inews

The decisive goal that Tottenham conceded at Selhurst Park on Sunday was the sort of collective calamity that makes supporters question why they even bother and causes managers to have sleepless nights.

Blame for Jean-Philippe Mateta’s winner for Crystal Palace can be apportioned to numerous individuals involved in the club’s fourth Premier League defeat of the season.

Guglielmo Vicario for playing the ball short despite making a dodgy start with his distribution; Cristian Romero for committing the cardinal sin of passing across his own box (compounded by it being looped horribly over to his central defensive colleague); Micky van de Ven for allowing the ball to run across his body, prompting Daniel Munoz to rush in and win possession; Pedro Porro and Romero (again) for dealing dismally with Munoz’s cross to the far post, allowing Mateta to score.

Finally, Ange Postecoglou for instructing his defenders to play this way against a team renowned for pressing high with intensity. Palace won 21 high turnovers, the second-most in a Premier League game this season. Maybe Pep Guardiola should take a share of the responsibility too for being so successful with this ploy that virtually every other manager in world football has since tried to copy him.

It was a nightmarish goal for Spurs to let in, an act of self-sabotage considering they had been fortunate to avoid conceding before they did with similarly sloppy play from their own six-yard box. No one player involved in it was any more or less at fault than anyone else; it was a collection of gaffes rather than one colossal cock-up.

However, as has been typical this season, Romero had a key part to play in it. According to the Premier League website, the Argentine hasn’t committed any errors leading to a goal this season. The bar must be set incredibly high given Romero has been at least partially culpable for over half of the 10 goals that Spurs have surrendered.

Romero can have no defence for three of them, all of which were strikingly similar. Against Leicester, Arsenal and Brighton, the 26-year-old was guilty of switching off and not staying close enough to his opposite man with Jamie Vardy, Gabriel Magalhaes and Danny Welbeck all profiting.

Those goals were consequential ones, either equalisers or winners that wiped four points off Tottenham’s tally.

Missteps against Newcastle and Palace were less clear but still costly. At St James’ Park, Romero embarked on an ambitious one-man press towards the halfway line and covered so much ground that he was unable to get back into position to prevent Harvey Barnes from flicking the Magpies in front.

When Alexander Isak added the crucial second from the middle of the penalty box, Romero was nowhere to be seen after pushing forward when the rest of the back four retreated.

Romero’s blooper reel is a combination of poor decision-making, sluggish ball-watching and needlessly risky passes. They are the sort of mistakes that he seldom makes for Argentina but often does for Spurs. Romero has been integral to a golden era of Argentine success, a defensive pillar in a team that has lifted the World Cup and back-to-back Copa Americas in the last three years.

He is consistently world-class when he pulls on the sky blue and white stripes. He is less commanding when he has the Tottenham cockerel on his chest; occasionally brilliant but often fallible.

There are plenty of potential explanations for that. Postecoglou’s high-risk strategy places an exceptional demand on central defenders, who are expected to be progressive in possession and proactive out of possession.

Romero has played virtually every game in three successive international tournaments in which his nation has reached a final. That is bound to have drained him, mentally and physically.

Is his contractual situation a distraction? In June he will enter the final two years of his deal and rumours of Real Madrid interest continue to bubble away.

Despite his indifferent form, it seems unlikely Postecoglou will take him out of his team anytime soon. Romero has worn the armband in Son Heung-min’s injury-enforced absence and the Australian has spoken in glowing terms about his mentality and quality in the past.

He may point to a marked improvement in Romero’s disciplinary record – he is yet to receive a single card this season – as evidence of his burgeoning maturity.

Still, the more mistakes he makes, the less secure his place in the team should be. Other key players have paid the price for a slip in standards, James Maddison, subbed off at half-time and the hour mark in his last two games, chief among them. Democracy apparently underpins Postecoglou’s team selections. Radu Dragusin could be forgiven for thinking the rules don’t apply to him.

At his best, Romero is a titan of a centre-back and unquestionably one of Tottenham’s most important players, but at the moment his place in the side is based more on reputation than form. His lapses pose a problem for Postecoglou as he plots a way back from another disappointing defeat.

Crystal Palace 1-0 Tottenham (Mateta 31′)

SELHURST PARK — Oliver Glasner spent the final seven minutes of added time cajoling and conducting Crystal Palace’s supporters into a crescendo to help his team get over the line against Tottenham Hotspur. A thunderous roar that greeted the final whistle was proof it worked.

Palace had started the day winless and rooted in the bottom three but ended it with their first three points and optimism coursing through Selhurst Park. This was the Palace that thrilled in the last two months of last season, not the one that has underwhelmed in the first couple of this.

Had they been more clinical, Glasner’s cheerleader act would have not been required. It was a 1-0 battering against opponents who had won seven of their previous eight matches. Jean-Philippe Mateta, the poster boy for Palace’s turnaround under the Austrian, was the match-winner, but to a man Palace outworked and outplayed their Spurs counterparts.

It was a dismal display from the visitors, that second half at Brighton before the international break extrapolated over a full 90 minutes.

The post-match, on-pitch apology afterwards was a telltale sign that things went badly wrong.

Guglielmo Vicario ventured closer to an irate travelling support than most, palms turned outwards in remorse. James Maddison remained there the longest, staring absently into the stand, contemplating why he had been withdrawn early for the second week running.

The soul-searching will continue into this week. Mateta’s winning goal was a neat encapsulation of the entire game. Palace pressed superbly against a Tottenham defence that was self-destructively hellbent on trying to play through them.

A moment’s indecision by Micky van de Ven was the trigger for Daniel Munoz to charge and win the ball. The wing-back crossed to the back post for Mateta to rattle in his fifth goal of the season.

Spurs had been warned but muddled on with Plan A. Not long before conceding Vicario survived a scare when passing the ball straight out to Munoz in his desperation to not kick long.

This of course is the Ange Postecoglou way. Encouraging and then escaping an opponent’s high press is one of the key tenets of Angeball. The Australian’s mantra is non-negotiable and there was a visual demonstration of that just before half-time when Maddison was immediately reprimanded by his manager after aimlessly lashing a volley up the pitch to relieve some pressure.

On days like this, it is hard to escape the conclusion that more flexibility is required. Spurs created their best chance of the game two minutes after half-time when Vicario hoisted a ball onto Dominic Solanke’s chest; within two passes Dejan Kulusevski was forcing Dean Henderson into a hurried save in his own six-yard-box. Then they went back to passing it along their own box.

The Kulusevski chance was an anomaly in the first 15 minutes of the second half which was packed full of Palace opportunities. It was a red and blue onslaught with everything naturally running through Eberechi Eze, the playmaker linked with Spurs last summer.

Eze scored but was just caught offside by the high line, had a penalty appeal waved away after a tangle with Van de Ven and then lashed a shot just wide in the space of 10 minutes as Palace laid siege on a weary Spurs defence.

Postecoglou responded by making a triple change, which included taking Maddison and Kulusevski – his two most creative players – off. He was rightly praised for making a bold call at half-time during last weekend’s 4-1 win over West Ham, but ditching a 4-3-3 shape for a 4-2-4 this time did not work.

Solanke and Richarlison struggled to connect, while Timo Werner offered no more than Mikey Moore, the 17-year-old who became Tottenham’s youngest Premier League starter in over three decades.

As the clock ticked down, there was desperation in the stands but not on the pitch. Palace survived the closing stages pretty comfortably as Spurs tossed one hopeful cross into the box after another. Maxence Lacroix was superb, so too Marc Guehi. Why it took this long for them to earn their first three points is a mystery. Where Spurs go next is another, after another infuriating away day.

Tottenham 4-1 West Ham (Kulusevski 36’, Bissouma 52’, Todibo OG 55’, Son 60’ | Kudus 18’)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – The roar came with a crescendo: two gasps, one for a knock against either post, only a belated realisation that a vintage Dejan Kulusevski equaliser has eventually crossed the line.

At Tottenham, they know better than to get too excited without a little trepidation. If they did not already feel that way, the worst defeat of Ange Postecoglou’s reign a fortnight ago at Brighton will have convinced them. With the possible exception of Erik ten Hag, no manager in the Premier League attracts a level of collective soul-searching quite like it after every setback.

And still, at its best, Ange-ball remains a force so potent it can leave a side as vulnerable as West Ham wishing they had never bothered to return after the international break. Few have been humbled quite like Mohammed Kudus commandeering a ball-boy’s chair to celebrate on after scoring the opener, before earning a late red card for striking not one but two players – Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr – in the face.

The only consolation to that final humiliation was that by then, the damage had been done by a surge of three goals in eight second-half minutes. It did not need to be this way, for Julen Lopetegui had known how erratic Spurs can be, their inclination for the attack to give with one hand while the defence take away with the other.

Indeed West Ham had taken the lead partly because Destiny Udogie was too slow to react to Jarrod Bowen wriggling through the box – eight touches, in all – but also because of a lost 1v1 with Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the edge of the area. Postecoglou had highlighted those duels as the main reason for the surrender at Brighton too; fitness and physicality are the variables they can control, so those are the ones to master first. Everything else can feel like a week-by-week “let’s see what happens”.

Kulusevski’s role

One of the few constants, however, is Kulusevski. Tottenham’s Player of the Season so far, unquestionably. An element lost with the departure of Harry Kane was the England captain’s deeper play, but the Swede is willing to do the hard yards and much of his creativity came from the middle, not just out wide.

A more central role has been key to reviving his Spurs career – and it has been a strange trajectory. In his Players’ Tribune interview earlier this year, there was no overwhelming theme of struggle but he opened up for the first time on his mental difficulties at Juventus, and the catastrophic knocks his confidence can take when he is off form.

Postecoglou has not received enough credit for getting the best out of him, not least when the decision to use him in a midfield three has invited him into the centre of the pitch and he no longer feels as if he is left floundering on the wing.

A huge call on Maddison

The other decisive moment was the bold decision to take off James Maddison at half time, even after he had created five chances and an assist. The run from within his own half to tee up Kulusevski’s goal was Maddison at his best, even if he looked like a reincarnation of Christian Eriksen from the 12 corners Spurs took in the first half.

It was Postecoglou’s greatest sin at The Amex – failing to change it early enough, not daring to do, as it were and allowing the rot to set in. The mistake was not repeated. Sarr replaced Maddison and immediately the midfield was more compact and organised. That is not necessarily a reflection on Maddison, but the rotation set Spurs on their way to a quickfire blitz.

Udogie’s penance for his earlier struggles was an exquisite flick back to Yves Bissouma, whose first-time finish was about to open the floodgates as West Ham lost their heads.

Jean-Clair Todibo’s own goal was of the kind that can only attract a mixture of sympathy and bewilderment in equal measure, an awkward bounce off Alphonse Areola after a tame shot from Son Heung-min. Then Son had his goal too on his return from injury, four stepovers bamboozling Todibo again for good measure.

West Ham really ought to count themselves lucky it wasn’t more. Postecoglou finally has his first win in a major London derby, and a fresh blueprint of what Tottenham are capable of when they turn on the style.

Manchester City’s succession planning continues in earnest despite their ongoing disputes with the Premier League, as they become the latest English giants to keep tabs on Shakhtar Donetsk superstar Georgiy Sudakov.

Sudakov was expected to be the latest big-money Ukrainian to join a Premier League club in the summer, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur all long-standing admirers.

But no move materialised and the 22-year-old continues to dominate the Ukrainian Premier League, where he is the division’s top goalscorer, from midfield.

This will almost certainly be his last season in his war-torn homeland, with City identifying Sudakov as a potential midfield option, one with the character to be a pivotal part of the “next generation” of talent at the club, sources told i.

In an interview with i in May, Sudakov, who made his Shakhtar debut in a Champions League win away to Real Madrid four years ago, expressed his longing to move to the Premier League, linking up with his best friend and international teammate Mykhailo Mudryk.

“I was telling Misha [Mudryk] about how much I want to play in the Premier League and how it would be great to play in the same team.

“Misha told me that I was not ready for the kind of pressure that happens in England and if I do come I need to be ready for that. But I am.”

City does feel like the perfect fit, should they avoid any serious punishments if found guilty of alleged financial impropriety.

Several of their star names in central midfield who have been integral to their recent success are understood to be considering their options away from the club, having won all there is to win in Manchester.

Kevin De Bruyne is one who could depart with interest from Saudi Arabia persisting, while Bernardo Silva’s desire for a new experience is an open secret at the Etihad. Despite Rodri being a more defensive-minded player, his injury has exposed some unfamiliar weak spots in the City engine room.

Sudakov has also received plenty of praise for his character. Recently, he met children who lost their parents during the war and also plans to travel to the frontline areas to meet children there.

He also talked to children who had overcome cancer in Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, Okhmatdyt, recently hit by a Russian missile.

The war in Ukraine rages on, making a move away all the more appealing. Shakhtar chief executive Sergiy Palkin has been outspoken on Sudakov, insisting his star player will not be allowed to leave on the cheap, after the club lost millions in potential player sales following Fifa’s decision to allow players to terminate their contracts in order to escape the Russian invasion.

“Everybody knows about Sudakov,” Palkin told the Thinking Football Summit in Portugal last month. “I believe he is the new European star.

“Half a year ago we had negotiations with Napoli. They proposed €40m [£33m]. But we believe that he costs much more. Therefore, we believe that in this Champions League he will show his best. Because he has the dream to play in a top-ranked European club. If he shows good football, I believe he will jump to this club”.

One of those clubs interested in Sudakov will get a first-hand look at their next potential big-money arrival as Shakhtar travel to the Emirates to take on Arsenal in the Champions League next Tuesday.

Brighton 3-2 Tottenham (Minteh 48′, Rutter 58′, Welbeck 66′ | Johnson 23′, Maddison 37′)

AMEX STADIUM — At half-time, this looked the unlikeliest of possible outcomes. Brighton had been overrun, their much-discussed high defensive line as flimsy as advertised. But they hauled themselves out of the hole of a two-goal deficit despite the absence of last season’s top scorer, Joao Pedro, and arguably their best defender in Jan Paul van Hecke, through injury, and showed that they still have talent – and will to win – to spare.

Fabian Hurzeler denied that any tactical wizardry on his part had made the difference and preferred to praise his team’s comeback.

“It was the players’ game in the second half,” he said.

“The intensity to win the personal duels, to be ruthless and have more ball-winning in their half, that’s what we were missing in the first half.

“I’m really proud how they reacted. They took responsibility and showed personality. We have great characters in the team.”

It helped that Destiny Udogie miskicked horribly as he tried to deal with a cross by the dangerous Kaoru Mitoma only three minutes into the restart and Yankuba Minteh drove the loose ball home.

After 58 minutes Georginio Rutter took Mitoma’s pass and sidestepped both Udogie and Micky van de Ven before left-footing low past Guglielmo Vicario.

And finally, in the 65th minute, Rutter showed more desire to reach the ball that any one of three opponents, somehow looping it back across goal for the unmarked Danny Welbeck to head in and spark raucous celebrations tinged with delighted shock.

Tottenham had arrived in Sussex on a run of five successive wins in all competitions, having apparently found a blend that worked even in the absence of captain Son Heung-min. They were playing a side that looked vulnerable to speedy attackers, they took a two-goal lead by the interval, and it could have been more. And then they collapsed.

Spursy? That will doubtless be thrown at them. Tired? Perhaps. Complacent? Manager Ange Postecoglou seemed to think so. But this aberration at the Amex still defies analysis.

The simple explanation would include individual errors, coupled with a drop in intensity that might be blamed on their midweek match in Budapest. They were 3-2 down after 66 minutes, which, in theory, offered plenty of time to salvage at least a point. But it never looked on.

They had had few problems puncturing Brighton’s naive high line in the opening 45 minutes. But then few sides should be as expert as Tottenham at dismantling the Brighton system, having had their own difficulties last season when trying to play something like it themselves.

They went ahead after 23 minutes as James Maddison robbed Rutter and Brennan Johnson timed his run perfectly to sweep home Dominic Solanke’s pass. It was the sixth successive match in which the Wales forward has scored.

Then Maddison mishit a shot that somehow found its way in anyway under Bart Verbruggen’s gloves. But Udogie erred twice as Brighton levelled, and the Spurs defence had a collective failure of desire to clear before Welbeck headed the decider.

Postecoglou appeared almost shell-shocked afterwards.

“We didn’t do what you need to do at this level, the basics of the game,” he said, almost in a whisper.

“It was unacceptable. You’re not going to win every game but that’s the first time since I came here that we’ve lost in that manner.

“We should have put the game to bed, but I’ve got to deal with what happened in the second half. There’s a certain level of competitiveness you need to show and we didn’t. That’s probably the most disappointing loss we’ve had since I’ve been here. We didn’t do the very basics. I need to address that.”

Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham (Fernandes red card 42′ | Johnson 3′, Kulusevski 47′, Solanke 77′)

Gary Neville branded Manchester United an “absolute disgrace” half way through their shambolic defeat to Tottenham on Sunday – and they proceeded to get worse from there.

Goals from Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski at the start of each half plus Dominic Solanke’s instinctive strike late on ensured Spurs left Old Trafford with all three poins to ease some of the pressure on Ange Postecoglou after two painful defeats in September.

United were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time as Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a knee high challenge on James Maddison.

While replays showed the United captain slipped before the tackle, the unfortunate nature of the red card was no excuse for an abject display that will only increase the scrutiny on the embattled Erik ten Hag.

Here’s how every United and Spurs player rated out of 10:

Man Utd

Andre Onana: Busy afternoon for the United stopper as chaos unfolded in front him. Little he could do for Spurs goals and made some strong saves. One excellent long pass to Rashford who was offside 7/10

Noussair Mazraoui: Dealt well with the pacy Werner and made difficult clearance across face of his own goal look easy. One of United’s better performers on a bad day 7/10

Diogo Dalot: Sleepwalking for the opener as he allowed Johnson a free run into the back post in calamity of United errors. Needed some support from his wingers with Johnson and Kulusevski often doubling up on him 5/10

Lisandro Martinez: One of the few United players who put up a fight and big challenge on Maddison appeared to spark some life into his teammates. Impressed when pushed into midfield in second half 7/10

Matthijs De Ligt: One of several players culpable for Johnson’s opener. Exposed by Tottenham’s pace in attack but not helped by weakness of midfield shield in front of him 5/10

Manuel Ugarte: Overwhelmed in first league start. Should have put a foot in to stop Van de Ven’s marauding run for opener didn’t improve from there, allowing Tottenham to run the show 3/10

Kobbie Mainoo: Part of United midfield that was completely overrun in first half. Made one excellent run and pass to tee up Zirkzee but was then replaced after Fernandes’ sending off 5/10

Marcus Rashford: Shocking first 15 minutes, including giving ball away limply in build up to Spurs’ first goal. Couldn’t be criticised for lack of effort thereafter though as United tried in vain to chase game 5/10

Bruno Fernandes: Unlucky to be sent off after slipping into challenge with Maddison but far from his finest performance regardless. Looked misused in advanced position behind Zirkzee with Ugarte and Mainoo flailing behind 4/10

Alejandro Garnacho: Frustrating afternoon for youngster who looked most likely United player to create a goal-scoring chance when given rare opportunities on ball 6/10

Joshua Zirkzee: Drew one sharp save from Vicario with United’s first shot but generally struggled badly in lone striker role. Doesn’t look sharp enough for Premier League 4/10

Substitutes:

Mason Mount: 5/10

Casemiro: 6/10

Christian Eriksen: 5/10

Rasmus Hojlund: 5/10

Tottenham

Guglielmo Vicario: Had little to do in the first half, in truth. Made a good save to deny Zirkzee 6/10

Destiny Udogie: Saw two efforts fly over the crossbar in the first half before being replaced by Djed Spence at the break 6/10

Micky van de Ven: Ran almost the entire length of the pitch for the opening goal and his pass was tapped home by a waiting Johnson at the back post 8/10

Cristian Romero: Hardly put a foot wrong, like the rest of his teammates 6/10

Pedro Porro: Did what was required of him in defence and looked to hit United on the counter when he got the chance 7/10

James Maddison: This is exactly what Spurs fans want to see from Maddison after he pulled the strings in the middle of the park 7/10

Rodrigo Bentancur: He was up against Manuel Ugarte and gave his Uruguay teammate an absolute schooling. Oh to be a fly on the wall in their dressing room during the international break 7/10

Dejan Kulusevski: Hustled and outmuscled the opposition and was duly rewarded with his first goal of the season 9/10

Timo Werner: A vintage Werner performance. Fluffed a one-on-one chance that he probably should have scored. His pace caught the defence out on a couple of occasions, though 6/10

Dominic Solanke: The Bournemouth striker worked hard as ever up front. Good on and off the ball. Great for him to get a goal 7/10

Brennan Johnson: He could have had a brace, but hit the post. That’s four goals in the last four games for the Welshman 8/10

Substitutes:

Djed Spence: 6/10

Mikey Moore: 6/10

Lucas Bergvall: 6/10

Pape Matar Sarr: 6/10

Tottenham Hotspur will be without their captain Son Heung-min against Manchester United after the South Korean was not named in the matchday squad.

Son had been a doubt for the Premier League clash after being substituted late in Tottenham’s 3-0 Europa League win over Qarabag on Thursday with a suspected hamstring injury.

Boss Ange Postecoglou said he hoped Son would recover in time for the key league match, but he has not made the necessary progress despite attempting to train on Saturday.

Son has been replaced in Tottenham’s starting XI by Timo Werner, who has not started a league match or scored this season after permanently signing in the summer.

Postecoglou told Sky Sports: “Short turnaround [for Son], he just wasn’t right for today so we go in without him.

“We’ve had those things a fair bit. We just have to learn to cope without.

“Timo [Werner] is most comfortable in that position. We brought him into the club for situations like this.

“Facing a big club, iconic stadium, plenty of attention – these are the kind of games you want to be involved in.

“We won the last three. Results have been mixed but performances haven’t been too bad. I’m pretty happy with how we’re playing our football.”

Tottenham are on a three-match winning streak after a tumultuous start to the season, sitting 10th – level on points with Erik ten Hag’s United.

Son had scored twice and created two more in five Premier League games in 2024-25 and hadn’t missed a game due to a muscle injury since Postecoglou took over in north London.

It is expected he will return to full fitness ahead of Tottenham’s trip to Ferencvaros on Thursday, although will likely be afforded until next Sunday’s visit to Brighton to recover if he needs it.

Werner will start in a front three alongside Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson, who has scored in each of his past three matches.

Rodrigo Bentancur keeps his place in the heart of Spurs’ midfield over Yves Bissouma, with Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison either side of him.

Doing the 92 is Daniel Storey’s odyssey to every English football league club in a single season. The best way to follow his journey is by subscribing here

Everybody on Tottenham High Road knows how much the north London derby means. The vox pops of Spurs supporters are a mix of cloying, suffocating nerves and rampant on-camera bravado that barely disguises the same thing.

Cut to three hours later, and a noise that isn’t quite a boo but more than a groan, like a stiff grizzly bear standing up for the first time since hibernation. For the third time in a row, Tottenham have lost to Arsenal at home. The last time they did that was 1988, when their goals were scored by Paul Gascoigne and Chris Waddle.

Approaching this stadium from a distance is the only way to appreciate a magnificence that is only multiplied when you get up close. Its facilities were guaranteed by its newness, but the majesty lies in the design. Get it wrong and you’re left with a giant airport terminal building squeezed into place. Instead, this is a glass and silver palace that catches the light and literally reflects its surroundings.

There is no bad view inside, a triumphant mass of meticulous sightlines. It feels like it contains more air than Wembley and yet precious little of it seems to escape. The only better place to sit than the giant South Stand is anywhere else that offers a view of it. It is the largest stand in English football and looks good value for it.

It is to Tottenham’s credit that there are deliberate reminders of history here, offering subconscious reassurance that nothing gets forgotten.

In the South Stand is a plaque marking where the old centre spot was at White Hart Lane and much of the floor is made from concrete recycled from the old ground. Opposition fans may deride the use of a single trumpet player to mark the pre-match “Oh when the Spurs” chant, but these things mean something.

It’s OK to miss White Hart Lane too, of course, with all four of its stands originally designed by the great Archibald Leitch before big changes in the 1980s. Supporters were famously close to the pitch.

Whether the atmosphere was better now or then produces different answers from those I speak to – and we probably should allow for a nostalgic tinge – but it’s certainly true to say that it felt earthier down at the Lane.

The great triumph of this stadium is that it exists upon the same footprint as its predecessor. That offers an intangible strength, the myths and memories of yesteryear seeping into new foundations, but also an obvious tangible advantage. Outside The Beehive and The Volunteer in Tottenham Hale, The Bricklayers Arms on the High Road and The Bill Nicholson, fans meet before the derby just as they always did.

The fabled lamppost where club legend dictates that a group of schoolboys from Tottenham Grammar School formed the club in September 1882 as a means of providing themselves with athletic pursuit during the cricket off-season, would have been a short walk away. A replica has been installed in the stadium’s shadow and contains the old Tottenham Hotspur clock.

“There was a time when it felt like the stadium would never happen,” says Martin Cloake, who was co-chair of Tottenham Hotspur’s Supporters’ Trust between 2015 and 2022, the time of great upheaval. “It got delayed. Then we moved to Wembley and that dominated the conversation. Then more delays before we finally got there.”

“It was incredibly important that the club stayed in the same place, and I think people too easily overlook that importance. I have no doubt that if there was a financial advantage to moving from the area, the club would have taken it. I think they would have been gone.”

It is certainly true that an interest was registered in moving to the London Stadium, even as a back-up option, partnering with AEG Worldwide. “You make that stadium the best football stadium in the country for Tottenham because if you do that then you are going to make it the best stadium for the next 30 years,” said AEG president Timothy Leiwike at the time, before it ultimately went to West Ham.

Supporters begged to differ. In 2011, supporters gathered on Bill Nicholson Way to protest against a possible relocation outside of Tottenham and even north London before a home game against Manchester United. The High Road was shut by 1pm and Spurs players were forced to use a different entrance to the stadium. Their actions made the sentiment clear. Whatever the concerns now, at least Tottenham are here at all.

What is a football stadium supposed to be?

Tottenham had always insisted that a new stadium was a must for the club to compete financially with its Premier League peers. In economic terms, as Tottenham celebrate their sixth full season here – and with two of those disrupted by Covid-19 and reduced or non-existent attendances – it has been a significant success.

Spurs are emphatically a Big Six club by revenue. In the last set of fully published accounts (2022-23), their income was £549.2m, ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea and thus the highest in London. That covered a season during which they were in the Champions League and Arsenal the Europa League, but the point still stands. This club makes great money.

The stadium is an intrinsic element of that revenue generation, not least because of the relationships with the NFL, F1 Drive and concert organisers. Tottenham’s commercial revenue was the fourth highest in the Premier League. A report published by Uefa concluded that they earn more money than any other Premier League club via matchday revenue. The facilities have come into their own.

Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal (Sunday 15 September)

Game no.: 17/92

Miles: 141

Cumulative miles: 2756

Total goals seen: 42

The one thing I’ll remember in May: The solo trumpeter who now performs at Spurs before each game. The perfect way to build an atmosphere

But they also raise questions of what a football stadium is supposed to be. For all White Hart Lane’s anachronisms, it was emphatically the home of Tottenham Hotspur and everything else was secondary. As you come in off the High Road and past the media centre, three logos are displayed in equal size: Tottenham Hotspur FC, NFL, F1. This is where Tottenham live, but is it a home of football or an exclusive entertainment venue in which a football club is one tenant?

Amongst those other business interests, how do you ensure that it feels like home? There is a simple answer: winning things that supporters associate with playing there. Simple answer; far more complicated concept.

Those revenues, however they are generated, are crucial to a club’s health, but they also create pressure. The strategy sold to supporters prior to the reconstruction was that Tottenham needed the revenue to compete with the established elite. It removed one of the viable excuses for why Spurs hadn’t done so consistently before then.

Because, while the financial argument for Tottenham as a Big Six club is undeniable, that hasn’t been true on the pitch. Instead they are a hinterland entity, where grand ambition remains unfulfilled. Count the major trophies (Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Champions League, Europa League and Cup Winners’ Cup before its defunction) amongst those six clubs in the Premier League era and it totals 95. Tottenham account for two of those – EFL Cups in 1999 and 2008.

In the minds of many supporters, the summer of 2019 became a statue to general discomfort. Mauricio Pochettino, who had taken Spurs to the Champions League final ahead of their first full season in the new stadium, needed investment in the squad. Tottenham spent roughly £140m on Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon, Steven Bergwijn and Giovani Lo Celso’s loan that would become permanent. Two of those would later leave on free transfers. Everything felt broken. Pochettino left by November. Another chance missed.

A rod for their own back

None of this is unusual. Things can happen. No football club has a divine right to compete, even if wage bills and transfer spending suggests that they should. When that occurs, it becomes vital that a club remains united. Supporters are not entitled but they do demand the confidence that they are being appreciated.

At Tottenham, amongst supporters that I speak to in the build-up and aftermath of this north London derby, discontent rumbles.

The cheapest adult season ticket is £856 and peak, in the upper tier of the West Stand, at £2,367.

The club has come under significant flak, including a “turning back to the pitch” protest, after an announcement that no new senior concession season tickets would be made available from the 2025-26 season, while existing senior season ticket holders will see their 50 per cent discount drop to 25 per cent over time.

Supporters tell me that they increasingly feel as if their club sees them as a unit of currency more than a loyal individual and you can see their point. They were told that their club needed a bigger capacity and higher ticket prices to generate more money to compete.

Here they are, some years down the line, with those ticket prices and with a deal signed for multiple additional events at the stadium.

And still they accuse the club of failing to pay the highest wages or competing at the top of the transfer market or the Premier League. A brainworm grows, impossible to escape: were we sold a pup here?

“You can criticise supporters for wanting instant success,” says Cloake. “But when we, as a Trust, discussed pricing with the club we told them that they were creating a rod for their own back. If we’re paying amongst the highest prices in Europe, we want top performance. You could see the demand being created at that point.”

One fan, who wants to remain anonymous, goes further and believes that the experience in the new stadium is also not what it was when it opened: “When we first went into the stadium I was delighted. There was variety in the food and drink options, prices not too bad and service decent. Now the quality of the food isn’t as good, the prices are going up and the service is mediocre.

“It presents a picture, as unfair as it sounds, that they just want us to spend lots of money on tickets and in the shop, and not complain.”

This week, Daniel Levy defended the senior citizen measures at the fan forum.

“There’s an underlying problem that as time goes on, if we don’t curtail the number of concession seats in our stadium, our whole financing model will come into question,” he said.

“Because obviously we can’t have a situation where our ticket revenue ends up falling.”

Abiding memories of disappointment

“Last year we broke the £500m mark which puts us in the league of the eighth largest club in the world by revenue. But we’re still a long way away from some of our biggest competitors and that’s the gap we need to close in order to give more resources to our football teams.”

Hmmmm. Firstly, if Tottenham’s “whole financial model” depends upon the season ticket revenue difference between adult and senior citizen pricing, even with revenues nearing £550m, something has gone badly wrong somewhere.

Secondly, Spurs might be eighth in the world by revenue but they are 45th in Uefa’s latest coefficient rankings for five-year European performance and haven’t won a trophy in 16 years. Is that really due to needing more extra ticket revenue?

A ground needs standout memories to feel like home. For all the noise over pricing and a disconnect between club and supporters, these things tend to go hand in hand. Issues are parked when the team is doing well and are exacerbated when those in attendance perceive mediocrity in front of them.

There have been grand nights: Manchester City in the Champions League in 2019, the last-minute win over Liverpool last year, 3-0 vs Arsenal in May 2022. But those are three good examples of that very Tottenham disease: Spurs lost the final in 2019 and finished fifth last year, missing out on the Champions League.

That 3-0 win, Tottenham’s last in the derby, secured them a position at the top table. It ultimately allowed the most miserable night I can remember in this stadium, when Antonio Conte’s team barely tried to get back into a last-16 Champions League tie and tumbled out.

That night I stood on the platform at White Hart Lane station at 10.30pm and listened to angry laments about the death of another season and the broken relationship with another manager who didn’t fit. This place can only truly feel like home when these are no longer abiding memories.

Tottenham will have to get past Manchester City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup if they want to win their first major trophy in 17 years.

Ange Postecoglou has failed to beat City in his three games so far in charge of Spurs, drawing once and losing twice.

Reigning champions Liverpool face a tough tie away to Brighton after their comprehensive dismantling of West Ham on Wednesday, while Manchester United host a Leicester side who laboured past League Two Walsall.

Elsewhere, Newcastle will host last year’s finalists Chelsea if they make it past AFC Wimbledon next Tuesday.

The Magpies’ third-round match was rearranged due to flooding around the Cherry Red Records Stadium which led to sinkholes on the pitch.

The final all-Premier League tie pairs Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, who beat Wycombe and QPR respectively to reach the last 16.

Palace beat Villa 5-0 on the last day of the 2023-24 Premier League season, but Oliver Glasner’s side have failed to win a league tie so far in 2024-25.

Carabao Cup fourth round draw in full

Games will take place the week commencing 28 October

Brentford vs Sheffield Wednesday

Southampton vs Stoke

Tottenham vs Manchester City

AFC Wimbledon/ Newcastle vs Chelsea

Manchester United vs Leicester

Brighton vs Liverpool

Preston vs Arsenal

Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace

Meanwhile, Arsenal visit a Preston side currently hovering outside the Championship relegation spots as a reward for their 5-1 hammering of Bolton.

Seventeen-year-old Ethan Nwaneri scored twice in that tie, while 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Porter became the youngest player ever to start a game for the Gunners after an availability crisis.

Despite great success in the FA Cup, Arsenal haven’t won the Carabao Cup since 1993, when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the final.

Russell Martin’s Southampton will know a cup run could do great things for their team morale and they will hope their game against Championship side Stoke will provide the perfect opportunity to reach the quarter-finals.

And Brentford, who reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup in 2021 but have never won a major cup competition, host Sheffield Wednesday, who currently sit third from bottom in the second tier.

Spurs 3-1 Brentford (Solanke 8’, Johnson 28’, Maddison 85′ | Mbuemo 1’)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – For a player so bereft of confidence that he has declined to celebrate some of his most vital goals in a Tottenham shirt, the message from Brennan Johnson could not have been clearer. A finger to the lips and a grin from his manager as Ange Postecoglou’s faith in the beleaguered forward was vindicated for the second time in four days.

But first, eight minutes that encapsulated why we are arguably still no closer to finding out where Spurs are at. They began, almost comically, with Brentford’s joint-fastest goal in Premier League history, scored by Bryan Mbeumo – incredibly, in identical time to Yoane Wissa’s strike against Manchester City last week – after just 22 seconds. It would set up an afternoon-long struggle between Pedro Porro and Keane Lewis-Potter that the latter thoroughly enjoyed.

To the comeback, and pertinently the question of how much Thomas Frank’s side were to blame for their downfall. Yet Spurs engineered their own revival, even if the Bees did not help themselves. Sepp van den Berg conceded possession nearly leading to a goal just moments before Dominic Solanke’s equaliser, but when it came it was Ethan Pinnock who gave the ball away under pressure from Dejan Kulusevski.

James Maddison’s effort was easily pushed out by Mark Flekken, and Solanke lay in wait to do the rest. Apt timing, given that Spurs had considered signing Ivan Toney instead this summer.

Though it was Solanke’s first goal for his new club after a dry spell, which included missing a portion of the early season due to injury, there has not been nearly as much unwarranted scrutiny on him as there has been on Johnson.

So when the 23-year-old was teed up by Son Heung-min, it could have gone one of two ways.

It was not the one-hit, instinctive finish he required for the injury time midweek winner against Coventry. The run was similarly well-timed, but required an extra touch past Nathan Collins. Son’s ball was well-weighted, but Johnson did the rest himself.

Postecoglou said this week he would like to give a “punch on the nose” to anyone who dared to criticise the Wales international to his face, following a torrent of online abuse which forced him to delete his Instagram account after the north London derby defeat to Arsenal.

It is easy to dismiss Angeball as being all about indefinable “vibes”, intangibles over substance. Eric Dier certainly did not help matters when he suggested, from the safe distance of Munich, that Postecoglou’s training sessions included no real tactical work, a claim his former boss dismissed.

The idea that Johnson is not receiving one-on-one finishing work is farcical, but Postecoglou deserves credit for his handling of the player too. When Son was through on goal, the screams for the pass from his younger teammate were a welcome sign of a new-found swagger.

There are two ingredients to Plan Postecoglou that cannot be overlooked, and they got them over the line here. If it feels vacuous to focus on “belief”, Spurs are also the most effective pressers in the Premier League, in terms of the average number of passes they allow opponents to take before winning the ball back.

That, more than any other factor, explained Brentford’s self-destruction, sealed when Yves Bissouma’s interception started a quite brilliant break that ended with Maddison’s finish over Flekken. With his 63rd and 64th assists, Son overtakes Christian Eriksen in Spurs’ all-time charts.

Confidence remains key, as its absence has plagued their decision-making in a horror run since April. Since the 13th of that month, this was the first team they have beaten outside of the relegation zone.

That lies at the heart of their great propensity for the sideways/backwards pass, and there were still glimpses of second-guessing: Son holding on too long after one run and searching desperately for Johnson over his shoulder; Guglielmo Vicario flapping under pressure from Fabio Carvalho and later fumbling outside his area.

On the whole, though, the goalkeeper was noticeably improved from set pieces, and made a decent save from Mbeumo 1v1 and a spectacular one-handed stop to deny Kevin Schade.

Amidst the noise, Postecoglou will no doubt have been relieved to hear not only the repeated chorus of Johnson’s name but of his own too.

He conceded this week that Spurs are never too far from a crisis and remains determined to treat the twin imposters of victory and defeat with equal cynicism. That is the only way to get through the indubitable lunacy of being a Tottenham Hotspur manager, and while criticism of his own approach doesn’t seem to have fazed him, he was right to defend Johnson so vociferously.

Accordingly, this was a victory that Tottenham can actually enjoy, after the hapless recovery at Coventry that somehow felt more like a defeat after an appalling display against a second division side that nearly snuffed out the best hope of the much promised trophy in Postcoglou’s second season.

Had they not completed another comeback here, they risked a third defeat in five opening games not seen since the end days of Juande Ramos in 2008. That is what crisis really looks like. Spurs have averted another one, for now.