Football365

Italian transfer journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has explained why he believes Dejan Kulusevski is definitely staying at Tottenham Hotspur, regardless of relegation, while a major update has also emerged on Cristian Romero’s future.

While Spurs are expected to face a mass exodus of players should they drop into the Championship, it appears that Kulusevski will not be one of them.

The Sweden international has not played a single minute for Tottenham this season due to an ongoing knee injury, and there is no denying that his absence has been keenly felt.

Indeed, there’s been a real lack of creativity in the final third without the likes of Kulusesvki, James Maddison and Mohammed Kudus, who had been expected to return this month but has suffered a setback in his recovery from a thigh injury.

However, despite that lingering threat of top talent moving on, it looks like 25-year-old Kulusevski has no intention of jumping ship and will look to play a part in securing an immediate top-flight return, should the worst happen.

Indeed, according to an interview with Sky Sports journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, via Football London, Kulusevski will ‘definitely’ be a Tottenham player next season, whichever division they find themselves in.

He added that De Zerbi will be desperate to keep hold of the versatile 25-year-old attacker, ‘due to his experience and personality’.

The Italian reporter said: “I definitely think Kulusevski will stay at Tottenham, even if they leave. He is a good example for other players and De Zerbi likes him.

“He has the right mentality, so I think Kulusevski can become one of the most important players in their project, regardless of whether they play in the Premier League or the Championship.

“De Zerbi will really try to keep him. He loves players like him who have a strong identity and personality. He will definitely try to keep him.”

One player who certainly appears to have played his last game for the club is skipper Cristian Romero, with Fabrizio Romano delivering a major update on the Argentine’s future in north London.

The weekend defeat at Sunderland was compounded by Romero limping off with a knee injury that has ruled him out for the remainder of the season, with his World Cup place also in doubt.

There have been reports that the World Cup winner has likely played his final game for Tottenham, regardless of whether they go down or not, and now Romano has delivered a telling update on Romero’s future.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Italian said: “What I can tell you is that there is a feeling around all people involved in this story, on player’s side, and then on club side, it is probably going to be time for Cuti Romero to leave in the summer transfer window.

“We know it’s always difficult to negotiate with Tottenham, especially when it’s about top players. They are tough and so obviously, let’s see who is prepared to pay what Tottenham want.

“From what I understand, there is no release clause, in paper, in the contract of Cuti Romero. It was just a gentleman’s agreement, but with the previous chairman, Daniel Levy, but now there is no release clause to be activated.

“The price is up to Tottenham. It’s Tottenham deciding, so we have to see how the negotiations will be.

READ NEXT: Arsenal plummet in Premier League mood rankings; bottling almost as bad as relegation

“There is interest from Europe, and also from abroad. For sure, there is a lot of interest in Romero, and the expectation of those around player and club is that something will happen in the summer.

“But again, it depends on the price.”

Atletico Madrid remain the top suitor for Romero’s signature, having previously tried to lure the 27-year-old to the Spanish capital, although much will likely depend on the severity of his knee injury.

Simon Jordan believes Leeds United have all-but guaranteed their status in the Premier League following Monday’s monumental 2-1 win at Manchester United – but has explained why the Whites can have a big say in deciding which of West Ham, Nottingham Forest or Tottenham Hotspur is relegated to the Championship.

Daniel Farke’s side have been in fine form since switching to a 3-5-2 formation at the back end of November, losing just four times in 23 games across all competitions.

Despite that impressive form, Leeds United have remained in the relegation conversation, with a combination of several draws and the big improvement of West Ham under Nuno Espirito Santo ensuring they cannot yet class themselves as safe.

However, with Tottenham‘s results continuing to go south, the Whites took a giant leap towards safety with an impressive, though ultimately hard-fought 2-1 win at Man Utd on Monday night – the first time they have won a league game at Old Trafford in a staggering 45 years.

With appealing home games on the horizon, talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan now thinks Leeds can be ruled out of the relegation conversation.

He explained: “The most important thing is, Leeds are in an FA Cup semi-final. Yeah, they’ve got 36 points. But look at their home games: They’ve got Wolves and Burnley. I mean, who would you want in your last two home games if not Wolves and Burnley? You’d have them all day, right?

“So you’ve got to be saying to yourself, well, we’re gonna stay in there [the Premier League]. What they will also do, ironically, is not just perhaps secure their future. They might be pivotal in the outcomes of Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham. They’re playing those two teams as well.

“Leeds can be the kingmakers of themselves, but they also might be ‘king-savers’ of one of the other two big London clubs. Because it’s going to be one of the other two. I think Forest seem to have pulled themselves together. So it’s gonna be West Ham or Spurs, and it looks now, as much as I might want it to be something different, it looks like it’s gonna be Spurs.”

Asked if it has gone from four sides in the relegation to just three, Jordan added: “Leeds have lifted themselves out of it.

“I thought Leeds have had too many draws and not quite been able to pull themselves to safety. I said about a week, 10 days ago that they were playing so well, but they hadn’t escaped. They were making themselves difficult for other teams to beat them; they were getting good points against big opposition, but they weren’t clambering away…

“But that result [on Monday] has finally given them some clear blue sky. So yeah, you look now and say it’s between the two London clubs and Forest.”

We do wonder whether Spurs have been so bad for so long that people are no longer appropriately astonished about the ludicrousness of their impending relegation.

Spurs have now won just 11 of their last 54 Premier League matches. It’s a 16-month misery spiral in which they’ve also contrived to win more games in Europe (13) than their own domestic league. It is absurd and, if anything for me, Clive, they’ve almost relegated themselves too well.

And this has just started to seep into Spurs’ own support.

We’ve railed for years about how the Big Six are insulated from failure, about how there really is only so far they can fall and fail no matter how bad or mismanaged they are. Spurs are about to blow all that out of the water and the reaction for now is still mainly just ‘LOL good banter, this’.

Perhaps it will change when it’s actually confirmed. Perhaps there is a sense from the outside of still thinking or assuming they’ll somehow escape despite themselves because life is just that unfair.

Even the bookies – and thus by association punters – have, while finally at the weekend accepting Spurs are now favourites to go, not quite accepted just how overwhelmingly probable it now feels from the inside. They are still, with most firms, just about odds-on to survive, which might very well be the worst bet we’ve ever seen in the history of bets until you realise that Spurs are also evens to win at Wolves in a couple of weeks’ time.

Should go without saying that Spurs, right now, are not evens to win any game of football against anyone.

What also goes without saying is that almost no Spurs fans think their survival chances are anywhere close to 50:50. Most would put it somewhere nearer 0:100.

Tottenham next? A run-down of the teams who were ‘too good to go down’

Almost no Spurs fan now expects survival. Many no longer believe it is even possible. Many have resorted to finding what crumbs of joy they can from living vicariously through Arsenal’s jittery panicky collapse that will, at worst, see them finish second in the Premier League.

We noticed a significant shift in mindset when Spurs weren’t even playing. On Monday night, when Leeds secured their own survival with victory at Man United, the Online Spurs Fans barely looked up. For months now every Forest, West Ham and Leeds game has obviously been an event for Spurs fans too, as Spurs games have been for fans of those clubs. No longer.

The phlegm-flecked fury at the undeniably infuriating sight of Brian Brobbey’s third yellow-card offence of the afternoon putting their captain out for the season’s last rites appears to have represented the last raging against the dying of the light.

Spurs fans themselves have now seemingly thrown their hands in the air at the futility of it all and moved on from drawing up plans for how they might somehow survive this season to trying instead to work out what happens in the summer and beyond as a Championship club. Leeds tearing Man United apart barely interrupted those discussions.

Our suspicion is that this is just the eye of the storm. A fugue state brought on by the extreme stress of it all, and that fresh agony will hit once again when it’s all finally mathematically confirmed – especially if it happens against Chelsea or via the West Ham-Arsenal game. But it does seem at least slightly encouraging somehow to see them for now in an acceptance stage of their grief.

It’s all still spectacularly and unimaginably bad, obviously, but at this stage ‘Can we maybe hold on to Archie Gray, do you reckon? Or Kevin Danso, perhaps?’ are surely far healthier delusions than any ‘If we can just beat Brighton…’ prognostications.

Spurs can’t just beat Brighton. Or Wolves. Or anyone else. The fans at least have reached that state of enlightenment even if it does still feel like everyone else is still slightly playing catch-up.

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly ready to offload at least five first-team stars this summer, regardless of relegation, with skipper Cristian Romero leading the list.

The Argentina international left the pitch at Sunderland crying after suffering a knee injury in what could be his final game for the club, with his place at this summer’s World Cup also in doubt.

Tottenham will miss Romero for the final six games of the campaign, as they somehow try and find some form under Roberto De Zerbi to drag themselves away from the relegation places.

Despite not being at his best this season, along with missing multiple games through suspension, Romero’s absence will still be felt in what will be a critical final few weeks of the season for a Spurs side that has not played in the second tier of English football in almost 50 years.

However, a fresh report from talkSPORT claims that sources have told them ‘Romero is expected to move’ amid a ‘radical overhaul’ of the Tottenham first-team squad this summer.

The report adds that the 27-year-old is regarded as one of the ‘more sellable assets’ in north London, that’s despite the fact that he only penned a new contract in 2025 that runs until the summer of 2029.

LaLiga giants Atletico Madrid hold a long-standing interest in the World Cup winner and tried to lure him to the Spanish capital prior to Romero penning his fresh contract.

And they could end up signing the defender for a more than reasonable price, given that Romero is entering what should be the peak period of his career.

Indeed, Romero’s father recently claimed that his son has a release clause of around £60million (€69m / $81m) in his contract.

Romero will not be the only Tottenham exit this summer, though, with the report suggesting that goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, midfielder Yves Bissouma and left-back Destiny Udogie will also move on.

READ NEXT: Ten Premier League fanbases with far more reason to be upset than table-topping Arsenal

Spurs are also expected to decline the opportunity to sign Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich permanently, with the Portugal international failing to impress over the course of the campaign, despite making a strong start to life in north London.

Other players not mentioned in the report who are also set to move on, regardless of the drop, include loan striker Randal Kolo Muani, centre-back Radu Dragusin, midfielder Pape Sarr andveteran defender Ben Davies, who will be out of contract this summer.

Tottenham Hotspur are keen on signing Manuel Ugarte from Manchester United in the summer transfer window, and so are Newcastle United, according to a report, but the Uruguay international midfielder wants to join Juventus instead.

Ugarte has been a huge disappointment for Man Utd since his £50.5million move from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2024.

The Uruguay international midfielder has been able to make only 69 appearances for Man Utd so far in his career, scoring two goals and providing six assists in the process.

TEAMtalk reported earlier this month that Man Utd are ready to offload Ugarte in the summer transfer window.

The midfielder himself is seriously considering leaving Man Utd at the end of the season, as he has struggled to convince interim manager Michael Carrick to play him regularly in the starting line-up.

When Ugarte has played, his performance has been far from impressive, with the midfielder producing a poor display against Leeds United on Monday night.

READ: The damning stat that exposes Man Utd’s worst mistake of the INEOS era

Man Utd slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Leeds at Old Trafford in the Premier League, with Ugarte making a rare start alongside Casemiro in defensive midfield and failing to make a huge impact.

It was Ugarte’s first start under Carrick and his 10th for Man Utd this season. In those games, the Premier League giants have won just once.

When Carrick was promoted about that stat, the Man Utd interim manager said: “Since I’ve come in, and he’s played and come on, he’s been fine.

“I think tonight was a tough game, not just for Manu. It was one of those games when it was a tough night.

“I actually thought, especially when we went down to 10 men, that he did a lot of covering for other players to be able to attack.”

Despite Carrick’s defending of Ugarte, it is clear that he has been a flop at Old Trafford, but that does not seem to have damaged his reputation, with Sports Boom reporting that Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are interested in him.

Tottenham, who are third from bottom in the Premier League table at the moment and could get relegated to the Championship, have Ugarte on their ‘shortlist’, according to the report.

Newcastle have also taken a shine to the 25-year-old, who is the subject of interest from Turkish Super Lig club Galatasaray, too.

However, Ugarte ‘prefers’ a move to Serie A and ‘has his heart set on’ joining Juventus in the summer transfer window.

The Italian giants, too, are keen on a 2026 summer deal for the former Sporting CP and PSG midfielder.

Tottenham are in ‘intensive talks’ to complete a deal to bring Sebastien Kehl to north London as their new director of football, according to reports.

Nordi Mukiele’s 61st-minute goal gave Sunderland a 1-0 win on Sunday as Tottenham lost their first match under new head coach Roberto De Zerbi

Tottenham are now in the Premier League relegation zone with just six matches left to play and two points adrift of West Ham, who occupy the place above them.

De Zerbi seems to be ready to continue managing Tottenham even if they are relegated to the Championship and now they are looking to improve other areas of their football operation.

German newspaper Sport Bild (via Sport Witness) claims that Spurs are in ‘intensive talks’ to fill the gap left by Fabio Paratici, who recently left to join Serie A side Fiorentina.

There has also been speculation that Tottenham sporting director Johan Lange could soon leave the club after their poor Premier League performance this season.

READ: Ten Premier League fanbases with far more reason to be upset than table-topping Arsenal

HSV Hamburg are another of Kehl’s suitors with the Bundesliga side hoping to make him their new board member for sport, while Tottenham are looking at other options too, including FC Augsburg’s Stefan Reuter.

Kehl made some impressive signings during his time as Borussia Dortmund director of football, most notably bringing Nico Schlotterbeck from Freiburg.

Tottenham will need to make a lot of changes to their squad in the summer, whether they stay up or go down, and Jamie Carragher has explained why they weren’t “unlucky” to lose to a deflected Mukiele strike on Sunday.

Analysing the Sunderland goal on Sky Sports, Carragher said: “You’ve got five Tottenham players here almost like a cage, all facing Mukiele.

“He [Mukiele] has to go there [pointing down the line]. It can’t be any other way. So five players around. So when you say you’re unlucky, that, for me, is not unlucky. That can’t be allowed to happen.

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

* Spurs victims of ‘borderline corruption’ or their own ‘bone-headed arrogance’?

* Premier League predicted final table: Spurs doomed as De Zerbi bounce fails

* Premier League winners and losers: Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham, De Zerbi, Thiago, Rosenior

“The two biggest culprit to me are the two midfield players, Archie Gray and Conor Gallagher, in this position.

“If I tell you now, this where somebody is going to score from [points to the edge of the box] that is not unlucky. It’s not. It can’t be.”

While Roy Keane took aim at Tottenham’s midfield pairing, he added: “They’re not great technically on the ball, and they’re not comfortable getting the ball, then they better be good defensively.

“Gallagher has just got to slow down there. It’s far too easy. And Archie Gray has got to get out there [to close down Mukiele], leave the runner. That’s far too easy.

“And when you’re when you’re down there fighting for your lives, these are big moments. And again, it’s not unlucky. It’s got to be stopped earlier.

“It’s a bit of football intelligence, spot the danger. Again, slow it down and show them into wide areas. That, to me, that’s the basics. You’ve got to do the basics right when you’re down there.”

We remain staunch defenders here of fans’ rights to express themselves however they want in stadiums. As long as you’re not breaking actual laws or basic human decency, crack on. You’ve paid your money, you can do what you want.

There is simply no such thing as ‘over-celebrating’. If you want to boo your own team, you go right ahead and boo them. Call them silly sods and bottling frauds. Celebrate in a way that gets a clout-chasing influencer to quote-tweet a video with the simple descriptor ‘#limbs’ and casually harvesting 5000 likes.

But also, you know, we will arch an Ancelotti eyebrow when you’re booing your team when your team is nine points clear at the top of the Premier League and with one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

We understand. We get the dread fear that is engulfing Arsenal fans. It does look like it really might be happening again. It does look like you might have to eat a lot of banter sh*t at the end of the season. But come on, guys, you’re not even the club in your local area that is going to spend this summer and beyond eating the most sh*t.

Tottenham

I mean, just obviously Tottenham. They won’t like us saying it, but Spurs fans’ complaints and boos and harrumphing have in the past carried a good deal of the Arsenal about them. Not the ‘nine points clear at the top of the league’ part, sure, but a general sense of entitlement and inflated air of their own worth and expectations.

What’s happened this season has, in its way, made that observation feel even more accurate. While also making this season’s at-times-unbridled fury entirely understandable.

The speed of Spurs’ descent from if not quite the top table then something very, very close to it, to what now appears inevitable relegation is staggering. To get a true idea, it’s barely three years since Antonio Conte’s infamous please-sack-me rant after Spurs blew a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 at Southampton. We all remember it, don’t we.

But here’s a fun little question. Where do you think Spurs were in the table that night, with Conte desperately trying to get himself sacked and most Spurs fans happy to pack his bags? They were fourth. Fourth! That’s what Spursy used to look like. And we still all took the p*ss then!

Back then, Spurs fans may have indeed come off as a bit entitled and up themselves when booing and complaining that they might not be in the Champions League every season. But when their team is careening towards relegation and nobody really looks like they care that much about the fact, then it does seem like yeah, fair play, you can definitely be quite annoyed about that.

There have certainly been more boos than points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this year and, despite Thomas Frank’s claims and the unstinting support of his inexplicably large and devoted fan club across this country’s football media, those dreadful results are not, were not and never have been because of the fans.

That’s a fact borne out by the defeat against Nottingham Forest when, out of pure desperation and no real idea what else to do, they decided to go entirely the other way and happy-clappily support the team quite literally to a fault. Then get criticised for that, too, because maybe it spooked the players and made it all feel too big for them to handle.

If anything, for me, Clive, they’ve almost supported these good-for-nothing wastrels too well.

Spurs fans right now are well within their rights to be absolutely furious about absolutely everything, from ticket prices, to the way this season’s omnishambleclusterf*ck has made Daniel Levy look like a genius despite his starring role across most of the decade of negligence, arrogance and hubris that has led Spurs to this point of utter catastrophe, to the boardroom overpromotion of assorted Lewis Family nepobabies, to the constant transfer-saga mugging-offs, to the self-satisfied nature of Johan Lange’s “we didn’t panic” January fiasco, to the ongoing fascination with appointing Arsenal fans to senior roles, to the inexplicable failure to see what everyone else could see about Thomas Frank until it was far too late, to the never-ending injury crisis and, finally, to Brian Brobbey.

Next season is going to feel so weird without Spurs while they go about their business of doing the only two things that are possible for them next year: racking up over 100 Championship points or fewer than 50.

Liverpool

Now Arsenal fans might point here to the fact that at least Liverpool fans got a league title to celebrate last season and having a league title to celebrate is all that Arsenal fans are asking for and really is that so much?

But Liverpool fans were sold a much bigger dream than a single title. Last season was supposed to represent the start of a new dynasty, of the country’s greatest club knocking Manchester rivals old and new off their f*cking perches and reclaiming a place firmly atop English football that is essentially their birthright. It was the start of the Arne Slot Era, but it’s turned out to just be the last stand of the Jurgen Klopp Era. Who also definitely isn’t coming back as manager as well, no matter how many times people insist on Lloyd Christmassing their way to a “So you’re telling me there’s a chance” conclusion from those quotes off that podcast.

What is real and happening is that Liverpool have this season very often been very sh*t. And in the cruellest possible way, because that sh*tness has come after an entirely misleading start that, on the back of last year’s success and the megabucks summer spending spree, had us all fooled despite in hindsight being an obvious illusion that relied on a clearly unsustainable diet of late goals and absurd good fortune.

It turned out the late goals weren’t actually that unsustainable, but after that initial five-game burst they would mainly come for the opposition.

Are also the only Premier League club since February 1 to play Spurs and emerge without three points, which is absolutely f*cking mortifying.

Big Midweek: Real v Bayern, Arsenal, Arne Slot, Rashford, Forest

Aston Villa

Hammering their heads against a ceiling they are simply not allowed to break. Stymied by rules designed to pull the drawbridge up and leave a closed club that Villa aren’t invited to and have no plausible way to break in.

There is still every chance that the glorious period in which Unai Emery has defied gravity to restore Villa to a Premier League force on if not off the pitch is coming to an end. He might know better than most how the grass isn’t always greener on the Big Six side, but you do wonder whether at some point quite soon he might fancy having another go at succeeding without one arm tied behind his back.

This summer’s increasingly inevitable book-balancing sale of Morgan Rogers feels like it might be the time.

Meanwhile, Chelsea and Manchester City continue upon their merry way without any apparent imminent consequence. At least, other than Chelsea’s self-inflicted consequences. And those can’t really count here.

Newcastle United

Imagine selling the entirety of your soul in the hope that you become the next Man City only to find to your horror you are instead on a timeline where you finish 14th, lose home and away to Sunderland, and get hammered in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Of course you’d be raging. Has any of it really been worth it? At least Chelsea and Manchester City fans got way more than one poxy Carabao out of swallowing down all those uneasy feelings and ignoring the small, nagging voices in the back of their heads.

Chelsea

You don’t have to feel sympathy for Chelsea fans – which is just as well.

But it’s not hard to understand the anger at what has become of a once-proud football club now reduced to the status of a get-rich-quick player-trading empire for the most cartoonishly ghastly Americans imaginable, while they bin off capable managers who won’t blindly follow the definitely foolproof strategy in favour of a wildly out-of-his-depth company man from the Strasbourg Office who has never met a LinkedIn post he didn’t find inspirational and motivational.

Cole Palmer isn’t even good anymore. The biggest cheer at Stamford Bridge on Sunday was before the game against Man City even kicked off when the result came through from Sunderland.

Sure, laughing at Spurs has been a core plank of the Chelsea supporter’s strategy for the longest time. But it’s come to something when it starts to look like the only remaining plank.

Crystal Palace

Still fighting the good fight this season and may well walk away from the season with another trophy. Given their history, that’s not to be sniffed at. At all.

But if there was ever a season to highlight the ‘know your place’ realities for smaller Premier League clubs it’s been this one at Palace

Since having the temerity to win the FA Cup last May they’ve lost their best attacker, their best defender, their Europa League place and, at the end of the season, the manager who has made unprecedented success possible.

Of course it wouldn’t be better if the FA Cup win had never happened. Of course the very possible winning of a European trophy would be another momentous and joyous occasion. But it also feels very much like the end of something never to be repeated.

There is no sense here of Palace being able to use any of it as a springboard to lasting success. It’s just a tantalising glimpse of the good life before going back to the 50-point grind.

In the timeless words of James, if I hadn’t seen such riches I could live with being poor.

Manchester United

Just cannot escape their banter era. Michael Carrick has now been neither good enough nor bad enough to make the next step obvious or decisive, with danger lurking in whichever option they choose.

Have endured the ignominy of a bare-minimum 40-game season that will make Champions League qualification look less of an achievement than it is and have suffered through multiple humiliations.

It was bad enough just being in the second round of the Carabao, never mind losing at Grimsby.

They’ve taken a total of two points from their home games against West Ham, Wolves and Leeds, while also managing to draw at West Ham away to allow the great haircut grift to continue with the idea of five wins in a row and an end to that particular line of embarrassment once again as far away as ever.

Tottenham again

Seriously, Arsenal, some perspective please. Look at these poor bastards.

Burnley

Imagine being significantly worse over the course of a season than this Spurs team. How could you not be fuming?

Wolves

Imagine being significantly worse over the course of a seas… well, you get the idea with that. In summary: fuming.

Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane were scathing in their analysis of Archie Gray and a second Tottenham “culprit” in their defeat to Sunderland on Sunday.

Spurs failed to reap the reward of a new-manager bounce as defeat in Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge saw them end the weekend in the relegation zone, two points from safety.

Nordi Mukiele’s goal was the difference between the sides and Carragher was eager to point out that Spurs weren’t as “unlucky” as reports suggested at losing to the deflected strike.

“You’ve got five Tottenham players here almost like a cage, all facing Mukiele,” Carragher said while analysing the goal on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

“He [Mukiele] has to go there [pointing down the line]. It can’t be any other way. So five players around. So when you say you’re unlucky, that, for me, is not unlucky. That can’t be allowed to happen.

“The two biggest culprit to me are the two midfield players, Archie Gray and Conor Gallagher, in this position.

If I tell you now, this where somebody is going to score from [points to the edge of the box] that is not unlucky. It’s not. It can’t be.”

Also taking aim at the midfield pair, Keane added: “They’re not great technically on the ball, and they’re not comfortable getting the ball, then they better be good defensively.

“Gallagher has just got to slow down there. It’s far too easy. And Archie Gray has got to get out there [to close down Mukiele], leave the runner. That’s far too easy.

“And when you’re when you’re down there fighting for your lives, these are big moments. And again, it’s not unlucky. It’s got to be stopped earlier.

“It’s a bit of football intelligence, spot the danger. Again, slow it down and show them into wide areas. That, to me, that’s the basics. You’ve got to do the basics right when you’re down there.”

Carragher believes the midfield is the big “worry” for De Zerbi as their relegation rivals have superior players in that area of the pitch.

“I don’t want to pick on young players, because I actually think [Lucas] Bergvall and Archie Gray have actually they’ve been two of the better players for Tottenham.

“But I was really worried yesterday after the game, and it was because of the midfield area. The two young kids learning the trade that are supposed to be getting you out of a relegation battle.

“Conor Gallagher’s come in who the manager likes, because he’s tried to buy him, but it just hasn’t worked for him so far at Spurs. We know he’s been a decent Premier League player, but it’s just not happened for him at all, and that has been a problem from the very start of the season in their central midfield.

“I think the teams they’re fighting, West Ham have got a better central midfield than Tottenham, so have Nottingham Forest, and so have Leeds. So that is my one big worry for Tottenham in terms of going down.

“And when you think about what De Zerbi can do different, he needs to fix the midfield, because that has been a problem for three managers already.”

Keane then again attempted to find something they’re good at and failed.

He said: “When you’re thinking about what they’re really good at – because you have to hang your hat and something if you’re going to play in the Premier League – are they really good going forward? Are they a goal threat? No, not really.

“They’re not technically great. They’re not good at getting on the half turn. Are they amazing defensively? They’re not great at that either.”

We have two very different contrasting Spurs fans, blaming the referees and the club. We also have more thoughts on Arsenal.

Cop a load of Leeds v Man Utd tonight and message us at theeditor@football365.com

Spurs will let you down, too…

As a Spurs fan, I feel like one of many that have been trampled by a stampede over the course of this season (and longer?)

Week after week, not just defeats (although there have been many), but the mistakes, the bad luck, the deflections, the red cards, the biased decisions, the laughter from the opposition fans, the glee from the commentators and the pundits in the studio.

One stampede after another.

And so, after one more trampling this week, on what was hoped to be the beginning of the renaissance, I can only think of one conclusion:

I can’t wait to gloat in this mailbox when Spurs disappoint everyone else and stay up!!

Honestly, the giddy glee of everyone outside Spurs is borderline shameful. From opposition fans, honestly I can accept, and even respect that. West Ham or Arsenal fans taking the p*** out of us? Fair enough. Deserved.

But it’s the media, the F365s, the commentators. Jeez, the commentators in the Spurs Sunderland game yesterday were dreadful. Every Brian Brobbey elbow or a malicious, injury intending push was met with ‘ahhh what a physical player he is!’ while every Spurs foul or mistake was met with disdain. It’s the same every week.

F365, every podcast, every radio show, everyone delighted to see Spurs gone.

Even the referees, that’s the scariest thing. Every marginal call going against Spurs. Red cards, inconsistent VAR decisions, even that crazy handball given against Kolo Muani yesterday that came off his head on a breakaway? And when it happens to Spurs, instead of any apology it’s just ‘hah, Spursy!’. Are we the last team in the league this year without a penalty? It’s borderline corruption at this stage.

If De Zerbi and the players have *anything* about them, they’ll turn this ridicule into a siege mentality. They are being absolutely laughed at by everyone involved in English football. They need to turn that into venom that gets put to work on the pitch.

Six games left and people are salivating over Spurs demise. But I’m sorry to tell you, like they’ve done for us fans for so long: Spurs will disappoint you.

Salvation seems miles from us for now… but one win can change everything. De Zerbi will make more progress. Xavi Simons, Bergvall, Van de Ven, Porro, Tel will step up. Maddison might even return.

Spurs will stay up… and I can’t wait to be back here when they do!

Andy, Spurs, Eire

Where Spurs got it very wrong

Should, as feels increasingly inevitable, Spurs get relegated, the January transfer window won’t be the reason but it will be a huge reason why. In no world do I expect us to get in Guehi and Semenyo but I look at West Ham, of all clubs, who bring in two players who are transformative.

Spurs, and the brain trust that is Lange and Vinai, sell Johnson our final (in)consistent goal threat at the very beginning of the window, and replace him with Gallagher, giving him £200k p/w by the by, insanity. We lose Richarlison, Kudus, Bergvall and Bentancur during that same window, and bring in…..nobody. Not a single other player…oh wait, a 19 year old Brazilian…who’s barely seen the pitch since arriving.

Then, when it was clear Frank needed binning off, they waited until after the window had passed. Mind boggling.

That is bone headed arrogance and negligent to the extreme.

Spurs won’t get relegated because of that window but it was a chance to give the squad a shot/kick up the arse and it was spectacularly passed up.

No matter what happens. Those two bozos have to be relieved of their duties with immediate effect. Painful to watch, but morbidly fascinating at the same time.

Finally, a big apology to both my kids who it seems really want to support Spurs; forgive me.

Dan Mallerman

READ: Premier League winners and losers: Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham, De Zerbi, Thiago, Rosenior

Arsenal ruining football? Not so fast…

I love this idea that Arsenal are ruining football when you have 1. Rival fans clamoring for City to win (again – even despite 115) and 2. Rival fans (e.g. Chelsea today) actively rooting against their own club’s interests (CL not looking likely now is it?) in order to root for Man City getting a lifeline back into the title race.

All because…you don’t like our Lego-headed manager, our online fanbase and that we score from a lot of set piece situations? It’s not Arsenal who’s ruining football – it’s you f***ing idiots who take these asinine positions and then actually try to defend them. It honestly seems past the point of just “bantz” now. This is what football has become and it’s kinda sad.

Now stfu and watch us still win this league.

MAW, LA Gooner (Also, to all you people who were hating on Americans – you are all also total idiots. And I imagine there’s a strong correlation between the likelihood of someone I described above also being the same type of person that I’m describing in these brackets. Or, as we call them in America, “parentheses”. F*** off.)

On those spoiled Arsenal fans…

I am not going to make silly forecasts about whether Arsenal will or won’t bottle the league but I mentioned multiple times this season that if you coach negativity you give elite players an inferiority complex. You’re telling them they’re not good enough to win toe to toe and need to, instead, resort to dark arts and gamesmanship. That is not a recipe for trophies in the long haul, regardless of how this season pans out.

That said I was surprised more attention wasn’t paid to the boos at full time. Liverpool, in all my life, have never been top of the league and been boo’d off a home pitch. I’d love to know what the players thought and felt when they heard that. I can’t imagine they felt motivated to work harder for the benefit of fans entitled enough to boo them off when they’re 6 points clear at the summit.

I remember a couple months ago Arsenal had a bad draw the same weekend Man City lost and fans were at pains to point out how actually it was a good weekend for the team; but generally if you hope to win trophies dropping easy points is never positive. Those chickens might feel like they’re coming home to roost a bit now.

Finally, fans are eager to question why neutrals might favour Man City. Some have pointed out that Man City almost get disregarded because they haven’t really got a fan base in the way the actual big clubs do. I won’t shed any tears for Arsenal because they seemed perfectly happy to jump into bed, and promote their new sponsorship, with Deel this season. If you want to partner with corporations that actively support the genocide in Gaza then forgive us all for not caring how “proper” you think your club is.

Minty, LFC

…To highlight how much this Arsenal team’s collective heads seem to have gone you only need look at the celebrations after the Gyokores penalty. At 36 minutes into the game, this was hardly a case of desperate times and at that point in time you’re sitting a solid 10 point clear of your nearest competition.

How did the Arsenal team react though? Did they go and drink in the applause, celebrate with each other or dare I say it enjoy themselves a little? No, Gyokores gave a brief showing of his trademark hand gesture and then sprinted back to the halfway line as if this was stoppage time in a cup tie and they needed another not to get knocked out. Add to this the fact that David Raya went up for a corner at the end of the game this paints a picture of a team that has a mindset of hanging on to the title rather than believing it’s theirs.

Being 9 points clear at the top is by no means a desperate situation despite what the papers and a majority of Arsenal fan social media “celebs” would have you believe. The genuine fear that has enveloped the club however is.

Maybe players and fans alike should spend some time overthinking the positives instead of catastrophising the negatives.

Anthony (Raya could’ve thrown away that precious goal difference “point” too), Kilburn

The HyperBowl starts here

The wait for the return of Villa to action over the international break and FA Cup QF’s felt like a lifetime. However, it feels like the massively overhyped build up to the City v Arsenal game on Sunday may make this week even more intolerable.

It won’t decide the title. It may influence it significantly, but it won’t decide it. We can’t watch Arsenal lose at home and then proclaim them champions if they get a result at The Etihad.

Gary AVFC, Oxford (Got to score those Watkins and Rogers).

Cescy talk

One must take these reports with a massive handful of salt of cold. But that they’re even being spread. – and are perfectly believable – shows how fast Arsenal’s season is unravelling.

Cesc Fabregas is *reportedly* being lined up to replace Arteta, in the event he wins no silverware this season. I wonder what Arsenal fans think of this? Cesc of course * knows the club * and he’s doing pretty well at Como, but he’d basically be another very inexperienced manager.

On the plus side, you would imagine he’d play a rather more interesting style of football. And there’s no way this squad needs major expensive surgery, it just needs the best getting out of it.

From potential Quadruple winners to looking at a new manager in about 3 weeks. Modern football moves *fast*.

Jamie, Liverpool

Stop lying about a child…

Did nobody else kinda pick up on how daft this fella sounded?

That being said Madueke and Mosquera lack elite “mentality. Dowman seems to be riding his lucky Everton’s cross. The boy is 16, very talented …but he make forward or side passes, cannot create chances (creating chances in different from creating chaos), he just runs, dribbles into blind alleys, get fouled”.

What are you even on about? Since that Everton game he has played 3 games. One of them was where he was Arsenal’s best player in the FA Cup in the loss to Southampton. He then played 14 mins against Sporting and 35 mins against Bmouth. He’s a winger whose main attribute is dribbling. He’s very good at it. Arsenals wide players are scared to take men on, he isn’t. What is your sample size here? Less than half a game vs Bournemouth? Why do people always speak so confidently when spouting drivel.

Dion Byrne

We end with Stewie

Sorry but I have to point out the dissembling, dishonesty and delusional guff from Arsenal fans, which goes some way to explaining why they are perennial Losers and the butt of every joke. Take that mailbox entry from (I assume Arsenal fan) Mubashir.

This is a classic case of Islington MAGA dissembling and dishonesty. First off, he states Noni “is the ball out if you dribble it past the white chalk” Madueke “cost £30m”. This is false and dishonest – Madueke cost £52m! Then, Arteta’s coaching allegedly “isn’t the central issue”…but here’s where it gets “Alternative Facts”: Mubashir goes on a few sentences later to bemoan “ no chemistry, no patterns, no coordinated pressing”. Strange, because where do players learn these attacking patterns? Ah yes through training ground drills and repetition! Where do they learn coordinated ball pressing? Again: on the training ground! And who is 100% responsible for this? Aaaah yes. The manager!

But my favourite part arrives with the moment of clarity that “recruitment is the problem”. Whose decisions were they to blow £52m on Madueke, £65m on an ashtray, £60m on a Viking Clogger? It’s subsequently concluded that “Arsenal were never good enough” – quite a conclusion to reach when the manager has had 7 years and over £1bn!!!!

Hate to go back to this point but when 4 seasons ago, the usual banal El Fraudo-lovers bandied about the “who would you replace Arteta with” bollocks, I suggested Luis Enrique. This was shot down as I was reliably informed that he “didn’t have what it takes” to compete in the PL and “my granny coulda won a Treble with that Barca side”. Interesting.

I contend that if you had given Luis Enrique the exact same conditions El Pulizon has had the past 2 seasons, he’d have back to back PL titles and possibly a CL.

This remember, is the same manager who took a punt on a Barca-reject Dembele, who’d spent his Barca career persistently crocked, or out of form. Dembele was such unwanted goods that Enrique got him for just €50m – aka a €20m discount on a Chelsea reject ashtray. A few seasons later with Enrique’s coaching, Dembele is a European champion and ballon d’Or winner! Look at Vitinha, ex-Wolves, signed for just over €40m – aka a huge discount on a Madueke. One of the best midfielders in Europe! Desire Doué – a young precocious talent, now a European champion and going to the WC with France. And it goes beyond that, look at the wealth of youth talent Enrique has put his trust in: Mayulu, Zaïre-Emery, Barcola. Nuno Mendes far cheaper than a Ben Shite etc. Examples abound. The point? Enrique is a progressive manager who trusts in youth, is attacking and demonstrated that raw attacking talent thrive under him. All this after losing Mbappe! Oh and a reminder: Enrique earns less than Arteta. Farcical.

Meanwhile….El Fraudo has signed 194 defenders, is linked with another 27 defenders this summer, has spent far more than an Enrique but is whining that duds like Fraudegaard are “injured”. It’s pathetic. 7 years and not one person can name an unquantified attacking success he’s coached! Max Dowman will be the biggest beneficiary of a new, inventive creative manager – as will Ethan Nwaneri and MLS. The talent is clearly there in those players, but having some Fake Technocrat regurgitating David Brent quotes, whilst making you do 370 hours of bleep tests (as he forbids you from shooting, improvising, or taking risks)…is the worst possible thing.

Here’s a final curveball: I will bet my bottom dollar that if Arsenal sacked Arteta tomorrow and brought in an emergency interim manager (Alonso is literally free), Arsenal would get more wins, play better, and win the PL. Crazy idea, but call it a “new manager bounce”. I even think Maresca would get the 3 more wins required at this point!

That Arsenal fan claims “title was never in Arsenal’s hands”. A 9-point lead, home to Bournemouth, with a chance to go 12 clear. With 8 matches or so left. But MAGA-style lads, “ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears”. Hilarious.

Former Tottenham Hotspur Jamie O’Hara was scathing in his assessment of Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of his old club, with striker Dominic Solanke producing an horrific 0/10 performance in the defeat at Sunderland.

The so-called ‘new manager bounce’ proved once again that it does not exist at Spurs as De Zerbi’s first game in charge went the same way as Igor Tudor’s, another demoralising defeat.

Whilst not quite as heavy or embarrassing as the 4-1 home loss former interim manager Tudor suffered against Arsenal in his first outing, De Zerbi’s Tottenham did little to suggest they can avoid relegation at the Stadium of Light.

The 1-0 defeat, courtesy of Nordi Mukiele’s cruelly deflected strike, leaves Spurs two points off 17th-placed West Ham in the fight for survival with only six games remaining for De Zerbi to pull off what is looking increasingly like a miracle.

And reacting to the performance on Wearside, O’Hara did not hold back with his player ratings in what was another dismal Tottenham display.

Writing on X after the game, it was Solanke‘s 0/10 that was the biggest shocker, while fellow forwards Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani did not fare much better as they both received 1/10 ratings.

Antonin Kinsky at least recovered from his disaster in Madrid the last time he pulled on a Spurs shirt, earning a 7/10 as replacement for the injured Guglielmo Vicario, while Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, and Pedro Porro avoided complete humiliation by each being awarded 5/10.

Summarising the performance, O’Hara said: “Absolute horror. Spurs deserved nothing from this match. This fully characterizes Tottenham this season. They did nothing at all, showed nothing.

“There is no performance in any position. Gallagher – terrible. Kolo Muani – terrible. Solanke – terrible. Richarlison – terrible. Udogie –terrible. You can’t fight for survival with only six people actually involved! You need to fight and play properly.”

READ NEXT: Spurs doomed to relegation not by absence of new-manager bounce but fact this was it

Despite the managerial change, O’Hara shifted the blame toward the squad rather than criticising new boss De Zerbi.

He added: “I can’t believe how bad this team is. De Zerbi is a good coach, but he can’t perform miracles. The players have to deliver results for him.”

Next up for Tottenham is a clash with De Zerbi’s old club Brighton in north London on Saturday evening, where nothing less than three points will suffice.