The New York Times

Back in my early twenties, I was at a party at a rooftop bar trapped in a round of small talk with a friend of a friend. Scrambling around for conversation, I asked her where she came from. “Folkestone,” she said. If you don’t know, that’s a coastal town in Kent, in the south east of England.

Without hesitation, I replied: “Folkestone Invicta” — the name of the town’s local non-league club, currently playing in the seventh tier of English football. To this day, I have never forgotten the look on her face: one of almost total boredom and indifference, but for a trace amount of pity.

Yet, to paraphrase a certain Premier League club’s ‘Brand Playbook’: in a world full of Uniteds, Citys and Rovers, there is only one Invicta — Folkestone Invicta.

And back in 1936, if the club’s founders had thought ‘Invicta’ was unique enough to be the club’s name on its own — no need for the ‘Folkestone’ part — then not only could I have avoided that moment’s awkwardness decades later, but those founders would have been almost a century ahead of their time.

As The Athletic revealed on Friday, Tottenham no longer want you to call them Tottenham. It is ‘Spurs’ for short, thanks. And that’s not the only bit of preferred nomenclature.

“When referring to the team or the brand, please use ‘Tottenham Hotspur’, ‘Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’ or ‘THFC’,” the club wrote in guidance sent to Premier League broadcasters this month. “Never refer to our Club as ‘Tottenham’, ‘Tottenham Hotspur FC’ or ‘TH’.” Never. Or else.

It raises many questions, not least, what is the material difference between the terms ‘Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’ and ‘Tottenham Hotspur FC’? I don’t know. But I’m going to use the prohibited versions for the rest of this column in the hope of provoking somebody at Tottenham Hotspur FC into telling me.

There is a reason for the ‘Spurs’ preference, at least. Tottenham argue Tottenham is the name of the area, not the name of the club, and this has been their policy for years. Trawl through search engine results and you’ll do well to find a single use of ‘Tottenham’ without ‘Hotspur’ attached to it on the club’s website.

Tottenham have consistently been referred to as ‘Spurs’ in fixture listings on the Premier League’s official website for some time now. Go back through the league’s official social media feeds and practically the only mentions of the word ‘Tottenham’ are references to the ‘Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’.

In a way, the club is merely going back to its roots. When a group of schoolboy cricketers founded the club in 1882, their choice of name was ‘Hotspur FC’. The ‘Tottenham’ was only added two years later because, as the possibly apocryphal tale goes, they began receiving another club called Hotspur’s post.

It is not as if the club has actually changed its name and eradicated any geographical marker altogether, either. Another in north London set the precedent for that back in 1913 upon relocation from Woolwich. So, does any of that make this diktat more explainable?

In response to Friday’s news, some Tottenham fans have rightly said that with Ange Postecoglou’s side in the bottom half of the table, after being knocked out of both domestic cups in the space of three days this month, they and the club itself have bigger things to worry about.

Others have suggested it is simply related to copyright, as the term ‘Spurs’ would be easier to trademark than the name of the surrounding area. Except Tottenham already list the word ‘Tottenham’ among their registered trademarks.

And even if they didn’t, what would that have to do with how the club is referred to on Soccer Saturday’s vidiprinter?

But it is hard not to agree with another strand of the reaction, from the Tottenham fans and supporters of other clubs who see this as a disappointing sign of where football is currently at; another small brick paved in a road that the sport as a whole has already travelled a long way down.

Many Manchester United supporters still lament the removal of the words ‘Football Club’ from the crest in 1998 — controversial at the time, but the same words or the initials ‘F.C.’ are now regularly dispensed with little comment.

Six years ago, Liverpool failed in an attempt to trademark the city’s name for merchandising purposes. Chelsea had more success of a sort earlier this season, celebrating their 120th anniversary with a new, alternative club crest featuring their lion rampant regardant above the letters ‘LDN’.

Similarly, in 2016, West Ham United added the word ‘London’ to their newly-designed crest, although at least put that to a vote among supporters first.

And this sort of thing is far from a Premier League phenomenon. Paris Saint-Germain’s rebranding accentuated the word ‘Paris’ on their logo, not so much the ‘Saint-Germain’, and UEFA uniformly refers to the club as ‘Paris’ rather than ‘PSG’.

On the surface level, Tottenham’s ‘Spurs’ preference is different from some of those examples. Rather than more closely associating themselves with a larger metropolitan surrounding, they have gone the other way: drawing a line between ‘Spurs’ the team and ‘Tottenham’ the area in its justifications.

But there is a common thread between such decisions. All are fundamental attempts to make a club’s identity something that can be more easily swallowed and digested. In other words, something that can be consumed, especially on the global market.

Too often, that comes at the expense of what a club is: its history, its culture, its locality. It is said often enough to be a cliche nowadays, but it is still ignored enough to bear repeating: football clubs are representations of their communities first and foremost, global brands second.

The overwhelming majority of clubs recognise that in the creditable work they do within those communities, but are quick to forget that responsibility in their marketing departments when it is time to think about what will sell better on a plastic water bottle.

Tottenham are by no means alone in that. In fact, it often feels like clubs who want to get ahead in football’s present landscape have to prioritise where they are going over where they have come from. Referring to the club as ‘Spurs’ rather than ‘Tottenham’ is a small but not insignificant shift. And enough to remind me that, one of these days, I might have to get myself down to Folkestone Invicta.

(Top photo: Jacques Feeney/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero should return from injury issues for their Europa League last-16 first leg.

Romero has been absent since the 4-3 defeat by Chelsea on December 8, while Van de Ven last played in the Europa League league-phase win over Elfsborg on January 30. That was the Dutchman’s first appearance since that Chelsea game.

Earlier on Friday, Tottenham were drawn against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League round of 16. That match will be played on Thursday, March 6, with Spurs facing Ipswich Town on Saturday and Manchester City next Wednesday beforehand.

“No new concerns,” head coach Ange Postecoglou told a news conference on Friday. “From last week, everyone got through OK. The three guys who picked up a knock last week (Kevin Danso, Son Heung-min, Rodrigo Bentancur) are all good. They’ve had a full week to recover. The other guys are ticking along.

“We’ve got two games in quick succession in the league. It’s an opportunity for us to get some match minutes in the guys who’ve been out for a while.

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“We saw Brennan (Johnson) and Wilson (Odobert), Vic (Guglielmo Vicario) come back last week, Destiny (Udogie) as well. We need to get them some match minutes and these two games give us the opportunity to do that.

“Then we’ve got a week before the first Europa game. A weekend off. That’s about the time guys like (Cristian) Romero and Micky (van de Ven), they should be in and around that sort of mark. Richy (Richarlison) and Dom (Solanke) not too far behind.

“(After that) we’ve got two games until the international break. We’re kind of mapping it out and trying to navigate a way where we can have as fit and healthy a squad as we’ve had all year for the run-in.”

Spurs travel to Ipswich having won their last two Premier League games. Postecoglou’s side are 12th in the league, 11 points behind seventh-placed Newcastle United.

(Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

James Maddison’s early goal fired Tottenham Hotspur to victory over Manchester United in the battle of the Premier League’s great underachievers.

In a face-off between two struggling teams starting the day 14th and 15th in the table, it was Maddison, making his return from a calf injury, who struck the only goal of the game with 13 minutes on the clock, with the midfielder reacting quickest to convert after Andre Onana had palmed away a Lucas Bergvall effort.

Spurs claimed back-to-back league wins for the first time since September (one of those came when they won 3-0 at Old Trafford) and extended their unbeaten run against United to six matches in all competitions.

United, meanwhile, who were forced to name a bench made up almost exclusively of untested academy players, remain firmly rooted in the depths of the bottom half of the table after failing to find an equaliser.

Here, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Carl Anka, Stuart James and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the main talking points from Spurs’ win.

Tottenham just about get the job done

You would struggle to call this a textbook performance from Tottenham, but it still felt like a step in the right direction. By beating Manchester United 1-0 here in the bitter cold, Spurs completed consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since September.

Back then, just one month into the season, they beat Brentford at home and then United away. At that point, it felt like Spurs were heading for a good season, but since then, injuries have made it impossible for them to show any consistency.

This month, they have recorded wins against the same two teams: that hard-fought 2-0 win away at Brentford two weeks ago and now this. Between those two games, Spurs were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions, which is why it might not feel like they have much momentum. But they are at least moving up the league table.

The fact Spurs welcomed back five players from injury here, two into the starting 11 and three onto the bench, was also significant. Maddison scored the only goal, cleverly pouncing on a rebound from Onana, and dictated possession while he was still on the pitch. Guglielmo Vicario made plenty of saves, keeping Spurs in it as they conceded chance after chance against United.

After pre-game protests against the ownership and the risk of a mutinous atmosphere, it was exactly the result Tottenham needed, even if they cannot play like this every week.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

Garnacho is United’s best goalscoring option — and that’s a problem

The 23rd minute of the game saw United squander a chance of the ‘how have you missed?’ variety.

The xG bods ranked Alejandro Garnacho’s shot at only 0.15 expected goals, but when Bruno Fernandes smuggled the ball past Pedro Porro’s attempted interception and into the path of the young Argentine forward, he looked certain to score. Garnacho may “only” have 13 Premier League goals to his name (in 81 appearances), but he has become United’s most dangerous forward.

The remaining attacking players in Ruben Amorim’s 2024-25 squad lack Garnacho’s ability to attack space and pick up the ball unmarked in the final third. Neither Rasmus Hojlund nor Joshua Zirkzee have Garnacho’s go-getter attitude, where the Carrington academy graduate gets onto the ball and decides to run at defenders as fast as possible, just to stress-test the possibilities. It is unlikely that any United forward will reach 15 Premier League goals this season, but Garnacho is enough of an attacking pest to push closest to it.

However, for all of this faint praise, Garnacho missed a golden opportunity in the 23rd minute. The 20-year-old had time and space to apply his preferred finish, but his decision to strike the ball early and with power, all while leaning back, sent his shot wildly off target.

It was a miss that saw Amorim shake and turn back to his dugout in disappointment. Garnacho’s dismal shot off-target was followed by three much better shots on Vicario’s goal at the end of regulation time. The goalscoring burden rests uneasily on the young forward, who often ignored the runs of Patrick Dorgu at left wing-back as he was so preoccupied with going for glory himself.

Garnacho is nowhere near the finished product. He is only 20 years of age and 2024-25 is only his third season proper as a senior-team player. Yet the current situation means United — one of the biggest football clubs in the world — frequently turn to this relative rookie in the hope he might drag this attack kicking and screaming into competency.

There are matches where Garnacho’s ‘run at the defence until they break’ approach can just about get it done. This Sunday was not one of them.

Carl Anka

An uncomfortable afternoon for Casemiro

For Casemiro, who was making only his third Premier League appearance in 12 matches after spending much of his time since the start of December confined to the substitutes’ bench, this was always going to be a big ask.

At times in the first half, it was uncomfortable viewing, not helped by United’s curious setup out of possession. With Fernandes asked to pull out to the right, Casemiro was left horribly exposed in the middle. “It’s embarrassing. You wouldn’t see this in under-9s or under-10s football,” Gary Neville, the Sky Sports pundit, said in relation to the chasm between Casemiro and Fernandes.

There were multiple United mistakes in the lead-up to the only goal of the game, including the way that Diogo Dalot, with his body position closed, was caught ball-watching at the far post, oblivious to the presence of Son Heung-min behind him and far too preoccupied with Mathys Tel, who Noussair Mazraoui could and should have been marking. But Casemiro was so passive before all that.

When Rodrigo Bentancur strayed out to the right to pick up possession, Casemiro jogged over to the Spurs midfielder. To describe it as half-hearted pressing would be polite — it was the sort of thing you see in the 93rd minute, not the 13th. Bentancur passed inside to Porro, Casemiro followed the ball, and the Spurs right-back stepped around the Brazilian as if he wasn’t there. All the while, Garnacho clocked off, allowing Bentancur to run in behind. A catalogue of errors.

A yellow card later in the first half for a challenge on Son that was only going to end one way reinforced the feeling that Casemiro’s race is run at this level. It was hard, at that stage, to see him getting through the game. That he lasted until the 91st minute said more about the threadbare nature of United’s squad than Casemiro’s influence on a game that has long got away from him.

Stuart James

Tottenham’s midfield takes advantage of United’s brittle middle

United recorded just 34 per cent of possession in the first half at Spurs, their lowest possession percentage in a first half all season.

Tottenham deserve credit for their impressive performance, particularly in midfield where Bergvall, Maddison and Bentancur all brought their A-game. They outworked United, whose structure without the ball was questionable at best and outright poor at worst.

The absence of a right No 10, with Amad out injured and Dorgu at left wing-back, meant Amorim had a selection headache. With Garnacho on the left, the teamsheet suggested Zirkzee would play there.

When Spurs had the ball in the initial stages, United pressed in either a 5-2-3 or 5-3-2 shape, with Garnacho tucking into midfield or joining Hojlund and Zirkzee up top. Tottenham worked their way through this easily due to consistent rotations between Bergvall, Maddison and the inverting Porro, which caused impatience in the United ranks. The pressing structure gradually came apart as Fernandes repeatedly got dragged out of position, leaving gaps that left Amorim frustrated on the sidelines.

After Casemiro fouled Son and play stopped as both recovered from the incident, Amorim called Dalot over and discussed a change in shape. After the restart, right centre-back Mazraoui briefly pushed into midfield, but that experiment was abandoned before it began.

In between these concerns, United’s best chances came from their counter-pressing, which was an occasional plus-point as they seized on mistakes high up the pitch from Spurs, only for Garnacho to spurn their best chance of the half, skying over when faced with Vicario inside the box.

United improved in the second half, with Dalot pushing higher up the pitch on the right to help their press against a tiring Spurs team. It drew mistakes and created a more open game, with chances at both ends. Garnacho forced two good saves from Vicario, while Zirkzee headed just wide from a cross.

But the overall performance raised plenty of concerns about how United will cope if Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer all remain out for an extended period.

Anantaajith Raghuraman

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Postecoglou said: “We made it hard for United to get out and that certainly helped to get a grounding in the game. We looked sharp. The front third movements were missing a bit.

“We lacked a bit of fluency in the front third. We will improve and we need to, but it was a decent effort. They’re all keen to get out there, but game rhythm comes with playing games.”

Discussing the criticism he has faced recently, the Spurs boss added. “Everyone likes an impending car crash. I am sure we had a lot of people willing that scenario on. I know how hard these players have worked.

“Our training was better and I was confident that we would put in a good shift. The focus is still on trying to win games. In the background, we are doing it our own way. We are looking into ways we can do things better, but we are not going to be the only ones.”

What did Ruben Amorim say?

Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the game, Amorim said: “It was the difference of the game, they scored and we didn’t. We had the opportunities. We had situations in transitions, trying to get a result, but in the end, they scored and we didn’t.

“We want to recover the players, I think we can recover some players for the next game. We have to be together to finish the season and start over.”

When discussing the young players on the bench, the United boss said, “I am trying to be careful with them. I felt the team was pushing for the goal and I felt I don’t want to change. But they will play.

“I am not worried. I understand our fans, what the media think about it. I hate to lose, that feeling is the worst.

“The rest I am not thinking about. I am here to help my players. I understand my situation, my job, I am confident on my work and I just want to win games.

“The place in the table is my worry, I am not worried about me.”

What next for Tottenham?

Saturday, February 22: Ipswich (Away), Premier League, 3pm GMT, 10am ET

What next for Manchester United?

Saturday, February 22: Everton (Away), Premier League, 12.30pm GMT, 7.30am ET

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(Top photo: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)

It’s safe to say this has so far not been a vintage season for Tottenham Hotspur or Manchester United.

In the past 10 days, Spurs have been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, and for the time being must turn their attention to climbing higher in the Premier League than their current position of 15th. United have at least made it through to the last 16 of the FA Cup, but they too are currently languishing in the bottom half of the league table, one place above Spurs in 14th.

The pair have just three Premier League victories between them over the past two months, and will see winning the Europa League, where both are in Friday’s round of 16 draw, as their only chance of returning to the Champions League next season, and salvaging anything resembling progress on 2023-24.

The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke (Tottenham) and Carl Anka (Manchester United) discuss what has gone wrong for the two clubs this season, any morsels of optimism that can be gleaned from what’s happened so far, and how confident they are of seeing each other at that Europa League final in the Spanish city of Bilbao on May 21…

What has gone wrong this season?

Jack Pitt-Brooke: It is impossible to ignore the injury crisis that has ripped a hole in the Tottenham squad. For much of the past few months, head coach Ange Postecoglou has been without at least 10 players, and has had to cope with long-term absences for some of his most important ones — Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero among them. This has made it impossible for Postecoglou to rotate his team, thereby exhausting those players who have avoided injury. That has made it impossible for Spurs to play the sort of football Postecoglou wants, and they’ve fallen further down the table than anyone could have expected. We could talk all day about the causes of their injury crisis, but that is the simple reason why Tottenham have done so badly.

Carl Anka: How long have you got? Erik ten Hag, United’s manager for the first three months of this season, spent many a press conference talking about the club’s ongoing “game model”, but it was hard to ascertain what the Dutchman was trying to achieve. Successor Ruben Amorim has been very clear on his tactical approach but also about the fact the current squad lacks the requisite physicality to compete with the best teams in the Premier League. Amorim often uses the word “suffering” when talking about United. He’s in charge of a poorly constructed and expensive squad that lacks many key ingredients for dominating modern football matches. United are often slow when using the ball and second-best when competing for loose balls.

How badly does the manager need a positive result right now?

Pitt-Brooke: The remarkable thing about this season is that Spurs’ record in the Premier League has been worse than anyone ever thought possible. They have lost 13 league games (out of 24 played) already and are only 10 points clear of the relegation places. It has been clear for some time that Postecoglou and Spurs can only have a successful season via the cups, which now means just the Europa League. So their season will hinge on that last-16 tie in early March. That said, Spurs have only won one Premier League game in two months, at Brentford a couple of weeks ago. So victory against United on Sunday would certainly help, if only to stop the mood from getting even worse than it already is.

Anka: Amorim’s 20 matches in charge have yielded 10 wins (one of them on penalties), two draws and eight losses. United fans hoping for a ‘new manager bounce’ to heal some wounds and fire the club back into the Champions League are feeling rather underwhelmed. The 40-year-old is a confident and charismatic speaker, but his repetition of how much players and fans will have to “suffer” in the short-to-medium-term future has gotten people antsy. United aren’t very good right now, so Amorim could do with a positive result (not to mention performance) against Spurs to reassure the fans that things will be improving soon.

How close is the team to playing the way the manager wants?

Pitt-Brooke: The lesson of the past few months is that Spurs cannot play ‘Angeball’ without having something closer to a full-strength squad. They have not played it for almost two months now, since the period in the middle of December when they beat Southampton 5-0 in the league and Manchester United 4-3 in the Carabao Cup. For it to work, they need to be able to build up from the back, which means playing left-footers on the left side of their defence. And they need the physical energy to be able to press high up the pitch. When injured players come back and new signings get settled in, they might be able to do that. But with this exhausted, depleted squad, they simply cannot.

Anka: Amorim’s preferred tactical approach is a tad more bespoke, due to its use of wing-backs and how it asks a trio of centre-backs to take care of early build-up play. The arrival of Patrick Dorgu in January should bolster things out wide. Still, the team lack ball carriers and progressive passers in central midfield, and neither Rasmus Hojlund nor Joshua Zirkzee is in great goalscoring form up front. Amorim’s shopping list isn’t full of diva-ish demands, but it might be a little too lengthy to solve in one summer window, especially at a time when United aren’t flush with spending money.

How far away are they from being a top-six team?

Pitt-Brooke: The strange thing about Tottenham this season is that their top level is easily good enough to make them a top-six team. They have produced a handful of brilliant performances — the two wins against Manchester City, the two against Manchester United, the one against Liverpool — and when they are at their best, they are very difficult to stop. The problem, of course, is that Tottenham have only produced that level of form a few times, and have had far more bad days than good ones. Which ultimately is because of their injury crisis, and having a squad that is too thin to compete on multiple fronts. If they want to get back into the top six, they will have to make sure they have a deeper, more robust player pool, so they can find the consistency they have lacked all season.

Anka: Heart says United will be back by the end of 2025-26. Head says it may take longer. It’s not just that Amorim will need a considerable amount of time, money and luck to improve the side to get them back into the top six. It’s also the fact he might need one or two of their rivals for one of those spots (including Spurs) to all have mini-implosions at the same time to open up space. Manchester City are unlikely to be this bad again next season. Arsenal will probably spend money in the summer. Chelsea with a better goalkeeper are a greater threat. Newcastle and Aston Villa aren’t going away any time soon. Nobody expected Nottingham Forest or Bournemouth to be this good. It’s a slugfest to get into the top six and then stay there season on season now.

How do the fans feel about what is happening off the field?

Pitt-Brooke: Not great. The mood among the Spurs fanbase has been more negative this season than it has for years. That is largely down to the struggles of the team on the pitch but is not limited to that. Their anger has been largely directed towards chairman Daniel Levy and the board, with chants of ‘Levy out’ becoming louder and louder at every game. On Sunday, there is a march planned outside the ground before the United match from a group calling itself ‘Change For Tottenham.’

Anka: This week saw The Athletic report that co-owner INEOS is continuing with another round of cost-cutting at the club, with over 100 more people set to lose their jobs. There is a growing awareness that United are in a bad way. But also a growing awareness they don’t have much financial wiggle room to get out of that situation. The mood is pretty bleak, with some of our readers getting in touch to ask for reasons to be cheerful.

What is the lesson each club can learn from the other?

Pitt-Brooke: How not to forge an identity

The lesson Tottenham might learn from United is maybe more of a negative than a positive one. United have spent the past 12 years jumping from idea to idea, from personality to personality, without any clear sense of what their ethos is. It has been hugely expensive and has seen their team get worse rather than better. Spurs are not quite there yet but they have now spent five years changing ideas, hierarchies and managers, and have got nowhere with it. They have far less of an identity today than they did when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge. If they are going to avoid making the same mistakes United have, they will need to show more of a consistent strategy, rather than being drawn from one idea to the next.

Anka: How do you best go about moving stadiums?

Spurs’ new home is an architectural masterpiece, taking cues from American sports culture as to how to make your ground an all-day visit instead of a “kick off-to-full time” viewing experience. United have been in contact with Populous – the architectural design firm behind Spurs’ stadium – and have looked at how they might approach either refurbishing Old Trafford or building a new stadium entirely. United fans should be talking to every Spurs supporter they know about what happens when your club moves to a new home, and what mistakes they need to look out for, before the higher-ups at the club wander into any traps.

What are their reasons to be positive for the future?

Pitt-Brooke: Tottenham have a squad including some of Europe’s most exciting young players. Archie Gray has been brilliant this season in different positions and is still 18 years old. Lucas Bergvall has grown into English football since his arrival from Sweden last summer and only turned 19 this month. Mikey Moore, the most talented player to come out of the Spurs academy for a generation, is 17. Even among the more established players, Mathys Tel is 19, Antonin Kinsky is 21, Destiny Udogie and Pape Matar Sarr are 22 and Radu Dragusin, Brennan Johnson and Micky van de Ven are 23. (Not to forget Wilson Odobert at 20, and Luka Vuskovic, who will be 18 when he arrives in the summer). Put them all together and Spurs have a squad that will surely only get better over the next five years.

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Anka: United’s training base at Carrington continues to develop promising young players.

The first daffodils of spring have been spotted around Manchester, indicating this crap winter weather is nearly finished. If you’re reading this and are based in the northern hemisphere, you’ve just got through the six darkest weeks of the year. Onwards.

Confident of these teams meeting again in the Europa League final in May…?

Pitt-Brooke: Not really. Of course, Spurs are good enough that in theory they could beat anyone and make it through three two-leg ties to reach the final in Bilbao. But we have to be honest about the fact they have not played anywhere near their best in months. Yes, players are now coming back from injury, but recent weeks have shown that not everyone who returns will be able to stay in the team. And their core players — Dejan Kulusevski, Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min — are so exhausted now that they cannot play their best football. Maybe these two free midweeks they’re having this week and next will give those players enough of a rest, and Spurs will be a team transformed in March, just in time for their knockout ties. But if you have watched Tottenham playing recently, would you really bet on it?

Anka: Bilbao is an incredible place to watch football. So much so that friends recommend I book my flights and hotel now, regardless of who makes the final. It’s nice that both teams avoided the competition’s play-off round this month and went straight to the round of 16. Unfortunately, they both have obvious flaws and troubling tendencies to play down a level against “beatable” opposition.

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(Top photos: Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou’s 18-month spell in charge of Tottenham Hotspur has been defined by an uncompromising commitment to a free-flowing brand of football.

When everything clicks, Spurs can produce impressive results — they have beaten Manchester City and Manchester United twice each already this season. Even when things go wrong, they tend to put up a fight. They lost in a chaotic manner to Liverpool and Chelsea in December but still managed to score three times in both those games.

All of this is what makes their 4-0 away defeat against Liverpool in the second leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final last night so difficult to process. Liverpool suffocated Spurs, who barely put up any form of resistance. It was a soulless performance, and the worst possible way to be eliminated from a competition when so close to a Wembley final.

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Tottenham’s passive approach at Anfield was slightly understandable when they were still holding onto their 1-0 lead from the first leg and in the immediate aftermath of Cody Gakpo’s half-volley which cancelled it out on 34 minutes. When Antonin Kinsky brought down Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah converted a penalty to give Liverpool the lead on aggregate five minutes into the second half, there was no response.

Tottenham were missing a lot of key players, including record signing Dominic Solanke up front, first-choice centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, plus Guglielmo Vicario in goal, playmaker James Maddison and full-back Destiny Udogie.

Liverpool would no doubt have struggled to play with the same fluency without six members of their starting XI but it was the lack of urgency from the visitors which was so concerning. Spurs seemed to lose every 50/50 challenge and be second to every loose ball. Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was still charging around and crunching into tackles in second-half stoppage time when his team were 4-0 up and assured of that Wembley meeting with Newcastle United on March 16. It is difficult to recall any Tottenham player showing as much hunger and desire, even when the tie was still hanging in the balance.

Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski, their long-serving captain and best player this season respectively, were barely involved.

In Kulusevski’s defence, he looks shattered. The Sweden international has been vocal in the past about how his incredible running capacity, he covered the biggest distance (13.36 km/8.3 miles) of any Premier League player in a single match last season during a 2-1 victory over Everton, sets him apart from his peers but even a Lamborghini can be overtaken by a Vauxhall Corsa if there is not enough petrol in it.

Kulusevski has featured in all 38 of Tottenham’s fixtures this season across four competitions and that workload is obviously taking a toll.

There is no excuse, though, for how awful Spurs were in possession.

Liverpool pressed them into passing the ball backwards until it eventually wound up at the feet of goalkeeper Kinsky. The Czech Republic Under-21 international would then have striker Darwin Nunez darting towards him, so repeatedly hit it long where, inevitably, Virgil van Dijk won the aerial duel against Richarlison and Liverpool regained control.

Tottenham were hopeless when they tried to string a sequence of passes together in central areas. Kevin Danso, making his debut after arriving from Lens on loan with an obligation to buy over the weekend, powerfully surged forward out of defence on a couple of occasions. He would drop the ball off to Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr or Rodrigo Bentancur for them to try to build an attack but, within seconds, would be running back towards his own goal to thwart another Liverpool offensive. Bissouma’s misplaced pass to Sarr led directly to Gakpo’s leveller.

Spurs’ midfielders were creating problems instead of relieving pressure. It was no surprise when Bissouma and Sarr were substituted 10 minutes into the second half, with Tottenham now 2-1 down on aggregate, but do not forget that both of them have been struggling for fitness recently. Yet with limited alternative options, they had to play last night.

There is one statistic which neatly encapsulates this lethargic performance.

Tottenham failed to register a single shot on target in a match for the first time since Postecoglou took charge in summer 2023 and finished with an xG (expected goals) figure of 0.18. The closest they came to scoring was Son’s second-half effort which struck the bar.

This squad had the chance to reach a final and potentially win the club’s first silverware since this same competition in 2008. Why then did they approach the game like it was a meaningless dead-rubber tie at the end of a European group stage? Why did they not pose Liverpool any serious problems? Why did they lose in such a meek manner?

“We’ll learn from tonight, but the major lesson to learn is that we can’t go into games like this looking to protect or try to get results in other ways than what’s got us to this point,” Postecoglou said in the post-match press conference. “I’m sure the players will learn from that, I’m sure they’re disappointed by that. As much as we’ve missed an opportunity to get to a final, what probably hurts even more is that we didn’t really give ourselves a chance with our performance.

“We set the team up and our intent was to go out and play the same way we play every week. We were trying to put pressure on them and unsettle them but it never really materialised. We didn’t really have conviction when we had the ball either, which allowed them to get control of the game.”

Reading between the lines, it feels like Postecoglou is admitting either that he decided to deviate from his usual approach in the biggest game of the season or that the players were incapable of carrying out his instructions. If he tweaked his tactics to be more pragmatic, and the starting midfield combination did suggest that’s what happened, then it backfired. If the players are at fault, then it is hard not to come away thinking that they crumbled under pressure.

It felt apt that the final four players to leave the pitch after applauding the travelling supporters then facing the long, late-night trek back to London were Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Djed Spence and Mathys Tel. Last summer’s signings Bergvall and Gray are supposed to be bright-eyed teenagers but they are now weary veterans of a gruelling campaign.

Spence is the former outcast who has become an integral part of Postecoglou’s plans and should have been utilised more at the beginning of the campaign to give others, including Udogie and Pedro Porro, sufficient rest. He was deployed at left-back and, for a brief 15-minute spell, on the right wing against Liverpool. It was a desperate roll of the dice which, unsurprisingly, did not work.

Tel represents the future. The 19-year-old French forward, signed initially on loan from Bayern Munich on deadline day at the start of the week, and Spurs as a whole, have a lot of potential, but are the conditions right for them to maximise it?

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Listen: Can Mathys Tel provide a much-needed spark to Tottenham's front line?

A huge burden is being placed on the shoulders of these four players,

Richarlison’s calf injury which forced him off at half-time last night suggests Tel will make his first start away to Aston Villa in the FA Cup’s fourth round on Sunday. These youngsters should be leaning on the senior players for support and guidance in games of this magnitude, not the other way around.

This was always going to be a huge week for Spurs and Postecoglou. They have failed their first test of it and cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes at Villa Park.

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

The last few days of the transfer window were a whirlwind for Tottenham Hotspur.

On Thursday, Ange Postecoglou was looking forward to welcoming Micky van de Ven back from a six-week absence as their injury crisis showed signs of clearing up. Van de Ven played the entire first half of a 3-0 victory over Elfsborg in the Europa League and was replaced at the break by Radu Dragusin in a planned substitution.

Dragusin hobbled off the pitch 20 minutes later after landing awkwardly and clutching his right knee in pain. The Athletic revealed on Monday that the 23-year-old defender suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Van de Ven missed Sunday’s victory over Brentford, while Cristian Romero’s recovery from a quad injury has been described as a “slow burner” by Postecoglou. Spurs were heading into the biggest week of their season, with important cup ties against Liverpool and Aston Villa, once again with question marks over who would play at the back.

They sprang into action over the weekend by hijacking Wolverhampton Wanderers’ move for Kevin Danso and launching an audacious but unsuccessful bid to sign Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi. A proposed move for 19-year-old forward Mathys Tel appeared to have collapsed on Friday, but 72 hours later, it was resurrected and he joined on loan from Bayern Munich with an option to buy for €55m.

Here, The Athletic takes a deep breath and breaks down a manic month…

Was this window a success or a failure?

Tottenham desperately needed defensive reinforcements and a new goalkeeper in this transfer window. They ticked both of those boxes with Kinsky and Danso, but the latter did not arrive until the day before the window closed. Spurs played nine games in all competitions over the past month and, ideally, the 26-year-old centre-back would have arrived from Lens a lot earlier to ease the burden on Archie Gray and Dragusin.

Even with Danso’s acquisition, Spurs are still short of options in defence. Acquiring Guehi from Crystal Palace would have been a statement signing, but they did not come close to pulling it off.

Postecoglou has spoken publicly on multiple occasions about the need for more firepower. Tottenham failed in their pursuit of Randal Kolo Muani early in the window but eventually managed to sign the talented but raw Tel.

Despite completing three deals, Spurs are in a similar position to the start of the window. The squad is full of holes due to their injury crisis and it will be a challenge to perform at a high level in four competitions over the final few months of the campaign.

How much did they spend and how much did they bring in?

Spurs paid Slavia Prague £13.3million for Kinsky, while Danso’s loan deal includes an obligation to buy for €25m in the summer.

Tel has joined on loan until the end of the season, but the move can be made permanent. Tottenham have not actually spent a lot of money in this window but have committed to some big fees in the summer.

They did not raise any money as the only departures were loans, with 19-year-old striker Will Lankshear moving to West Bromwich Albion and Yang-Min hyeok heading to Queens Park Rangers.

Was there a standout signing?

Tel’s career has stalled with Bayern Munich but he is still an exciting prospect, while Danso should slot into the starting XI straight away. Both will hope to make an impact as big and as quick as Kinsky.

He made his debut for Spurs in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool. It was a huge challenge for the 21-year-old, who had spent the previous couple of weeks relaxing during the Czech Republic top flight’s winter break. He had just jumped out of the sauna when he received a phone call about Tottenham’s interest in signing him.

Kinsky only trained with his new team-mates twice before he produced a superb performance and kept a clean sheet in an important 1-0 victory over Liverpool that has given them a chance of reaching Wembley.

Fraser Forster had been deputising for the injured first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and he looked awkward playing the ball out from the back. Kinsky’s calmness in possession means he is a significant upgrade on Forster and will challenge Vicario long-term.

The Czech Republic Under-21 international has made one or two sloppy mistakes in other games, including the north London derby when Kai Havertz blocked his pass inside the box, but it is important to remember he is a young player who has been thrust straight into an underperforming and injury-ravaged team.

Did they lose anyone they would have wanted to keep?

None of the senior players left as even those who had previously been on the fringes, including Sergio Reguilon and Djed Spence, have received significant game time in the past couple of months.

Are there still any obvious gaps in the team?

The day before Spurs lost to Bournemouth in December, Postecoglou spoke about providing club-record signing Dominic Solanke with more support up front.

“There’s no doubt we need some bolstering in that front third over the next couple of transfer windows,” he said. “Dom coming in has been great, but again, we can’t overload him either because ultimately, you know, even if he stays fit and nothing happens, performance will invariably drop if his energy levels drop. So it’s something we’re aware of and need to plan for.”

Richarlison’s return from injury was supposed to help the situation, but Solanke then suffered a knee injury in training. Son Heung-min has underperformed this season, while Timo Werner has only scored twice in his last 30 top-flight appearances. Werner’s last league goal came in a 4-0 victory at Aston Villa in March 2024. Meanwhile, Wilson Odobert’s first year in north London has been disrupted by a persistent hamstring injury.

Spurs managed to sign Tel to boost their numbers, but it would be unfair to place too much pressure on his shoulders. They still need to sign an elite, peak-age forward who is capable of covering multiple positions.

Are they now strong enough to achieve their goals for the season?

The real question here is: ‘Do Spurs have a strong enough squad to beat Liverpool in their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday evening?’

Van de Ven managed 45 minutes on his return from a hamstring injury against Elfsborg but then missed Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Brentford, while Dragusin will not feature again this season.

There is a group of six players, which includes Destiny Udogie, James Maddison and Brennan Johnson, who are due to return in the next week, but might not recover quickly enough to feature at Anfield.

Postecoglou has to decide whether to give Danso his debut against Liverpool or stick with Ben Davies and Archie Gray at centre-back. Solanke’s absence is a blow, but Richarlison has scored twice in his six games since returning from injury.

It is going to be difficult to beat Liverpool, but looking further ahead, when everybody is fit and healthy, they have a squad capable of reaching the Europa League final and progressing deep in the FA Cup.

What is their priority for the summer?

Signing an elite, multi-functional forward who can relieve some of the goalscoring burden from Solanke.

What is their strongest XI now the window is shut?

The full list of ins and outs

Ins:

Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich, loan with option to buy)

Kevin Danso (Lens, loan with obligation to buy)

Antonin Kinsky (Slavia Prague)

Yang Min-hyeok (Gangwon FC)

Outs:

Will Lankshear (West Bromwich Albion, loan)

Yang Min-hyeok (Queens Park Rangers, loan)

(Top photos: Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur have completed the loan signing of Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich until the end of the season. The deal includes an option to buy Tel for €55million (£45.7m; $56.9m) on a six-year contract. Tel is Spurs’ fourth signing of the window after goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, forward Yang Min-hyeok and centre-back Kevin Danso (also on loan).

Our writers — experts in transfers, tactics, data and football finance — have come together to rate January’s senior Premier League transfers. This continues the project we launched last summer, but we have also made some significant tweaks to how we assess each deal.

Gone are the five scores out of 100, and in their place are 10 ratings out of 50. This should allow for much more nuance to be reflected in the analysis and, importantly, much more variability in the overall figure each transfer ends up with. Follow the link below for more background on the changes.

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Tactical fit — 35/50

Tel brings plenty of admirable qualities to the table. While best suited to the left inside forward role in Ange Postecoglou’s system, he is versatile and can operate across the frontline.

The 19-year-old is an explosive dribbler, capable of causing damage when receiving passes while in motion thanks to his mostly reliable first touch. From a standstill, Tel can be predictable due to his preference to drive inwards on his stronger right foot, but his pace and trickery have allowed him to escape tight areas with ease. Spurs require that injection of pace and Tel can be deadly in transition.

The France Under-21 international moves well off the ball and has decent link-up play, though there is room for improvement.

The issues with Tel are in the rawness of his abilities. As a footballer at the start of his senior career, his decision-making is not the best and he often dribbles forward with the idea of getting a shot away at some point. It results in him missing open team-mates and attempting low-quality opportunities, with Tel averaging just 0.09 expected goals per shot during the 2023-24 Bundesliga season. To his credit, his passing improved in the second half of the season.

Tel is at his best with and without the ball when he is confident, and nothing breeds confidence like regular minutes and reduced pressure. He got neither at Bayern, where expectations sky-rocketed after a fast start under Julian Nagelsmann.

Tel joins Spurs with Son Heung-min on a decent run of form, Wilson Odobert on the verge of return from injury and Mikey Moore making a case for himself. All of that complicates his chances of regular minutes in his favoured position.

As a centre-forward, Tel has the qualities Postecoglou demands but has not played there frequently enough to suggest he can consistently deliver goals.

Tel has plenty of potential, but there are rough edges to sand out if Spurs are to see the best of him during this loan deal.

Injury record — 46/50

Tel has not had any major injuries during his short senior career and has missed just six games due to fitness issues since the start of the 2022-23 season.

Market value — 40/50

A loan deal presents great value for Spurs given Tel has not played enough this season and for Tel as he receives more minutes to aid his development.

Contract rationale – 42/50

While it initially seemed as though Spurs would be signing Tel on a straight loan, they actually have an option to buy built into the deal. Spurs have the rest of the season to assess him, before deciding whether to commit €55million (£45.7m; $56.9m) or tie him down to a six-year contract. This allows them to try before they buy — and the length of the contract they have agreed means they’re tying a young player down for many years if they decide he’s worth the money.

Recent form – 13/50

Tel found himself low on Bayern’s pecking order this season, resulting in just four starts in 14 appearances across competitions and 14 games watched on from the bench. He has just one assist in 458 minutes of action this season.

Gap-filling – 45/50

Spurs’ attack has been decimated by injuries this season. Dominic Solanke, Odobert, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner are all out injured, while Richarlison, Moore and Son have spent time on the sidelines too.

Postecoglou’s team needed depth and Tel’s versatility gives them a necessary weapon as they aim to rise in the Premier League table and go deep in the cup competitions.

Excitement factor – 27/50

Tel’s initial rejection of a permanent move to Spurs may linger in fan memory but he will likely be welcomed with relief and excitement as he fills an important squad need.

Future-proofing – 38/50

The loan should help Spurs in the short term while giving them evidence on how well-suited Tel is to the Premier League, with Spurs searching for Son’s long-term successor.

Rival impact – 34/50

The Athletic reported that Tel attracted interest from Manchester United, who are Spurs’ rivals in the Europa League and sit just two points above them in the league table, while Chelsea made an enquiry for him too. Spurs will be pleased to have strengthened while preventing two of their rivals from doing so.

Marketability – 12/50

Tel is unlikely to come with too much marketing potential, though another youthful signing is good for Spurs’ overall profile.

Overall rating — 332/500

(Top photo: Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)

Crystal Palace have rejected a major offer from Tottenham Hotspur to sign Marc Guehi.

The offer for the England international, 24, was for a permanent transfer but was knocked back. Spurs and other clubs are expected to try again in the summer.

Guehi was the subject of four unsuccessful bids from Newcastle United in the summer, with the final one worth up to £65million including add-ons. Palace head coach Oliver Glasner confirmed at the end of August the defender would be remaining at the club.

He has 18 months remaining on his Palace contract, which runs until 2026.

Guehi joined Palace from Chelsea for £18m in the summer of 2021 and has made 134 appearances for the club.

He broke into the England senior squad in 2022 and was a key figure for Gareth Southgate’s side at the 2024 European Championship, starting all but one of his country’s matches during their run to the final.

Guehi was named club captain ahead of the 2024-25 season and has featured 28 times in all competitions for Palace this season, scoring twice.

Palace saw defender Trevoh Chalobah recalled by Chelsea from his loan earlier this month but are set to sign Ben Chilwell — again on loan from Chelsea — pending a medical.

(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

This is the type of game — tight, tense, away from home — that Tottenham Hotspur never win.

This is the type of performance — gritty, canny, efficient — that they rarely produce.

At Brentford on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou’s depleted, patched-together Spurs turned all the perceptions and narratives about them on their head. This might not be Spurs’ best win of the season given the quality of other teams they have beaten, but it might be their most important.

Because they came here on a seven-game winless run in the league. Their last league victory, at Southampton, was seven weeks ago. Since then, they have drifted further down the league table than anyone thought possible.

Because Postecoglou came here without a single senior specialist centre-back available and was forced to play Archie Gray and Ben Davies together. Even Spurs’ fit players are exhausted, worn down by having to carry this club on their backs every Thursday and Sunday for the past few months.

Because this was at Brentford, who had lost only three league games at home this season and seem to embody so many of the values Tottenham have lacked this season.

The strange thing about Spurs’ season is that for all the frustration and disappointment — the 13 league defeats and the painful drift down the table — there have been some remarkable high points: two wins against Manchester City, two against Manchester United and one against Liverpool. They have blown teams away with expansive attacking football and played at a tempo no one can stop. All but one of their league wins before Sunday were by at least three goals.

But life under Postecoglou has been a house of cards. Either it is brilliant or it falls apart. Tottenham could do the thrilling, emphatic ‘statement wins’ when everything clicked into place, but they could not do the other side. The normal wins, ground out against the odds, with their backs to the wall. This is what Tottenham had desperately needed for the past few months, to find a way to win ugly, to win a league game where they did not destroy the opposition but still found a way nonetheless.

Of Spurs’ 13 league defeats this season, 12 of them were by one-goal margins. Only the 6-3 to Liverpool was by more than that. There have been many times when the game was tight and up for grabs for whichever side was cleverer, luckier, or more efficient — and Spurs kept losing. If they are to get out of this mess and start climbing back up the table, they needed to start finding ways to win games like this.

Spurs’ style on Sunday was not what many have come to expect from a Postecoglou team, but then anyone paying attention knows they have not played like that for months. How could they given the fixture schedule and their injury crisis? They have had only one free midweek since club football resumed after the November international break. The same small core of players — Pedro Porro, Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min, Gray — are giving their all twice a week, every week. The game plan had to change to something more conservative, more repeatable, more robust.

There have been plenty of league games recently when Spurs worked as hard as they could but did not get the rewards for their effort. This time, they finally did.

It was built on the solidity of Gray and Davies together at centre-back. Neither is a specialist in that position. Gray is an 18-year-old playing his 15th game on the spin. Davies is 31 and in his 11th season at Spurs, just back from an injury and straight into the firing line. But both of them were exceptional. They constantly headed away crosses (Brentford attempted 37). They were rewarded with Spurs’ first league clean sheet since beating Southampton on December 15.

Then there was Djed Spence, back in the team after three games out. He produced his best performance for Tottenham, shackling Bryan Mbeumo and showing remarkable poise, balance and maturity throughout. He is a supremely gifted footballer and Spurs look much better with him in the team.

In midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur played as well as he has all season. He was everywhere, spotting danger before anyone else and shutting it down. Spurs desperately needed his experience and he provided all of it and more.

Then there was Kulusevski, in midfield in the first half, on the right in the second. He has dug deeper than anyone this season and remains Tottenham’s best way of moving the ball forward when they are struggling to build up.

But the most impressive thing was not just the aggregate performance of the individuals on the pitch, it was the way they did things you might not expect them to do.

Everyone knows Spurs have struggled on set pieces over the years and that Brentford specialise in them. But on this occasion, it was Spurs who took the lead from a corner, as Son curled in a delivery, Brentford goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson could not get to it, and the ball went in off Vitaly Janelt.

Brentford bombarded the Spurs box throughout, but Tottenham’s defence was always equal to it. Antonin Kinsky made two good first-half saves, but mainly it was Gray, Davies, Spence and Porro doing the hard work, with Bentancur and Yves Bissouma sweeping up in front of them.

In the second half, Spurs slowed the game down, happily eating up time when required. Richarlison walked off the pitch when substituted for Dane Scarlett. Son took his time over corners to the fury of the home fans. Kinsky never rushed to get the ball back into play from goal kicks.

And having taken the lead from a set piece, Spurs completed the win from a counter-attack. Bentancur found Son, who took advantage of Pape Matar Sarr’s dynamic forward run. He beautifully finished past Valdimarsson. Postecoglou’s celebration told a story of all the pent-up frustration from the past few months.

After the final whistle, all the Spurs players gathered in a huddle in front of the jubilant away end before they went over to take their applause. Maybe it was not a ‘statement win’ in the style of their last league victory (5-0 at Southampton in December), or the one before that (4-0 at Manchester City in November), or the one before that (4-1 against Aston Villa in November), or the one before that (4-1 against West Ham United in October).

But think what made up this win: one set piece, one counter-attack, two stand-in centre-backs, plenty of tired legs, lots of defensive headers, a fair bit of game management, backs to the wall, spirit, nous, intelligence and efficiency. Maybe this is what a statement win really looks like.

(Top photo: Charlotte Wilson/Offside via Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has said that it remains a possibility that there are no further signings at the club this month.

Spurs completed the transfer of 21-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinksy from Slavia Prague on January 5 but have not made any more additions to the squad since then.

Postecoglou’s side take on German side Hoffenheim in their seventh league-phase game of the Europa League on Thursday and are set to be without 14 players as they make the trip to Germany.

When asked if there was a chance that Tottenham would not not sign anybody else this window, Postecoglou said: “Yeah, potentially. The club is working hard to get some help for the players. As far as I know at the moment there’s nothing imminent but things happen quickly in the last week of the window, so still hopeful.”

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Spurs have an extensive list of unavailable players with Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Wilson Odobert and Dominic Solanke all out with injury.

Sarr is the newest addition to the injury list after picking up a knock in a 3-2 defeat against Everton on Sunday. “Pape has a slight knock from the weekend, so he’s out,” said Postecoglou. “He tried to train (today) but he’s still a bit sore from the weekend. We’re hoping it’s not something that will keep him out for too long, he has a chance for the weekend, but the turn around was too quick.”

Full-backs Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon will also be unavailable on Thursday due to not being registered in Tottenham’s Europa League squad. Kinsky and teenage winger Yang Min-hyeok — who joined the club at the start of the month after signing in the summer — are also unregistered.

Postecoglou added that Rodrigo Bentancur is back in the squad after suffering a concussion in his side’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool. Centre-back Cristian Romero has returned to training but was deemed not ready to feature against Hoffenheim and will be out for “probably another week to 10 days”.

Spurs are enduring a miserable run of form, only winning four of their last 15 games in all competitions and sit 15th in the Premier League, only eight points off the relegation zone. They are ninth in the Europa League table, one place outside the automatic qualification spots for the last 16.

Despite the team’s struggles, Postecoglou was able to see the funny side of the situation when the press conference was paused due to the German translator coughing. “We’ve lost the translator as well, even my translator’s injured!” he joked.

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(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)