they stay in the Premier League. According to a report from RMC Sport, Spurs have reached out to Ligue 1 giants and reigning Champions League winners PSG about potentially signing Lucas Chevalier this summer transfer window. But any transfer is, as with Robertson and Senesi, understandably contingent upon Spurs remaining a Premier League side in 2026/27.

Tottenham are still after Lucas Chevalier

Chevalier was signed by PSG last summer transfer window as an abrupt replacement for star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is one of the most highly regarded goalkeepers in the world and was absolutely sensational in the Champions League knockouts en route to winning the title. Donnarumma would later sign with Manchester City to be their No. 1 over a man who is now a bigger dream transfer target for Spurs than Chevalier, James Trafford.

Whereas Donnarumma has played well for Manchester City this season, Lucas Chevalier has been a huge disappointment for the Parisians, even getting himself benched. But there is a reason why PSG signed Chevalier in the first place and (unsucessfully) gambled on hims replacing Donnarumma.

Chevalier was the best goalkeeper in Ligue 1 - yes, even above Donnarumma - in the 2024/25 season. He was insane, and with his age and ability, PSG were projecting him as the next best French goalkeeper and one of the world's top two.

The talent is still there despite a difficult season and poor fit with PSG. For Tottenham Hotspur, he is worth a gamble to play in conjunction with Antonin Kinsky after selling Guglielmo Vicario to Inter Milan in the summer. James Trafford would be preferable, sure, but Chevalier is worth a punt if the price is right.

Tottenham Hotspur had only just hired Fabio Paratici again in a formal executive role to start the 2025/26 Premier League season, but mere months later around the winter transfer window, the Italian sporting director made the decision to leave the club in the middle of the season and take charge for a club that was, at the time, in even more dire straits in Fiorentina.

Paratici abandoned the Tottenham sporting project after seeing the writing on the wall under the incompetent leadership of Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham. He could see how bad things would get for Spurs, and with Tottenham not yet in the Premier League relegation fight, he took on the tall task of rescuing the historic Viola from Serie A relegation at a time when they were among those places.

Well, fast forward to late April, and Fiorentina are 15th in Serie A while Tottenham are 18th in the Premier League and right on the verge of going down. Whereas Tottenham Hotspur kept holding onto Thomas Frank for months after Fabio Paratici, who never wanted the Danish manager in the first place, told Lange and Vinai to get rid of him and signed no established players other than major flop Conor Gallagher in the winter transfer window, Paratici's signings have directly helped Fiorentina climb out of the relegation hole.

Fabio Paratici is embarrassing Spurs

One of those signings actually included taking Manor Solomon, on the books at Tottenham, on loan from La Liga Champions League contenders Villarreal. He also bagged another former Premier League attacker in Jack Harrison, along with his former Juventus center back Daniele Rugani, among others. While there is nothing impressive about the players Paratici brought to Firenze, the fact of the matter is that he made the moves he needed to in order to help Fiorentina get out of the relegation hole.

Meanwhile, Lange and Vinai sat pat with a lot more resources and only went after Souza and Conor Gallagher while screwing around with the idea of bringing in a finished Andrew Robertson, who could still make his way to the N17 this summer 2026 transfer window from Liverpool as a free agent.

Paratici is closer to average than great among sporting director in world football, but the fact that he is already doing so much better for Fiorentina than what Johan Lange and Co. are doing at Tottenham seals home just how terrible of a job the current group of execs at Spurs are doing.

Thomas Frank just might be the worst manager in the history of Tottenham Hotspur. Thanks to Frank, Spurs are on the verge of relegation from the Premier League, as interim manager Igor Tudor was unable to swiftly clean up his mess and even the hyped up Roberto De Zerbi is finding it difficult to undo the mess of Spurs first manager of the 2025/26 season.

Although Tottenham were 17th in the Premier League last season and already in grave danger, they were Europa League champions and played more attractive football under Frank's predcessor Ange Postecoglou. And it is telling that Spurs finished Frank's reign as a much, much worse team than they were when they started with some of Postecoglou's ideals still sticking to the squad.

Despite how horrid Frank was for Tottenham Hotspur, the English media have always been fans of Frank, who was their darling as the entirely replaceable head of the Brentford Moneyball operation that has actually been significantly more successul in 2025/26 without Frank in charge.

Thomas Frank is Championship bound

And so Thomas Frank does now have a suitor interested in hiring him. According to Jack Price of outlet Football League World, Birmingham City are interested in hiring the former Tottenham manager. Birmingham, by the way, are 14th in the EFL Championship.

It may not be funny to every Spurs supporter, but you have to admit the absurdity of Frank being Spurs manager then getting fired and his only suitor so far is a team in the Championship while Spurs are fighting relegation to the Championship that was caused by Frank.

Because the reality behind the joke is that Frank's level is the Championship. He may have been a successful "yes" man for Brentford, but everything was spoon fed to him by the Bees front office brass and their analytics. He was a "yes" man for the Tottenham board, too, except he didn't actually have the talent to manage Spurs tactically or play like a top club.

Brimingham City, a team that is buried in the mid table of the second division, is exactly Frank's level. Even though Tottenham and Frank may be opponents next season if the Danish manager were to take the Birmingham job, these two clubs are obviously not on the same plane of existence. A suitor like Birmingham is exactly where Frank belongs, and this news really shows how far off Frank was from the level of where Tottenham ideally should be.

After drawing 2-2 with Brighton in a match they really should have won, Tottenham Hotspur had to count on local rivals Crystal Palace - the last team they beat in the Premier League, all the way back in late December - to get a win over another rival in West Ham United.

Unsurprisingly, Oliver Glasner and Palace were unable to get the job done, drawing 0-0 with West Ham to help the Hammers give themselves another point above the Lilywhites in the table. Though, at least, by drawing, Palace did still give Spurs a shout at getting out of the bottom three, because a win combined with a Hammers loss next weekend would take Tottenham back up a point above their London adversaries.

During the match, though, former Tottenham right winger Brennan Johnson had a golden opportunity to put Crystal Palace up in the early going, but he missed an open header to leave the chance begging. Had Johnson bagged that opportunity, then palace would have won 1-0 over West Ham, sending Spurs fans into ecstacy with a much easier task at getting out of the relegation zone.

Brennan Johnson was atrocious vs. West Ham

And in truth, Johnson was horrible yet again, and he has been horrendous ever since the Eagles made him their record purchase from Tottenham Hotspur in the winter transfer window. Although Spurs made the mistake of not signing a new winger to replace Johnson in the squad - and how Ademola Lookman would have helped in this relegation fight with injuries somehow mounting further - they were 100 percent justified in selling Johnson, especially for the 35 million pound price point that he went for.

Johnson did nothing all around for Crystal Palace in this 0-0 draw with West Ham. He created no chances and completed no dribbles, drawing one foul and missing two shots. His most notable contribution to the game was a yellow card, which has become a running meme to this point.

Tottenham sold Johnson because he could not play like a real winger. His chance creation output was poor, and his lack of ability on the ball was jarring, offering zero threat in one on one situations or as a progressive player out wide.

Crystal Palace saw that once again in this match against West Ham, and Tottenham fans can only watch as Johnson dropped the ball, even as a finisher, and conclude that he was the right sale. It's just too bad he proved that point against a relegation rival in West Ham.

Even though Tottenham Hotspur did not win against Brighton and ended up surrendering two goals, Antonin Kinsky's second start in a row between the goal posts went very well. Kinsky was unlucky to have conceded last weekend in a 1-0 loss to Sunderland, and neither of the two goals the Seagulls put past him were remotely his fault.

On the other hand, Kinsky looked right at home on the ball. His command of the box and distribution continue to imrpess the Tottenham faithful, and for a young goalkeeper who has barely played this season, the Czech shot stopper has looked a lot less shaky on the ball and in other aspects of the game besides making saves than incumbent Guglielmo Vicario.

And as Tottenham fans have figured out this season as the remain sitting in one of the three Premier League relegation places, those other things besides the saves that are on the stat sheet make a huge difference in wins and losses. In fact, those kinds of mistakes on the ball and in the air can be even more devastating in the table.

Tottenham's GK controversy rises

Vicario is wanted badly by Inter Milan as their Yann Sommer replacement, and every single transfer rumor out of Italy and England seems to point to the inevitability of Vic going to the Nerazzurri this summer. There is a chance Roberto De Zerbi tries to convince the veteran Italian international to stick around, sure, but you have to think that with Antonin Kinsky playing well twice now, the chances of De Zerbi even wanting Vicario back have to be waning.

Guglielmo Vicario has no real future upside to Tottenham Hotspur, and they could make a pretty penny by selling him. That is important for a team seemingly destined to kick down to the EFL Championship, which would then also mean that a dream Vicario replacement like James Trafford would be entirely unachievable. And you can forget about Dutchmen Robin Roefs and Bart Verbruggen, too.

Tottenham may already have their Vicario replacement in Kinksy. He has responded so well from those harsh slips against Atletico Madrid, and, to be honest, it would be cruel to fault him for unlucky mistakes in a massive game when the young man had not even played for months - and great players on Barcelona had been slipping in that very same pitch, too.

Kinsky impressing lately makes Vicario even more expendable, and there have always been Tottenham fans who feel Kinsky is the better keeper anyway. And now, they will also feel a bit of vindication.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi finally gave Xavi Simons the start, and the young Dutch star rewarded Spurs with a goal and an assist to help them get a 2-2 draw against De Zerbi's former employers Brighton. Without Simons, though, Spurs would have definitely lost this game, as the rest of the front line was atrocious - no surprise, Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani have been two of the worst strikers in the league lately - and the defense doesn't know how to close the deal.

So while Spurs were more positive than they were in their previous losses to Sunderland and Nottingham Forest when they didn't even score a goal, the Lilywhites remain in one of the three Premier League relegation places and look almost certain to go down.

Compounding that sentiment was what happened elsewhere in the relegation fight. Because, once again, a team just ahead of Spurs was impressive and got the job done in a big way at the same time that Spurs could not.

Nottingham Forest extended their lead on Tottenham Hotspur further by beating up on Burnley 4-1, another team in the relegation battle - albeit one ranked much lower than Spurs and not really in the competition.

Morgan Gibbs-White should have been on Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur were able to actually put some goals past the opposition this weekend, scoring twice behind the reintroduction of star man Xavi Simons into the starting lineup. Though the goals were no thanks to the strikers, as Roberto De Zerbi rolled with two No. 9's again, this time discarding Richarlison from the trio last week.

It was Dominic Solanke who started in the middle and Randal Kolo Muani on the right hand side, with Spurs fans befuddled as to why the leading scorer of the three and the only one remotely anywhere near the word "form" was discarded. Richarlison is a great weapon to have in a relegation fight, and unlike Solanke and Kolo Muani, in particular, he seems to actually be bothered about the prospect of Spurs going down.

Now, De Zerbi may have just been trying to gas up a player to help his morale- or, more cynically perhaps, his transfer value - but the Italian manager did have some pretty strong words of praise for Solanke before the 2-2 draw with Brighton.

Roberto De Zerbi thinks highly of Dominic Solanke

He said at the press conference, via The Spurs Express, “Dominic Solanke is one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”

Wait, what? I'm not even sure Dominic Solanke himself would believe that. Though he was excellent in the 2023/24 season for Bournemouth before joining Tottenham Hotspur, the 65 million pound record signing has been mediocre, at absolute best, at the N17. Solanke did have a great purple patch of form this season after finally coming back from a foot injury, but, lately, he has been terrible and posing no go threat.

So it is strange to see that Roberto De Zerbi is such a believer in Solanke, and because he has started him in back to back games as his main 9 in the formation, it is fair to wonder if De Zerbi really does believe the Kool Aid on Solanke that he is making us all drink.

But what is annoying about the Solanke love is that it has come at the expense of players who have been a lot better this season. Forget Richarlison, because while he works hard and has scored more goals, his all around play has left a lot to be desired.

What about young Mathys Tel? The Frenchman was brilliant before De Zerbi arrived and booted him out of two starting lineups against Sunderland and Brighton. Tel has outplayed all the other forwards this season, and if De Zerbi's adulation for Solanke means fewer minutes for Tel, than that is a huge problem.