The New York Times

Son Heung-min will return to Tottenham Hotspur for their home game against Slavia Prague on December 9.

Son, 33, left Spurs to join Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC over the summer, bringing down the curtain on a decade at the club which culminated in last season’s Europa League win.

The forward’s final appearance for Spurs was the pre-season friendly against Newcastle United in his native South Korea on August 3 and he has since said he would return to London to say goodbye to supporters.

The club confirmed on Wednesday that Son will take to the pitch before the teams walk out ahead of the Champions League fixture, and he will have an opportunity to address the crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Further details and timings will be communicated before the game.

Son said in a statement: “When I announced my difficult decision to leave Spurs in the summer, it was in Korea and I never got a proper chance to say goodbye to fans at the stadium.

“Now I am so happy because I am going to come back to London on 9th December, for the Champions League match, and be able to tell the Spurs fans in person just how much their support and love over ten years has meant to me and my family. It will be emotional, but it’s important for me and the club that this happens.”

Spurs also confirmed work had begun on a street mural for Son on Tottenham High Road, “further celebrating the legacy that Sonny has left in this part of North London”.

Son scored 173 goals for Spurs, leaving him fifth on the club’s list of all-time scorers, and captained Ange Postecoglou’s side to the club’s first trophy in 17 years last season – although he started the 1-0 win over Manchester United in Bilbao, Spain on the bench.

“Obviously I will go back to London and see all the Spurs fans,” Son said in October in an interview with YouTube channel Shoot For Love. “I deserve to say goodbye in front of them and they deserve to see me physically to say goodbye. It’s going to be very emotional but I definitely can’t wait to go back to London and see all the Spurs fans.”

He has scored 14 times in 13 appearance for LAFC following his summer move to the United States.

Spurs, meanwhile, have struggled since Son’s departure, with Thomas Frank’s side winless in their last five, having won just three times at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season.

All season, Tottenham Hotspur fans have just wanted something to believe in. Something to buy into. Something to get behind. Anything to make them feel like Spurs are alive, fighting, rewarding their own commitment and passion with equal energy of their own.

And on Tuesday night at St James’ Park, it came to them in the form of the comic-book hero Cristian Romero.

Twice here, Tottenham were heading for defeat. Twice, they were rescued by Romero. First, 1-0 down with 12 minutes left, Romero threw himself into a diving header at the near post to turn in Mohammed Kudus’ cross, a goal of striker’s instinct, timing and athleticism. Thomas Frank thought it was his best goal of the night and from a technical perspective, it is hard to argue.

But then four minutes into stoppage time, with Spurs 2-1 down, Romero did something more surprising, more spectacular, more dramatic, ultimately more fantastical.

Newcastle goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale punched Mathys Tel’s corner up into the air. Romero was down on the ground after colliding with Rodrigo Bentancur and Malick Thiaw. He leapt up and ran away from the goal, towards the path of the falling ball. He might have just headed the ball backwards, towards Richarlison or Kevin Danso.

But he leapt up and hit an overhead kick. The Newcastle defenders looked frozen in shock at something so audacious. Thiaw, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn and Nick Woltemade were rooted in place. The only thing moving was the ball, cutting through the four of them, rolling into the bottom corner.

It was the last thing you would expect from a centre-back, in stoppage time, with his team 2-1 down, with nine black and white shirts and Ramsdale between him and the goal. But then Romero is not an ordinary centre-back. He is not even an ordinary footballer.

There has always been something special about Romero. There is his uncompromising will to win, a fire that burns brighter in him than in almost any other player. There is his technical skill, not just in defending but in using the ball, darting forward passes through the opposition lines. There is physical aggression, putting his body on the line, and any other bodies that get in his way. And, at his best, there is an icy rationality, even on the biggest stages, in the biggest moments.

Put it all together and you might even call it “main character energy”. That is what Romero has shown throughout his career, from his two Copa America wins, to his integral role in the 2022 World Cup, to the way that he took control of the Europa League campaign, ending in glory in Bilbao six months ago. Spurs would never have lifted that trophy without Romero guiding them through, on and off the pitch.

Tottenham have been desperately lacking that individual force in recent years. Harry Kane left in 2023 and Son Heung-min this summer and neither man has been replaced. Romero — with a nod to Micky van de Ven — is the only Spurs player who could reasonably claim to be one of the world’s best in his position. And, like Van de Ven, but unlike anyone else at the club, he is an individual match-winner, someone who can imagine things and execute them, beyond the capacities of normal players.

And this was precisely the sort of night and performance when Spurs needed that individual magic. It has been a tough time recently. They have not won in the Premier League since October. Since the November international break, they lost 4-1 at Arsenal, 5-3 at Paris Saint-Germain, and then found themselves 2-0 down to Fulham after six minutes. The booing during and after that game pointed to a fanbase on edge, anxious about performances, and a team whose confidence was bruised.

Spurs came to Newcastle knowing that they would have to dig in and fight to get anything. It was not pretty — it has not been all season — but Tottenham slowly got a foothold in the game. What they did not have, what they have lacked all year, was quality or firepower in the final third. One Lucas Bergvall flick over the bar in the first half was as good as it got.

Sure enough, Spurs tired, gave up space, and went 1-0 down. But then Romero got them level, Spurs’ first shot on target of the game. They conceded a second to a very debatable VAR penalty decision, and then Romero got them level again, their second shot on target. Newcastle ended with seven.

The point itself is not to be sniffed at. Spurs lost their last three league games here. They lost 6-1 under Cristian Stellini in April 2023 and 4-0 under Ange Postecoglou that December. There were moments early on where it felt like they might get overwhelmed again by Newcastle’s physicality and momentum, but they clung on and rode it out.

But at this stage in the season, at this stage in the Frank project, there are more important things than a point here or a point there. What really counts are the intangibles. Do the players believe in what they are doing? Are the fans behind the new coach and the team? Are those bonds — between the fans, the players and the manager — strong enough to pull everyone together? No one who was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night could have been optimistic about any of that.

What Tottenham desperately needed was a moment, a spark, a bolt of lightning, just something to remind everyone that they are all in this shared enterprise together. Frank admitted afterwards that at moments like this, individuals taking responsibility can make all the difference. “We can set up everything nice tactically, good principles and all that, and that’s the foundation, and hopefully we can make a great team,” he said. “But sometimes it’s decisive actions from key players. And Cuti definitely did that today.”

The real challenge is to turn this from one good moment into something Spurs can build on. They need to hope that the bright light of Romero’s heroics in Newcastle can guide them further down the road, starting with Brentford on Saturday.

Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur played out a dramatic 2-2 draw at St. James’ Park on Tuesday night.

Newcastle came close to breaking the deadlock in the 34th minute. Joelinton broke down the right and fired a shot across the Tottenham goal, beating Guglielmo Vicario but only managing to find the post. However, neither team was able to open the scoring in what was a tense first half.

The hosts did eventually go ahead in the 70th minute. Anthony Gordon burst down the left flank before playing in Bruno Guimaraes, who was introduced as a half-time substitute. Guimaraes lined up his strike and fired past Vicario to put his side into the lead. Tottenham equalised within 10 minutes, though. Mohammed Kudus made space on his left foot before crossing into the box. Cristian Romero dove and headed the ball past Aaron Ramsdale to make the score 1-1.

Newcastle, though, would go ahead again in the 85th minute courtesy of a penalty from Anthony Gordon. Referee Tom Bramall gave the spot kick after an on-field review showed Dan Burn was pulled to the ground by Rodrigo Bentancur during a corner. However, Romero would level the match for a second time after hitting a brilliant overhead kick from a corner in the 95th minute.

Here, The Athletic’s Chris Waugh and Jack Pitt-Brooke break down the game.

How important was captain Romero?

Tottenham needed a saviour at St James’ Park.

They have had a difficult time of it recently, and Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham was a painful night, driving a wedge between the fans and the team. Step forward, Cristian Romero, Tottenham’s talismanic captain, to deliver a remarkable performance, scoring two late goals to help Spurs rescue a point.

First, it was a diving near-post header from a Kudus cross to make it 1-1. And then, three minutes into added time, a quite brilliant overhead kick through a crowded penalty area to make it 2-2.

He celebrated with passion and energy down below the travelling Spurs fans. It felt as if he was reminding them what a special player and leader he is.

And given how painful another defeat would have been, it felt like a potentially significant moment for Tottenham’s season.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Newcastle fail to win without Bruno Guimaraes starting (again)

Newcastle do not win Premier League matches when Bruno Guimaraes does not start. That has been the case since he made his full top-flight bow for the club at Southampton in March 2022, and it remains the case now.

Across the previous 139 matches, Guimaraes had started 130 of them, with Newcastle winning 69. Compared to the nine matches in which Guimaraes has been absent from the XI, Newcastle’s win percentage (53.1 per cent to 0 per cent), average goals for (1.9 to 0.6), goals against (1.2 to 1.6), and points per game (1.8 to 0.6) all significantly improved whenever their captain started. There had been five draws and four losses, including a stalemate at Bournemouth in September.

Having rested Sandro Tonali at Everton on Saturday, Howe restored the Italian in place of Guimaraes, with the head coach determined to protect his best players as Newcastle navigate a hectic fixture schedule.

After a relatively bright start for Newcastle, the game became scrappy and the first half was drab. At the interval, Tonali departed, which was a worrying sign, and Guimaraes was introduced, with his first contribution being a crossfield ball out of play.

But he soon grew into the game, delivering a couple of delicious set pieces, before playing a sublime pass in behind the Spurs defence to release Jacob Murphy on the counter.

Then, in the 71st minute, Anthony Gordon burst down the left, centred to Nick Woltemade, who flicked the ball back. A late-arriving Guimaraes curled a gorgeous shot into the bottom right-hand corner for his 12th goal involvement in his last 20 Premier League home games for Newcastle.

For the first time, Newcastle appeared destined to win a Premier League match Guimaraes had not started, and courtesy of the Brazilian himself. Yet Romero’s equaliser thwarted that quirk from becoming reality, and their inability to win without their skipper starting remains.

Chris Waugh

How did Tottenham’s fans respond to Vicario?

The defining moment of Saturday night — indeed, one of Spurs’ season so far — was fans in the south stand booing Guglielmo Vicario after his mistake allowed Harry Wilson to score for Fulham from distance.

Thomas Frank said afterwards how disappointed he was with that behaviour, which appeared to drive a wedge between the crowd and the team. But here at St. James’ Park, the Spurs away end were clearly behind the Italian goalkeeper, repeatedly chanting his name.

It helped that Vicario played well, making a save from Lewis Miley in the first half and then reacting well to save from Harvey Barnes early in the second half. This led to another chorus of his name from the Spurs contingent high up in the Leazes End, and another after a good save from Tino Livramento from distance.

It was a reminder perhaps that even after the frustration of Saturday night, Vicario, now in his third season at Tottenham, still has some credit in the bank, especially with the die-hard away support.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Was this Gordon’s best performance of 2025?

Neither of Newcastle’s goal scorers started. Both came on and changed the direction of the match.

Gordon was introduced in the 66th minute alongside Anthony Elanga, with Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy replaced as Howe switched his wingers.

It has been a curious calendar year for Gordon, who has had two brainless red cards that have contributed to his stuttering form. The 24-year-old had not scored or assisted in the Premier League since January, yet has four goals and an assist in five Champions League appearances this season.

This was his ninth Premier League appearance of the campaign and, having also been left on the bench against his former club Everton at the weekend, Gordon looked bright from the moment he was introduced. He played an influential role in Guimaraes’ opener, before scoring the winner from the spot.

Having argued with Woltemade over taking a penalty at Union Saint-Gilloise in October, Gordon initially held on to the ball after referee Tom Bramall awarded a spot kick for a foul on Dan Burn following a VAR review. Woltemade then assumed possession of the ball temporarily, before giving it back to Gordon, and the winger dispatched it emphatically.

Frustratingly, Newcastle conceded a second equaliser, so Gordon’s goal did not prove to be a winner, but having the England winger providing goal contributions again can only be welcomed. A greater end product is required from Gordon.

Chris Waugh

What did Eddie Howe say?

He admitted his disappointment, saying: “I think we’re hugely frustrated with ourselves really. That was a game where we had to work really hard for the first goal.

“I thought we were the dominant team and knocking on the door all through the first half, the goal came when it came, and I felt then we were in a strong position, having been relatively comfortable defensively, to then concede the two goals in the way that we did, in the manner that we did. It’s hugely disappointing because we pride ourselves on being better than that defensively.”

What did Thomas Frank say?

Frank heaped praise on Romero, initially joking: “The perfect bicycle kick, hit the shin, aiming for the bottom corner.”

He continued: “I think let’s start praising Cuti, I think he deserved that for all of the top performance, defending, on the ball, coolness, calmness, duels. And then getting up there and scoring two goals. I think the bicycle kick will most likely get a little bit more praise, but I think the header is more exceptional, the way he does that is better than many strikers.”

And Frank added: “That said, I think I really liked the character, the mentality in the team, what they showed after three tough games, I think it’s been. To go here, the fourth game in 10 days, the third away game, very difficult place, going down two times, being behind two times, and come back, it shows everything about the willingness and the mentality in the team.”

What next for Newcastle?

Saturday, December 6: Burnley (Home), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET

What next for Tottenham?

“I’ve always loved Thailand and I have always really wanted to represent the country, so it was amazing to do it. It was a very honourable and surreal moment.”

Former Chelsea academy forward Jude Soonsup-Bell was reflecting on a whirlwind week, during which he made his debut for the Thailand national team.

It was certainly an eventful first two matches, as he missed a penalty after coming on for his debut in a friendly against Singapore in Bangkok, before scoring two goals in a 4-0 victory away to Sri Lanka in Asian Cup qualifying.

Soonsup-Bell played for England’s under-15s, under-16s, under-18s and under-19s but his mum, Hannah, was born in Thailand and spent the first 10 years of her life there before moving to the United Kingdom. He explained how he had been in contact with the Football Association of Thailand for a few years about making the international switch.

FIFA approved his eligibility and, following that, the 21-year-old received his first call-up to the Thailand squad at the start of November.

“My mum’s side of the family are all Thai heritage, so I’ve always wanted to go out there and experience it,” he told The Athletic. “Someone who works for the FA in Thailand contacted me and said it was a great opportunity to come out, because they had a game in the Asian Cup, a must-win. They also want the next generation of Thai players to come through. I enjoyed every minute of it, it was really fun.”

Soonsup-Bell, who still has family living in Thailand, said he had regularly visited the country when he was young, and had spent the past three summers there too.

His Thai family are based in Bangkok, so Soonsup-Bell’s international bow, the 3-2 friendly win over Singapore, was something of a homecoming.

The occasion may have been tainted slightly by that penalty miss, but Soonsup-Bell made amends days later, scoring twice in Colombo.

“It was a really big moment for me and a really proud moment for my family too,” he said.

Soonsup-Bell, who is learning Thai, said his integration into the squad had been made easier by other players holding dual nationality — such as midfielder Ben Davis (previously of Fulham and Oxford United) and former Norway youth international Nicholas Mickelson. Anthony Hudson, Thailand’s head coach, is English.

Hudson, who played for West Ham United’s youth team, began his managerial career aged just 27, the start of a journey that has taken him from Newport County to Bahrain, New Zealand, the United States, Qatar, and now the Thailand national side.

“He was very welcoming, and it made my experience easier that he could speak English too,” said Soonsup-Bell.

Soonsup-Bell, who has two older brothers and a younger sister, said there had been excitement and expectation from Thai football fans dating back to his time in the Chelsea academy, where he had a prolific record in their youth teams.

“I’ve seen the support since I was young, it’s always been a big thing out there to see a player with Thai heritage play for Chelsea,” he said. “It meant there was a bit more weight on my shoulders, going out there to prove myself and show what I can do.

“I’ve always known the football following out there is crazy, but going out there and seeing it first-hand was such a good experience.

“You can see from the FIFA world rankings, it’s a national team on the rise,” said Soonsup-Bell of his new national team, who have climbed to No 95, their highest position since 2008. “The aim is to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia but then after that, it would be a massive thing for the Thai national team to qualify for the World Cup. They’ve never done that before.”

He said Curacao, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde and Haiti reaching the 2026 World Cup in the new expanded 48-team format had given fresh hope to countries such as Thailand.

And as a bonus for Soonsup-Bell, his time on the international stage presents him with another chance to get his career back on track after a mixed period at club level.

Soonsup-Bell, who started his football academy journey at Swindon Town after being spotted at local side Calne, moved to Chelsea aged 12, where he was one of their outstanding players in their youth setup.

He had an impressive record for the club’s under-18s — once scoring four times in an FA Youth Cup game against Barnsley — and he scored six goals in seven matches for England’s under-16s.

He made his Chelsea debut under Thomas Tuchel, in their 2-0 victory away at Brentford in the Carabao Cup in December 2021, alongside fellow academy graduates Xavier Simons and Harvey Vale, when several first-team regulars were missing with injuries and Covid-19. However, that was his first and last showing in the Chelsea first team.

As The Athletic previously reported, he struggled after making the step up to the development squad from the under-18s and there was a feeling at Chelsea that his game hadn’t progressed as much as hoped.

Now at Grimsby Town in League Two, how does he reflect on his time with Chelsea?

“I’ve got relationships there that will last a lifetime and also amazing memories,” he said. “I managed to make my senior debut, that’s something I’ll always remember. It was a surreal experience, especially to do it with Xav and Harvey, two players I’d grown up with and been through the academy with. You work so hard for it — being away from your family is always difficult and not being able to see your friends as much, you sacrifice a lot.

“So just to get to that moment, it’s a massive weight off your shoulders for you, your family and all the people that helped you get there.”

Can he pinpoint why he could not push on at Chelsea?

“It’s not like after playing that game, you expect to play week in, week out,” he replied. “It’s more difficult than that. You’re competing against players that are getting bought for £100million. When you get into senior football, you have players competing against you who are in their prime, they have a lot more experience than you and it’s sometimes difficult for managers to trust the younger players.

“It’s more about it being a proud moment and something to push you on, depending on where you go in your career. If I had any advice for young players, it would be to keep going and never stop, because you don’t know when your next opportunity is going to come.”

After struggling to break through at Chelsea, Soonsup-Bell left to join Tottenham Hotspur’s development squad in January 2023, where he was part of the team that won Premier League 2 in May 2024.

“I really, really enjoyed Tottenham,” he said. “They were my favourite kind of years because they had such a good support network there.”

But still finding first-team opportunities hard to come by, he decided to step out of his comfort zone, joining Cordoba CF in Spain’s Segunda Division.

“I thought it would be a great experience,” he explained. “And, if I did well there, the world is your oyster as a young player playing in Europe and in the second league in Spain.”

However, he found it tough going, as he made just seven substitute league appearances, failing to register a goal.

“I didn’t play as much as I wanted to,” he said. “The style of football is very different out there. The players are technically very, very good, they have all come from top academies.”

Yet he still felt it was an invaluable experience.

Following his Spanish sojourn, Soonsup-Bell, who idolised Cristiano Ronaldo growing up, joined Grimsby in the summer, where he is still waiting for his first start and goal.

“It’s a different kind of step,” he said. “It’s a more physical and demanding league than I’ve played before, but it’s a decent standard as well.”

Soonsup-Bell said he was continuing to learn and develop as a player under manager David Artell and enjoying the convivial atmosphere among the Grimsby squad, who are aiming for promotion this season. At Grimsby, he has linked up with fellow ex-Chelsea youth players, George McEachran, the younger brother of Josh, and Neo Eccleston, who is on loan from Huddersfield Town.

One of Soonsup-Bell’s first matches at Grimsby was the club’s victory over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, where Ruben Amorim was filmed tinkering with a tactics board in the pouring rain and then sat in the dugout rather than watch the 12-11 penalty shootout.

“It was a moment where you realised that in football, anything can happen,” Soonsup-Bell, who was an unused substitute, said.

It’s with that mindset that Soonsup-Bell is now looking forward, buoyed by his Thailand experience.

“I’m still only 21, so I want to gain as many minutes as I can and try to climb up the leagues,” he said. “I want to fulfil my potential and talent. The main thing is working hard every day to get to where I want to be.”

This is going to be one of the most interesting transfer windows at Tottenham Hotspur for years.

Spurs have had an inconsistent start in the Premier League under Thomas Frank, with fans increasingly anxious about poor performances at home. The Spurs squad does not look as strong as it has in recent years, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min not replaced, and Spurs’ best attacking players out injured.

This means that fans are waiting to see if the new hierarchy at the club — since the departure of Daniel Levy in September — can deliver the higher quality of player that they all want to see at Spurs in 2026 and beyond.

The information found within this article has been gathered according to The Athletic’s sourcing guidelines. Sources with knowledge of transfer dealings, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, have been spoken to before offering the clubs involved the opportunity to comment.

Who will make key decisions over the two windows?

This will be the first window since the radical restructuring that Tottenham have had this season.

In September, chairman Daniel Levy was dismissed after almost 25 years running the club. Then, in October, Fabio Paratici officially returned to the club in a new role as sporting director, alongside Johan Lange, who was promoted from technical director into the same role.

Last month, Paratici and Lange, along with CEO Vinai Venkatesham, travelled to the Bahamas for long-planned planning meetings with the majority-shareholding Lewis family. January will be the first transfer window of this new era.

What positions will they be looking at in 2026?

The evidence of this season so far suggests that Spurs are short in midfield and in attacking positions, so it would only be natural for them to look for upgrades there.

Much will depend on the return from injuries of Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski, with James Maddison likely to be out for longer. If Solanke and Kulusevski can hit the ground running, then there might be less need for another centre-forward or a creative midfielder in the market.

But right now, the Tottenham squad looks weaker than most of its competitors. And fans will be hoping for a statement of intent from the Lewis family in their first window since Levy’s dismissal.

Are there any players they are already looking at?

Perhaps the most intriguing case concerns Antoine Semenyo.

Tottenham were interested in the Bournemouth winger in the summer, making an enquiry for him, and were told by Bournemouth that he would cost £70million ($92.7m). Semenyo then signed a new contract, but The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed last month that he has a £65m release clause active this January.

There are currently no indications that Spurs will move for him again in the window, but he would certainly be an exciting option for supporters.

Who will they be looking to sell?

Yves Bissouma has not played a single minute for Thomas Frank yet this season, although part of that is down to an ankle injury.

But he nearly left Spurs over the summer, and it would be a surprise if he is not back on the market in January, even though he is coming into the final six months of his contract.

What moves have they made already?

January will see the arrival of Mason Melia, the 18-year-old Irish striker. Spurs agreed a £2million deal with St Patrick’s Athletic in February for the teenage forward, who then played the whole League of Ireland season with St Pat’s.

Melia finished the season as the second-top scorer in the league, with 13 goals, as St Pat’s finished fifth, just outside the European places. Melia has also shone for the Republic of Ireland Under-21s.

The fascinating question for the second half of this season is whether Melia will come straight into the first team group, competing with Dane Scarlett, whether he will play with the Under-21s or whether he might be considered for a loan move away.

Which players’ contracts are expiring? Who will they renew?

One of the biggest moments of this season so far was Spurs captain Cristian Romero signing a new long-term contract at Tottenham, after a summer of interest from Atletico Madrid.

Now that his future is secured, the focus will turn to Micky van de Ven. The Dutch international centre-back signed a six-year contract when he arrived from Wolfsburg in 2023, meaning that Spurs are under no pressure to renew.

But given Van de Ven’s excellent form this season, Tottenham want to reward him with a new, improved deal.

What is their PSR position? What sort of budget do they have?

Tottenham’s PSR position has always been strong because of the club’s healthy commercial and matchday revenues, their return to the Champions League, and the fact that they have traditionally run a very controlled wage bill.

The question of budget will be a fascinating one, given that this is the first window since Levy’s departure, with Spurs fans hoping that the Lewis family find a way to make a major statement of intent.

What will be the manager’s priority?

Thomas Frank has not spoken publicly yet about what he wants from the transfer window, but it feels like the team needs more goals and more threat from midfield.

Spurs missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze in the summer, ending up with Xavi Simons, who is yet to make much of an impact on the team.

Frank was also interested in his former Brentford forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, although they went to Manchester United and Newcastle United, respectively. It would only be natural if he were to want more attacking upgrades in January.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank is “very confident” he will be given time to improve the team’s performances.

Spurs are 12th in the Premier League table and have taken only four points from their last six games and have lost three matches in a row across all competitions.

Frank’s side were beaten 4-1 by north London rivals Arsenal, suffered a 5-3 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and conceded twice inside the opening six minutes in Saturday’s loss to Fulham. They have not won a league game at home since victory over Burnley on the opening weekend of the season.

The Danish head coach believes he has the support of the club’s majority owners, the Lewis family.

“I think the ownership — of course I’m just starting to know them — but it seems like they’re good guys, intelligent people,” Frank said in his news conference ahead of Tottenham’s game at Newcastle United on Tuesday.

“They know how to run businesses and learning about football, learning more now they’ve become owners. I think when we’re dealing with intelligent people they can see every successful dynasty, every successful club has taken time.

“Yeah you have one where you maybe win one year or the second year, but you can’t sustain it if you don’t build something sustainable. Impossible.”

Spurs are missing key players through injury, including Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, but fans are growing frustrated and have booed during multiple home games.

Frank was hired by chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham and former executive chairman Daniel Levy who was removed from his role in September after 24 years.

During the defeat to Fulham, sections of the crowd booed and appeared to ironically cheer goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after he made a mistake in the build-up to Harry Wilson’s goal. Frank described the supporters treatment of Vicario as “unacceptable” and said “they can’t be true Tottenham fans”.

Frank said of his comments on Monday: “When I said the ‘not true Spurs fan’, what I meant by that just to make it clear was the mocking of one of their own players.

“He makes a mistake and there is a little bit of booing after that, as I remember it. The next ball he clears and there is like a cheering. You can’t do that. The opponent can do that, you can’t do that as a fan. That’s where I would stand by what I said. The booing during the game I don’t think is helpful, (but) we are all different.”

Frank spent nearly seven years in charge of Brentford before he joined Spurs in June, replacing Ange Postecoglou on a three-year contract. Postecoglou was sacked two weeks after winning the Europa League which was Spurs’ first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Welcome to matchday 14 of The Athletic’s Premier League predictions challenge, where the games are now coming thick and fast.

We have entered a six-week period that will see 80 Premier League matches played. That’s more than one-fifth of the campaign squeezed into 41 days.

This is when seasons can be defined, when momentum can be built up or squandered irretrievably — and that applies as much to our predictions table as it does the real Premier League.

Each week, four of us — a guest subscriber, an algorithm, six-year-old Wilfred and I — are predicting the Premier League results.

We’re awarding three points for a correct scoreline and one point for a correct result. There’s also a bonus point for any correct “unique” prediction, so the algorithm got four points for being the only one to predict a 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Arsenal.

And that bonus point allowed the algorithm to leapfrog me and return to the top of the table after a two-week hiatus in which I blew the opportunity to move clear.

The table is now incredibly tight, with only seven points between the four of us. Wilfred’s excellent recent run continued with five correct results and a bonus point for being the only one to predict Brighton’s win at Nottingham Forest.

Our guest subscriber, Kian, got four correct results but was let down by his own team, Forest. Wilfred and the subscribers are now level on 81 points, with young Wilfred placed higher because he has had more correct scoreline predictions.

This week’s guest subscriber is Ben, a Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter from Walsall.

Over to you, Ben.

Our subscriber’s match of the week

Wolves vs Nottingham Forest, Wednesday, 7.30pm UK/2.30pm ET

Ben says: Admittedly, almost all Wolves fans have lost hope that this most miserable of seasons can be salvaged, but a win against an improving Forest could at least muster some positive momentum for Rob Edwards' tenure as manager. Alas, our distinct lack of quality makes it almost impossible to forecast where our first victory is going to come from.

Wolves 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Oli says: When Derby County ended the 2007-08 season with just 11 points (one win, eight draws, 29 defeats), it looked like a record that would not be broken in the Premier League. But Southampton came close last season (12 points) and this season Wolves, at their current rate, are on course for just six. But they’re not that bad, are they? Are they? Even in defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday, there were some encouraging signs for their new coach Rob Edwards. Perform like that against Forest and they won’t lose. Well, they might not lose.

Wolves 1-1 Nottingham Forest

The rest of Oli's predictions

Fulham vs Manchester City

Fulham’s record against Manchester City since the start of 2012: played 18, lost 18. They haven’t beaten the Manchester club since April 2009, which is so long ago that City had Mark Hughes in charge, Richard Dunne in defence, Kelvin Etuhu in midfield and Valeri Bojinov in attack. Fresh from an excellent win at Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham might fancy their chances. It could be a tight game. Tight enough for Fulham’s needs? Perhaps not quite.

Fulham 1-2 Manchester City

Bournemouth vs Everton

Everton have never won a league match at Bournemouth. They had never crossed paths in the league until Bournemouth’s promotion to the top flight in 2015, but even so, a record of two draws and six defeats in eight league visits since then is pretty grim Both clubs had such a miserable weekend — Everton beaten 4-1 at home by Newcastle while Bournemouth fell to a 3-2 defeat at Sunderland from 2-0 up — that it’s not easy to imagine either of them bouncing back convincingly on Tuesday.

Bournemouth 1-1 Everton

Newcastle vs Tottenham

It’s been such a strange season for Newcastle United. An emphatic win at Everton on Saturday looked like a corner had been turned, but then again, so did the victory over Manchester City, which was followed by a disappointing Champions League defeat in Marseille. Playing two games a week has been a struggle, but then the same applies to Tottenham, whose form over the last couple of months has been dreadful. It looks like the kind of game — opposition, kick-off time — that Newcastle should relish.

Newcastle 2-0 Tottenham

Brighton vs Aston Villa

This should be an excellent game between two teams in impressive form. Brighton & Hove Albion, in fifth place, have taken 10 points from their last four matches and Villa, in fourth, have taken 18 points from their last seven. Logically, Villa appear better equipped to puruse Champions League qualification. It won’t be easy, but a win on the south coast would be a significant statement of intent from Unai Emery’s team.

Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa

Burnley vs Crystal Palace

A Tuesday night in December doesn’t seem the ideal time to play Burnley at Turf Moor. For Palace, it’s the fourth in a run of 14 games in 47 days and there are signs that Oliver Glasner’s players are starting to feel the strain. It’s the type of game where Burnley really need to get something after four straight defeats.

Burnley 1-1 Crystal Palace

Arsenal vs Brentford

Forgive me for not indulging the narrative-friendly idea that Arsenal’s title challenge is faltering after two draws in their last three Premier League games. Injuries to William Saliba and Gabriel are a concern, as is Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa and a congested fixture list, but I don’t see much fragility in Mikel Arteta’s team at the moment. As impressively as Brentford are playing, this looks like a routine home win. Caveat: perhaps less routine if Saliba is not fit in time to return.

Arsenal 2-0 Brentford

Leeds vs Chelsea

In theory, this is the kind of fixture that should bring out the best in Leeds United. As Beren Cross wrote, their spirited second-half performance at Manchester City on Saturday offered hope even if the game's climax predictably brought disappointment. Chelsea’s confidence should be high after a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday, but a three-day turnaround is difficult and they will be without the suspended Moises Caicedo. It should be an interesting test for Enzo Maresca’s team.

Leeds 1-1 Chelsea

Liverpool vs Sunderland

The weird thing about the terrible run Liverpool have been on is that, while they have lost nine of their last 13 games in all competitions, their four wins in that period have been genuinely impressive. At West Ham United on Sunday, it was all very controlled and composed for a team supposedly in the midst of a crisis. Players such as Ibrahima Konate and Alexis Mac Allister, who have struggled this season, showed no hint of their previous struggles. Every time they have led in any game this season, they have won. It is when they fall behind that they seem to turn to jelly. A high-flying Sunderland team will pose far more serious questions, but if Liverpool score first, they will probably win.

Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland

Manchester United vs West Ham

With the table so congested, winning games can change a team’s mood and prospects significantly. Manchester United were 12th going into last Sunday’s game at Crystal Palace, but by coming from behind to win at Selhurst Park, they climbed to seventh, just four points behind second-placed Manchester City. At some point this season, they will find a buoyancy level. At the moment, that feels likely to be between, say, fifth and 10th. But with no European or Carabao Cup commitments, they have a lighter schedule than most of their rivals and an opportunity to push on and set their sights higher. West Ham, on Sunday’s evidence, are unlikely to trouble them.

Manchester United 2-0 West Ham

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season, The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football.

This was the weekend when Manchester City squeaked a win over Leeds United, Newcastle United put their woes behind them by thrashing Everton, Brighton & Hove Albion moved into Champions League contention and Manchester United impressed in beating Crystal Palace.

Here we will ask if everyone was pleased with Chelsea and Arsenal’s draw, what Mohamed Salah’s omission from the team that beat West Ham United means for Liverpool and Arne Slot, and whether Thomas Frank is picking the wrong fights.

Was anyone (or everyone?) a winner from Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1?

Draws are inherently unsatisfying. The point of this game is to win, so when neither team manages that, even the neutral is usually left feeling a little short-changed.

However, was everyone a winner from Chelsea and Arsenal’s 1-1 draw on Sunday?

Let’s start with us neutrals. There is something about a late afternoon Sunday game at Stamford Bridge that feels quite visceral and exciting: remember all of those games against Liverpool or Manchester United in the late 2000s/early 2010s, when it was basically dark by the time the game kicked off and you witnessed a pair of juggernauts slam into each other? Heady days.

That’s a bit how this one felt, two of the best three teams in the country slugging it out in a game that was aggressive, perhaps lower than you’d like on actual quality football, but nonetheless grittily enjoyable. Plenty may take the opposite view, and will have been unable to properly enjoy a game that didn’t exactly display the slickest play and finest skills, but a game doesn’t have to be ‘good’ to be entertaining.

Then there’s Chelsea. That’s easy: while they have title ambitions and thus will have been gunning for a win, there’s no way they can’t be satisfied with a draw against probably the best team in Europe, having been down to 10 men for two-thirds of the game.

Even Arsenal. Mikel Arteta expressed mild frustration to the media that Arsenal hadn’t won, but acknowledged that it has been a hell of a week, and they’ve come away with seven points from games against Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich and Chelsea. They did it without a bunch of key players, too — they didn’t have either of their first-choice centre-backs against Chelsea, plus started without a specialist striker or their captain and key creator.

And finally, Manchester City. They might have laboured to a 3-2 win against Leeds, a promoted team who look in danger of going straight back down, but the draw means that they are the closest challengers to Arsenal. They’re five points behind, which, considering the fragilities they have shown at various stages and Arsenal’s apparent lack of them, is not too bad.

So if it’s possible for everyone to be satisfied with the outcome of a game, then this one comes as close as any.

Does leaving out Salah mean more to Liverpool than just this win?

We’ll get the caveats out of the way first.

This is not a good West Ham team, despite their hints at something more competent since Nuno Espirito Santo’s arrival. There was also the significant help from one of the more brainless and pointless red cards you’ll see, as Lucas Paqueta managed to talk himself into getting sent off and thus kill any prospect of West Ham mounting a successful comeback.

But after a calamitous run that saw them lose six of their last seven Premier League games, drop out of the title race and put their Champions League qualification in doubt, Liverpool won’t care about the quality of the opposition.

That the win came partly thanks to Alexander Isak’s first league goal since his £125million ($143m) move in the summer is a bonus, as is maybe Florian Wirtz’s best game in a Liverpool shirt — but arguably more significant is that it took place without Mohamed Salah in the team.

It was a weekend for big selection decisions that paid off: Eddie Howe did what many Newcastle fans have been demanding for weeks and dropped Nick Pope, while also picking Anthony Elanga up front, and was rewarded with a 4-1 win. Likewise, Salah was left out of a Premier League starting XI for which he was fit and available for the first time since April 2024. He didn’t come off the bench either, making it the first time he has played no part in a league game for which he was fit and available since June 2020.

Did Liverpool win the game because they dropped Salah? Maybe, maybe not. Their performance was much improved, but their team remains imbalanced, and it’s tough to attribute the victory to any one decision.

This doesn’t mean that Salah should be left out and all of their problems will be solved, but what it does mean is that by taking this tough decision, Arne Slot has ensured that Salah can just be regarded as another player now. He is a sacred cow no longer. Maybe he’s in the team, maybe he’s not, just like Hugo Ekitike or Cody Gakpo or Isak. That frees Slot to make decisions based on the needs of each game, rather than being dictated by a player’s reputation or the disparity between how good he used to be versus how good he appears to be now.

Has Thomas Frank picked an avoidable fight with his own fans?

On the one hand, it’s nice to see a manager stick up for a player who has seemingly been singled out for criticism. When players get abused, it’s the manager’s job to help pick them up,

On the other, you wonder how wise it is for that manager to seemingly pick a fight with his club’s fans, when so many of them are unhappy not so much with that individual player, but with the manager himself.

After goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s embarrassing mistake that handed Harry Wilson the chance to score Fulham’s second goal in their 2-1 win against Tottenham on Saturday, a significant proportion of the home fans specifically booed the goalkeeper. And Frank wasn’t happy.

“I didn’t like how the fans reacted to that,” Frank said. “They booed at him straight after and also three or four times when he was on the ball. That is unacceptable. They can’t be true Tottenham fans.

“Booing after (the game), fair. No problem. But when we are playing, we need to be together. If we turn it around, we need to do it together. That is hugely important.”

The immediate frustration with Vicario will be fleeting. The bigger problem is results, and Frank’s are terrible at the moment, particularly at home: they have played seven games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season and won just one. Only Wolverhampton Wanderers, already well on their way to a fairly ignominious relegation, have a worse record on their own patch. It’s a hangover from last season: since March, Tottenham have earned 10 points at home.

So you can see why the fans are annoyed. Yes, they were irritated at Vicario’s blunder and perhaps didn’t express that constructively, but in reality, that was a funnel through which they were expressing their broader dissatisfaction.

At best, you could say that Frank misread the mood from a place of good intention. But more likely is that he has picked an avoidable fight with a group of fans who, in some cases, are even pining for Ange Postecoglou. And that sort of thing rarely ends well.

Coming up…

There are so many problems and so many shortcomings with Thomas Frank’s Tottenham Hotspur that you could spend all day analysing the things that went wrong against Fulham on Saturday, and have been going wrong for much of this season.

But at the heart of it is one glaringly simple and obvious fact: their home form is unsustainably bad.

It is not sustainable to be averaging less than one point per game at home, a record better only in this season’s Premier League than Wolverhampton Wanderers. This is not a problem Frank created — Spurs were dismal at home in the second half of last season — but it is a problem that Frank has not been able to fix. It is barely even a truism to say that if you lose most of your home games, you are in deep trouble.

It is not sustainable to create so little in front of your own fans, to give them so little to cheer and believe in, that their confidence in the new era erodes from game to game. This was not as bad as the Bournemouth and Chelsea home defeats. Both of those two games were abysmal, and this was merely very bad. Perhaps this was closer to the Aston Villa defeat or the 1-1 draw with Wolves. But the fact that Spurs’ home record this season already contains so many flavours of misery tells a story of its own.

It is not sustainable for Spurs to be taking almost three-quarters of their points (13 out of 18) away from home, meaning that only their die-hard away support have got to experience this team’s better moments. If you have a season ticket here and do not travel away, you will have still only seen one league win under Frank, against Burnley on the opening weekend. That was more than three months ago.

And it is not sustainable for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to be as toxic as it was on Saturday evening, where the home fans were booing Guglielmo Vicario after a mistake that led to Fulham’s second goal. This was the first time the home crowd had turned on a Tottenham player since Davinson Sanchez almost three years ago, and Thomas Frank said afterwards that it was “unacceptable” to boo a player during the course of a game, and that they could not be “true Tottenham fans”.

The sight of Pedro Porro storming off at the end with a face like thunder was a reminder of how much the players must hurt, too, from defeats like this. But Frank is meant to be here in part to rebuild a sense of culture, of unity around shared goals. And nothing could be more corrosive to that than nights like this one, when the fans are openly mocking their goalkeeper during the course of the game after one bad error.

But as keen as Frank was to defend Vicario, the reality is that his booing by the crowd was not an incident that can be understood in isolation. It is better understood as an eruption of the frustration that has been simmering here for some time. Because this home record is not just a Thomas Frank problem. Go back over Spurs’ last 22 home league games — a run dating back to the first half of last season — and they have only taken 17 points from a possible 66. Since they beat Aston Villa last November, the only league wins here have been against Manchester United, Southampton and Burnley. Fans are fed up with paying so much money to see their team play so badly.

There has been plenty of debate about the atmosphere and how best to improve it on matchdays. But the answer is simpler than you might think. The best method to generate a good atmosphere at a football match is to play well. Nothing else can match that. The 4-0 win against Copenhagen on November 4 is a case in point.

So the solution to all this has to come from the team, and ultimately from Frank himself. Nothing that the manager or the players say between now and next Saturday, when Brentford come to Tottenham, will matter half as much as how they play. And even if they get a result in Newcastle on Tuesday night — and that does not feel likely right now — they will need to give their base something to cheer too.

The real problem for Frank is how many fans feel the team is getting worse rather than better. Everyone accepts he has taken a hard job at a difficult time, that the Spurs squad is patchy even when the best players are all fit, which they have not been this year. But people still want to see an upward trend, and even if they do not see that, they want a sense of what the destination is meant to look like. And this is not just a theoretical point; part of the reason why fans were so patient with Mauricio Pochettino when he started slowly at Spurs 11 years ago is because the ideal end point of his football was so clear from day one.

And yet the two very worst games of Frank’s tenure at Spurs — Chelsea and Arsenal — were not in August but in November. These are still the two lowest team xG totals, 0.1 and 0.07, respectively, in the league this season. Frank talks about “adding layers” but none of those layers feel solid. Yes, they were better in the first half at PSG in midweek, pressing high and creating chances, but this game was a leap in the wrong direction. And even the layers that ought to be permanent — not least defensive stability — look increasingly shaky now. Fulham could easily have won this game by more than they did.

None of which means that Frank is doomed or that he cannot turn this around. He is a popular figure at the club, and there is patience for his long-term project. But there are only so many times you can get booed off at home before you lose your standing with people. The credit with the fans that Frank started with has now reduced to zero. He will have to earn it back himself.

Tottenham Hotspur suffered yet another home defeat as they lost against Fulham on Saturday night.

After three minutes, Samuel Chukwueze burst down the left and played a low cross into the box. The ball made its way to right-back Kenny Tete, whose strike hit Destiny Udogie and flew into the Tottenham goal.

Fulham doubled their lead just two minutes later. Guglielmo Vicario, out of his goal, played a dreadful clearance straight into the path of Josh King, who laid it off to Harry Wilson to curl into an empty net.

Spurs improved in the second half, and Mohammed Kudus dragged Spurs back into the game. Lucas Bergvall clipped a pass over the Fulham defence before the Ghanaian hit an excellent half-volley past Bern Leno. Spurs, however, were unable to score a second, making it four games without a win.

Here, The Athletic’s Jay Harris breaks down a defeat that leaves Spurs in 10th place in the Premier League.

Why did Tottenham fans boo their own goalkeeper?

Tottenham’s supporters are fed up with their awful home form, and right now, it does not take much for them to voice their frustration. However, it felt counterintuitive and harsh that they constantly booed Vicario after his mistake which led to Wilson’s goal.

You could hear it straight away when the ball was passed back to the 29-year-old from kick-off, but it did not stop there.

A few minutes later, Vicario rushed out of his area again, and the crowd ironically cheered when he smashed the ball into the stands. It brought to mind the uncomfortable way Spurs fans used to treat Davinson Sanchez. It was a horrific error from Vicario, but they should have backed him — and Sanchez in the past — to make up for it.

Vicario is a member of the squad’s leadership group and will often face the media after Spurs lose games. He apologised to the supporters after last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby. He shows far more accountability for his actions than captain Cristian Romero as well as Micky van de Ven, who wore the armband against Fulham. When Van de Ven and Djed Spence walked straight down the tunnel after the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea, Vicario clapped the fans with Bergvall.

Frank said after the defeat to Chelsea that he understood why fans booed after the game, but they should always back the team during it because they can give them an extra push to score a goal. He was completely right, but they ignored him.

All of this underlines how disconnected the fans feel from the team at the moment.

Can Frank take control?

Spurs have lost three games in seven days since they returned from the November international break.

Expectations were low before Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, but they needed three points against Fulham. The way they were smothered in the opening 15 minutes is hugely concerning.

One of Frank’s biggest strengths during his time with Brentford was his tactical flexibility, but it feels like a weakness now. He came up with bespoke plans for opponents, but it is much harder to replicate that with Spurs because they play multiple matches a week and barely have time to train. He keeps changing systems with Spurs, but has not worked out his strongest starting XI yet.

Spurs are awful at home. They have won three games out of their last 21 in the league. And things do not get any easier: they travel to St James’ Park on Tuesday to face Newcastle United, and then Frank has an awkward reunion with his former employers Brentford.

It feels like there are so many issues to address. The £60million ($79.5m) summer signing Xavi Simons rarely starts, goals from set pieces have dried up, and their defence, which looked solid at the beginning of the season, has fallen to pieces.

Pedro Porro looked furious at full time when he stormed down the tunnel and whipped his shirt off. Frank needs to grasp control of this situation as soon as possible.

A poor start costs Spurs again

Fulham pummelled Spurs in the opening 15 minutes. Thomas Frank used the same 4-4-2 formation which showed flashes of promise in Wednesday’s 5-3 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, but they were completely overrun.

Frank likes to use a man-marking system, and Fulham took advantage. Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven were being dragged high up the pitch and out of position by Josh King and Raul Jimenez, which left huge pockets of space behind them.

Fulham’s first goal came from Danso’s header being intercepted in the centre circle. One simple pass released Samuel Chukwueze down the left wing, who teed up Kenny Tete. Minutes later, Harry Wilson’s effort came from an awful mistake by Vicario.

They were lucky it did not get any worse. Chukwueze hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box, and Van de Ven made an incredible tackle to prevent him from scoring after he skipped past Pedro Porro and Vicario.

This was a game Spurs desperately needed to win and, not for the first time this season, a slow start proved their undoing.

What did Frank say?

He told Sky Sports: “When you’re down 2-0 after six minutes, there is a mountain to climb. When you’re in a bad spell, everything seems to go against you as well — the first was a deflected shot, the second is a mistake from Vic [Guglielmo Vicario].

“I didn’t like that our fans booed at him straight after and a few times after that. They can’t be true Tottenham fans because everyone supports each other when you’re on the pitch and we do everything we can to perform.

“I’m fine with them booing after the match, no problem, but not during. That is unacceptable in my opinion.”

What next for Spurs?