CaughtOffside

“Whether it’s in the way that Arsenal have, or better, or worse, we will have to wait and see.”

Arsenal and Arteta are often used as an example to why managers should be given time after the Spaniard had a difficult start to life at the Emirates and there was a time many Arsenal fans were calling for him to be sacked.

Spurs are going through a rebuild and you can see with the signings made this summer they are targeting young players who they hope will be a success at the club for many years to come, but what fans want more than anything is silverware.

Postecoglou’s men will look to get back to winning ways on Wednesday evening as they travel to Coventry in the EFL Cup before they host Brentford on Saturday.

Top photo by Getty Images

According to Fichajes, Tottenham are interested in signing Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the summer transfer window next year.

Spurs were active in the summer transfer window and strengthened their squad in attack and midfield.

The club backed manager Ange Postecoglou in the transfer market to make new signings and provided him the funds needed to strengthen the squad.

Tottenham signed striker Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth in a club record move. The attacker is yet to open his account for the Lilywhites this season.

Spurs are planning to add more firepower to their attack in order to provide competition to Solanke.

They have identified Everton attacker Calvert-Lewin as the ideal player who can do that.

The Everton striker has entered the final year of his contract at Goodison Park and he is expected to leave the struggling Premier League side for a new challenge elsewhere.

The Toffees are currently bottom of the league and their future looks in danger, which would force not only Calvert-Lewin but also other players to leave the club soon.

Spurs feel that the Everton attacker ticks all the boxes and fulfills their requirements.

Tottenham move could revive Calvert-Lewin’s career

If the English striker does not agree a new deal with the Merseyside club, Spurs will be ready to pounce and make their move.

The possible arrival of Calvert-Lewin might work against Richarlison, who has struggled to perform at the North London club.

The Brazilian attacker faces an uncertain future at the Tottenham Stadium and Spurs are looking for an upgrade on him.

It remains to be seen if Calvert-Lewin, who has had his fair share of fitness issues, is the right man to become a part of the Tottenham attack.

His career has failed to progress at Everton and perhaps a change of scenery can bring the best out of him.

Top Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images

Arsenal FC expert Charles Watts has admitted he thinks there are worrying signs for Tottenham ahead of the rest of the season following the North London Derby at the weekend.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Watts explained that although he likes Ange Postecoglou, he does seem to lack a Plan B when things aren’t quite going right.

Spurs had a big opportunity to beat their rivals in Sunday’s clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Watts noticed what seemed like a lack of belief in the side, as well as moments where there just weren’t any real ideas or the quality to break down the Arsenal defence.

Arsenal ended up winning 1-0 thanks to a goal from Gabriel Magalhaes in the second half, and it was surprisingly comfortable for them despite being without key players like Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.

Still, Tottenham didn’t take advantage of the situation, and Watts made it clear he thinks there are worrying signs at the club.

Tottenham were poor against Arsenal, says Watts

“I thought Spurs were really poor on Sunday to be honest,” Watts said.

“I expected them to really take the game to Arsenal giving the players that Mikel Arteta’s side were missing.

“But after a bright opening 15 minutes they barely laid a glove on them. It just looked like they had no idea how they were going to break Arsenal down.

“I do like Ange Postecoglou and he does like to play football in the right way. But even the Celtic fans who adored him north of the border warned that he doesn’t really have a Plan B.

“That always seemed to cost Celtic when they played teams who were superior to them in the Champions League and right now it looks like it is costing Spurs.

“Given who Arsenal were missing on Sunday I turned up at the ground expecting to see a Tottenham side who believed they could get one over their neighbours.

“But instead I saw a team who looked like they had no real belief that they could get through such a good defence. There was no real quality or guile.

“If I was a Spurs fan I would have been really disappointed with that performance and would be a bit concerned about what was to come this season.”

Top photo by Alex Pantling / Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur chairman, Daniel Levy, has never appeared to be the most popular person in that part of North London, and a recent decision has exposed his attempts to fleece away supporters attending European games in N17.

Although Spurs missed out on the Champions League in large part due to an awful end to the 2023/24 campaign, they still managed to earn themselves a Europa League berth.

Qarabag are the first opponents in European competition for the Lilywhites this season, and if Levy had had his way, their supporters would’ve been paying through the nose for the privilege.

Daniel Levy’s attempts to fleece fans has come back to bite the Tottenham chairman

According to The Telegraph (subscription required), the North Londoners were, apparently, one of just three clubs to object to prices for away fans in Europe to be capped.

That has meant of course that Tottenham will be losing potential revenue, given that it’s highly likely the club would’ve charged more for tickets than they are being allowed to.

Football Insider note that there is an upper price limit of £33.70 for away supporters attending Europa League games, and the host club are therefore prohibited to charge more.

Football finance expert, Stefan Borson, doesn’t believe the cap is such a bad thing either.

“The away schemes are good schemes,” he told Football Insider.

“People are spending a fortune just to get to the location, they work well in the Premier League as well, but clearly you’re losing a revenue by having a cap.

“If you go to Spurs and you’re in the away end you will be 10 seats away from people who are paying maybe three times what you’re paying as an away fan.

“So as an away fan, you’re paying £30 or 50 Euros in Europe but just down the road there are people who are paying multiples of those ticket prices and so Spurs are saying they want to maximise.

“It seems to me to make sense for there to at least be some schemes that cap prices.

“Away fans are a perfect group to support because you’ve got very generally hardcore fans who go home and away and have got additional costs in getting to those games.

“If they can be subsidised for the price to get into the ground then that seems to make sense to me.

“An average away fan spends more than an average home fan in terms of refreshment and drink and everything else, so I don’t think it’s a disastrous idea.”

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were keen on signing the Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez during the summer transfer window.

According to Football Espana, the two English clubs enquired about the 21-year-old midfielder but the transfer did not materialise because Barcelona viewed him as a key member of their squad for the future and the player was not keen on an exit either.

Lopez has already established himself as an important player for Barcelona, and he helped Spain win the Euro 2024 and the Olympics as well. He is highly rated across the country and he has a bright future ahead of himself.

He has the physical and technical attributes to develop into a top-class player and it remains to be seen where he ends up in the future.

Manchester United could certainly use more quality and depth in the midfield and Lopez would have been a quality long-term investment for them. The 21-year-old would have added creativity and goals to the side. Meanwhile, Tottenham could use more depth in the midfield as well. They have sanctioned departures of Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in recent weeks.

Fermin Lopez would be a superb investment

It will be interesting to see if the two clubs decide to return for Lopez during the summer transfer window. Barcelona are unlikely to want to let him leave any time soon, but they are going through financial difficulties. If the English clubs can come forward with a tempting offer, the Spanish club might decide to consider a potential departure.

Lopez is still only 21 and he will only improve with coaching and experience. He could develop into a top-class player in the near future and justify the investment in the long term. He has the potential to develop into a key player for both clubs.

Top photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

Tottenham were hoping to win all three points against Arsenal on Sunday but the visitors surprised them and managed to win 1-0.

Gabriel scored for Arsenal in the second half of the match to give Mikel Arteta’s team a crucial win in the early days of the title race.

The Gunners were missing several first team players including Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

It was an impressive defensive performance from Arsenal, who put their bodies on the line after taking the lead from a set-piece situation.

Former Premier League striker Dean Ashton was particularly surprised with the way Spurs reacted to the goal scored by Arsenal.

He felt Son Heung-min looked disinterested in the match and should have inspired his team to do better.

Ashton said on talkSPORT’s Sunday Session:

“The one thing that really surprised me was, after the goal, the response.

“Son looking very disinterested, Maddison not being able to get into the game.

“Nobody at all supporting Solanke. They just said we’ll leave you to it, to two of the best centre-backs in the division.

“That is the biggest question for me, the reaction of the Tottenham players and manager after the goal.”

Despite dominating possession and having more shots on goal, Spurs still failed to beat the Gunners.

The way Arteta managed the difficult situation and the way the players responded deserves praise.

Arsenal came up with a solid plan against Tottenham

Kai Havertz dropped in the midfield due to the absence of Odegaard while Jorginho started the match in place of Rice.

Leandro Trossard played as a false nine, who worked hard for the team in an unfamiliar role.

Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling came on from the bench in the second half but had no impact on the match.

With four points in four matches, Spurs are currently in 13th place in the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Arsenal in the North London derby earlier today.

Tottenham were expected to grind out a positive result at home in front of their own fans, but they have failed to deliver once again. Arsenal will be delighted with their performance in a big game.

The Gunners had multiple injury problems, but they have managed to get the job done and the win over Tottenham will certainly establish their title credentials.

Meanwhile, popular pundit Matt Upson has now highlighted the poor performance of Tottenham midfielder James Maddison in another big game.

James Maddison slammed for North London Derby performance

The England international, who joined the Lilywhites for a reported £40 million 14 months ago, has been heavily criticised for his tendency to go missing in certain games, and again, he was quite mediocre against Arsenal.

“James Maddison has had a quiet game,” Upson told BBC Sport.

“How often have we referred to anything he has done in this game? He has not been very effective with the ball at all.”

The 26-year-old midfielder is undoubtedly Tottenham’s creator in chief and they needed him to step up and deliver in the final third today. The North London outfit failed to create ample goalscoring opportunities, and Maddison will be thoroughly disappointed with his performance as well.

After an outstanding start to life at Tottenham since the £40 million move, his form dipped sharply during the second half of last season and he missed out on the chance to represent his country during Euro 2024 as a result of that. It will be interesting to see if he can bounce back strongly and contribute significantly in the big games.

Tottenham will need him to step up and deliver if they want to win trophies and finish in the top four this season.

Jamie Redknapp has claimed that Cristian Romero has been unable to come to grips with the zonal marking style that Ange Postecoglou wants to implement on set pieces.

Despite missing arguably two of their best players along with their star summer signings, the Gunners have come out triumphant at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in their North London derby on Sunday afternoon.

But that victory was by no means an easy one as Spurs dominated the opening portion of the game, with only Dominic Solanke’s hesitancy and David Raya’s heroics stopping them from breaking the deadlock.

Both sets of fans were no doubt slightly relieved at the referee’s half-time whistle after an intense and nail-biting opening 45 minutes came to an end with Tottenham dominating the possession.

However, the second-half was far more tame with Mikel Arteta’s side clearly more composed on the ball as they slowly grew into the game.

Jamie Redknapp claims Cristian Romero looked “lost” against Arsenal

It was the Gunners who finally found the breakthrough after a lot of patience and in typical fashion, the goal came from a set piece with Gabriel Magalhaes towering above Romero to power the ball into the roof of the net.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Redknapp criticised the Argentine defender’s lack of awareness in the area and highlighted how he has struggled to adapt to the zonal marking system.

“He never really got to grips with Gabriel,” he said.

“Last year in this fixture, Romero was doing zonal marking, I think he struggles when he has to man-to-man mark. He just gets a little bit lost.”

The games are coming thick and fast for Arteta’s men with clashes against Atalanta and Manchester City awaiting them next week.

Credit: Top photos by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images and George Wood/Getty Images

Arsenal take on Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby today and the Gunners were handed the first corner of the game.

With the Tottenham fans booing the Arsenal players during the corner, winger Bukayo Saka was seen wandering over to the corner flag very slowly.

The Tottenham fans will certainly be annoyed with his casual approach and time-wasting.

Referring to the incident, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said: “Saka is walking over very slowly, almost taunting those Tottenham fans in that corner.”

Saka could certainly be a game-changer for his side today, and he will look to make his mark in the North London Derby and help his team secure all three points away from home.

The England international has been in fine form in the Premier League so far and the Tottenham defence will have to be wary of the threat from him in the wide areas.

A win here could prove to be vital

A win here will be a huge morale boost for both teams and they will look to pick up all three points. Arsenal will be fighting for the league title with Manchester City this season and a win here will give them the confidence and the momentum to put together a winning run.

Meanwhile, Tottenham will be looking to showcase their progress under Ange Postecoglou with a win over the Gunners. Both teams are capable of grinding out a positive result here and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top eventually.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero has been linked with a move away from the club.

The Argentine international joined Tottenham on loan in 2021 and the North London club signed him permanently in 2022 for a fee of around £40 million.

The 26-year-old has established himself as one of the best defenders in the league and top clubs across Europe are keeping tabs on him.

Real Madrid are reportedly keen on signing the 2022 World Cup winner and Tottenham are now prepared to open contract talks with him and they are looking to tie him down to a new long-term deal, as per TBR Football.

The defender has three years left on his current contract and tying him down to a new deal would help Tottenham keep him at the club despite interest from other clubs.

The North London outfit are prepared to offer him a significant pay rise and it remains to be seen whether they can convince the player to pen an extension.

Cristian Romero will want to win trophies

The 26-year-old is one of the best defenders in the world right now and he will want to win major trophies. Spurs must match up to his ambitions if they want to keep him at the club. The North London giants must compete in the Champions League regularly and push for trophies in order to keep the best players in the world at the club.

They have shown great improvement under their new manager and they have put together and exciting squad. It will be interesting to see if they can end their wait for a trophy this season. They will be desperate to finish in the top four as well.