Cartilage Free Captain

Sometimes that is just how football goes. A frustrating derby defeat was followed but an extremely fortunate win, leading to Tottenham Hotspur’s most complete performance of the season. Saturday’s win over Brentford concluded a roller coaster seven-day stretch, and the club does feel to be heading in the right direction now.

In reality, the season is truly just getting started, and Thursday marks the beginning of the team’s Europa League campaign. Spurs have not been in this competition since the 2020/21 iteration, and while they are one of the favorites as always — at least on paper — it does feel a little different this year between Ange Postecoglou’s comments (which now is even tougher with the League Cup draw against City) and the new format. Regardless, the journey begins at home against Qarabag.

Tottenham Hotspur (t-13th, 0pts) vs. Qarabag (t-13th, 0pts)

Date: Thursday, September 26

Time: 3:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm UK

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

TV: Paramount+ (USA), TNT Sports 1 (UK)

Qarabag is no stranger to the Europa League, having played in the Group Stage (now “League Phase”) nine of the past 11 seasons, typically via the Champions League Qualifying Rounds dropdown. The last two years featured Knockout Round appearances in the Conference League, but otherwise the Azerbaijani club has not enjoyed a ton of recent European success.

Of course, these two teams have met not too long ago. Tottenham won both 2015/16 Group Stage contests: 3-1 behind a Heung-Min Son brace and a late Erik Lamela goal, and a 0-1 road winner from Harry Kane. Spurs would win that Europa League group but end up being knocked out by Dortmund in the Round of 16.

Embrace the format

As a reminder, the new League Phase differs significantly from the previous format. Each club will play eight matches against eight different opponents, two from each pot. Qarabag was one of the two Pot 3 matchups for Spurs and certainly is not too intimidating, especially at home. Still, these are three points that Tottenham needs to grab, with the top eight teams getting a bye in the Knockout Round.

Truthfully, I do not have much to say about Qarabag — Azerbaijani competition seems irrelevant and a 0-5 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League qualification is unsurprising. Opta rates this team around the Leeds United/Leicester City/Ipswich Town range, for what is is worth. Really, this will come down to how well Tottenham turns possession into production; even though Saturday featured less of the ball, look for the home side to be in control for much of this one.

Complete culture

Supporters know that many times these matches against lower sides can be trickier than expected, but this roster is much deeper than that of four years ago when Jose Mourinho led his outfit into the Europa League. The visitors are no strangers to this competition, but have not really logged great results against top opponents, and Tottenham has no reason to do anything but dominate.

Expect Ange Postecoglou to rotate plenty like he did against Coventry in the League Cup last week. That lineup looked completely lost, but Spurs escaped with the win after players like Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski were subbed on. For Tottenham to make some noise in Europe (and honestly domestically as well), it cannot just be 11 players who can carry out the mission this year. I think after Saturday’s comprehensive performance against Brentford, this team will not repeat the midweek dud from last week.

Cheers, fitzie’s crying.

It wasn’t enough for Shohei Ohtani to break my heart this offseason. He had to single-handedly eliminate me from my fantasy baseball playoffs.

Ohtani made the move from the Anaheim Angels to the big-brother Los Angeles Dodgers after a few history-making years adjacent to the 57 Freeway. Although I should note that was for Ohtani, less for the Angels who didn’t make the playoffs once during his time with the team.

(And let’s just put aside the whole Mike Trout thing too, please).

I had to put up with a lot this season. He joined the Dodgers to serious fanfare, got engaged and has a dog. Then he puts up a season we’ve never seen before: 50 home runs and 50 steals.

The day he accomplished that: 19 September against the Miami Marlins.

Ohtani went 6 for 6, with 4 runs, 3 home runs, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. It just wasn’t fair.

Until that day I was winning in the semifinals of my fantasy baseball league (now in its fifth season). And then Ohtani played. My season over.

I thought I was going all the way this year too. But Ohtani ruined it. He ruined it. He left the Angels for the Dodgers, might win a World Series there, and eliminated me from my baseball league. He ruined baseball this year for me an I will never forgive him.

This hoddle was written while fitzie was lounging on his Shohei Ohtani pillow.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Rosa Pastel, by Belanova

And now for your links:

Dan KP: Tottenham to trigger Son contract extension

Ange Postecoglou says football schedule reaching a ‘dangerous level’

Tottenham Hotspur barely survived their third round League Cup tie at Coventry City, and now they face another City that wear sky blue in the fourth round — Manchester City. Spurs drew the four time defending Premier League title holders at home in the FA Cup fourth round, quite possibly the worst opponent they could’ve drawn at this stage in the competition.

Shit.

Before we get into the specifics of this particular tie, here’s the full fourth round draw. Arsenal, predictably, drew the easiest team left in the competition, Preston North End.

Brentford vs. Sheffield Wednesday

Southampton vs. Stoke City

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City

Winner of AFC Wimbledon/Newcastle United vs. Chelsea

Manchester United vs. Leicester City

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Liverpool

Preston North End vs. Arsenal

Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace

The fourth round of the League Cup will take place the week of October 28, which means the City fixture falls in between Tottenham’s match against Crystal Palace at home and an away trip to Aston Villa. City, meanwhile, have Southampton at home and Bournemouth away in the same stretch, meaning they’re probably more likely to field a stronger team in the cup and rotate against two pretty bad Premier League opponents. But it’s also Pep, and who knows what that guy will actually do.

EDIT: Well, I guess we know what Pep’s going to do, unless he’s lying here.

The good news is Spurs have recently been Pep and City’s bogey team, the last two meetings excepted. Honestly it’d be pretty funny if Big Ange can find a way to magic Spurs past City and into the fifth round, but it’s still a tall order.

Oh well. Set ‘em up so we can knock ‘em down. Let’s go. No fear. COYS.

It’s clearly Son Heung-Min News Wednesday, and frankly I’m okay with that because who doesn’t love Sonny? (Answer: probably still Everton fans, but y’know.) Anyway, for our third piece on Son today, there’s actually breaking news: Tottenham Hotspur are expected to trigger a clause in Sonny’s contract to extend him for a further year, through the 2025-26 season.

This news is courtesy of the Evening Standard and Dan Kilpatrick, which broke the news today. Sonny had brought up the topic of his contract in that same press conference that we’ve already dedicated two pieces to, and basically said he’s not worried about it right now.

“We haven’t talked (about) anything yet. It was very clear for me, I’m very focused for this season. At this age, every second is like a goal. Especially this season, we are in a lot of competitions, it feels like I’m taking even more care about this.

“I’m just fully focused on this situation and this year. I just want to win something that everybody in this club and these players and all around deserves. That’s what I’m working for.

“In the future, you never know what’s going to happen. But I will make sure I give everything for this club. It’s almost ten years that I give everything. We’ll see what happens. I still have a contract with the club which is the main important thing. I just want to give everything while I have my contract.”

There was a time where Daniel Levy loved his one year contract extension triggers, and we’ve seen this come up a number of times over the years. In truth, it’s not a bad outcome. Son is 32 and turns 33 in July, and no matter how good a player is, with the exception of a few genetic freaks like Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, this is about the time when they start leaving top clubs and think about a quiet retirement in a smaller league.

Extending Sonny by another year gives a cushion for Spurs and Son to think hard about the future and what Son wants to do at the end of his career. Maybe that’s reupping with Spurs and retiring with Tottenham, or maybe it’s returning home and playing in the K-League for a couple seasons, or moving to America for a short stint in the MLS League for Aging Soccer Superstars. All fine and decent options. And it would also give Spurs a chance to (potentially) send off their club captain and legend with all the pomp and admiration he deserves.

Not saying that’s going to happen, but it COULD. And now Spurs have at least one more year with Son to figure all of that stuff out. It’s a good move.

Two articles about Son Heung-Min’s press conference ahead of the Qarabag match? Yep. I thought about just doing one long one, but this particular issue deserves its own article, because it’s important.

We all know what Rodrigo Bentancur said in an online video this past summer where he racially abused Son Heung-Min as a “joke,” implying that all South Koreans look the same to him. We also know that he realized his mistake and apologized to Sonny, that Sonny has forgiven him, and that an FA tribunal could still potentially suspend Bentancur for as many as 12 matches for racial discrimination.

What we haven’t really heard yet is a definitive statement from Sonny. Until now. And because this is Son, it’s a statement that is both loving and forgiving towards a teammate he calls his brother.

“At the moment, there’s a process from the FA, that’s why I can’t say much about it. But I love Rodrigo, I love him. I love him. We have a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined.

“He apologized straight afterwards when we [were on] holiday. I was at home, I didn’t even realize what was going on. He just sent me a long message, and you could feel it was coming from his heart. When we came back to the training ground for preseason, he was really sorry and he almost cried.

“He apologized in public and personally as well. It felt like he felt was really sorry. We’re all human, we make mistakes, we learn from it. I love Rodrigo, I love him, I love him. He knows he made a mistake but I have no problem at all. We move on as a teammate, as a friend, as a brother. We move on together. We just have to wait what the FA says in the process, I can’t say much. But one thing is I love Rodrigo. So there is nothing more to say.”

I’m of two minds about this statement. The first is just admiration and love for Son Heung-Min, who has endured more than his share of racist abuse from fans and others throughout his career. It must have felt shocking to have something like this come from a teammate and friend. But to forgive so unequivocally is both difficult to do in some situations and also a profoundly human expression, and to hear this incredible statement from Son just feels exactly like something he’d say. It’s expressly clear that he loves Rodrigo Bentacur like a brother, and while forgiveness doesn’t always come easy (even with family!) in this case it sounds like it didn’t take much prompting for Sonny to listen to Bentancur’s apology, forgive him, and move on.

But then there’s the other side of this coin. We’ve talked on here before about how so often the burden of choice between forgiveness or retribution is invariably placed upon the the victims of discrimination. Son in particular has been tasked with carrying the burden of systemic racism against Asian footballers I don’t know how many times. I also don’t know if Sonny feels that way in this case; that’s not a question I can answer and I would never ask it of him.

Here’s what I posted in an earlier article on this issue:

It’s a tricky and incredibly nuanced issue. It’s possible for someone, anyone really, to “do a racism.” That doesn’t always mean the perpetrator is “a racist,” but even careless or accidental racist statements or actions deserve to be called out and consequences levied for what has been said or done.

What is clear is that Sonny has said numerous times over his career in interviews that he has been the victim of systemic and pervasive racism against Asians and others who look like him. Just last year Son was the target of racist abuse from a Crystal Palace supporter, and there has been more than one incident of racist abuse directed at him in matches against West Ham. Back in 2019, in an interview Son admitted that he’s been the target of racist abuse a few times since coming to England, and that the best way to deal with it is just not to react.

I stand by this. I’m both incredibly proud to hear additional context from Son about the issue, about the sincerity of Bentancur’s personal apology to him, and that Son has been so forgiving to his teammate and friend. I also remain angry that Son was placed in this situation to begin with where he once again must shoulder the burden of racist abuse directed at him and be the arbiter of how the situation should be handled.

Does that make sense? I don’t know. I’m a privileged white dude who has never once experienced this kind of discrimination in my life; I’m probably the worst possible person to speak on this issue. But it’s so nuanced that I feel I can hold in my heart both gratitude to Sonny for offering forgiveness, as well as anger that our society is still at a place where that choice is forced upon him.

Tottenham Hotspur don’t have to travel tomorrow when they take on Qarabag in the first match of their Europa League campaign — fortunately, Spurs were drawn at home for this match and the burden of travel falls to the Azerbaijani club. But that’s not to say that the increasingly jam-packed fixture calendar and the increased travel demands levied upon clubs and players isn’t an issue.

Son Heung-Min was asked about those issues in a press conference this morning ahead of tomorrow’s match at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and I would postulate his comments reflect what is likely the majority opinion among top-level football players.

“A lot of players came out and said the right things. It was very important for someone to say the right things. Sometimes players are the main guys to have to say something. There’s definitely a lot of games and as a football fan who loves football you want to see quality games not as many as possible.

“You don’t want to see players struggling with injuries. No one wants to see it. [There’s] a lot of games, a lot of traveling. We’ve got to look after ourselves, which sometimes it’s very hard. Mentally, physically you’re not ready then going on to the pitch and then with the risk of injury is massive. We’re not robots. We have to look after that and reduce the games definitely - better quality definitely should be the aim.”

Would players consider striking over fixture congestion? Sonny didn’t really answer.

“You want to get to the finals and play a lot of games. That’s a different scenario. But the platform [format] is to play more games. That’s not right to look after players. That’s what we’re talking about. What we can do is definitely change it and definitely go in a good way that people can look after the players.

“[It’s] definitely not [on] the players [to fix the issue]. When the fixtures come, the players have to play. There’s a lot going on. You have the FA and FIFA. Everyone has to take this really seriously. It’s not just random and a few players coming out. There’s way too many games and what you want to see is the quality of the games. High quality games with top players. This should be the aim. Injuries sometimes come with less games but the possibility of lots of traveling, lots of games, injuries will be higher.”

We’ve discussed this issue on the site and in the comments a lot over the years, but it’s different to actually hear from a top level player about this challenges put in place by the increasing number of fixture demands on professional footballers. It’s clear that the current calendar is not sustainable, but there isn’t really a clear path forward as to how to fix it, especially with so much money on the line for federations, clubs, and promoters.

Tottenham kicks off against Qarabag tomorrow (Thursday) at 3:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. BST. The match will be televised in the UK on TNT Sports 1 and streamed on Paramount+ in USA.

good morning

Well this is awkward. How often have we seen the Europa League on a Wednesday? Is this new? It doesn’t really matter because Tottenham’s game doesn’t take place until tomorrow.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the fixtures today.

Considering there are only ninte, I figure I may as well rank the ones I’m most looking forward to watching with very little explanation why:

Fitzie’s track of the day: Red Eyes, by The War on Drugs

And now for your links:

Wycombe exit the EFL Cup

San Siro stripped of hosting 2027 Champions League final

Yesterday, Tottenham Hotspur hosted its second fan forum, where invited and lottery-selected fans were able to hear from and ask questions to chairman Daniel Levy, plus Spurs board members and players. You’ll likely hear a lot about this fan forum from various corners of the fanbase, especially online, and the reactions aren’t always good. The questions were almost certainly pre-vetted, as were the fans selected to ask questions, so this wasn’t a hard-hitting public grilling like the one desired by certain purple-and-gold clad members of the fanbase.

But it is interesting, even if it’s a sanitized version of a sports Q&A. But one of the more interesting answers came from Levy himself, when asked about the fixture calendar and concerns from both fans and players over the increasingly untenable number of games professional footballers are encouraged to play in a season. Levy announced that he’s actually in favor of a calendar reduction to reduce the pressure on players, desiring “less games” in favor of “higher quality” matches, and said he shared the concern, especially for players like Cuti Romero and Son Heung-Min who have to travel halfway across the globe to play in international fixtures.

“I agree there’s too many games. But the problem we have, the particular problem in England is we have an extra cup competition compared to the rest of Europe.

“And in Europe, the most important fixtures for the big teams is European competitions, whereas here we have the Premier League which is the hardest league in the world, yet we still want to do well in Europe. So it’s a particular problem for the English teams and I do think it’s a problem.

“The friendlies for the international tournaments is another problem, particularly for someone like Sonny [Spurs captain Heung-min Son] who has to travel so far for his country. I think it’s a FIFA issue that’s going to have to be compromised with UEFA but I do have a lot of sympathy for the players.

“As a club, we would like to see less games but higher-quality games. So if that means we have to see some changes in some of our competitions, then so be it. I think in the end that’s in the long-term interest of the players.”

That sounds pretty good to me. It’s a reasonable view and on one level shows that Levy is not a callous football executive who cares only about maximizing profit. But if you’re a cynic, you can also interpret Levy’s comments to mean that “fewer, but higher quality” matches also could mean a future increase in ticket prices for a smaller number of games, much like what we’ve seen in American sports leagues like the NFL.

I’m not here to tell you how you should feel or whether you should take Levy’s comments at face value or not. My job is not to tell you how to fan or whether you should be #LevyIn or #LevyOut, although most of you can probably intuit my personal view by now if you’ve been reading the site for a while.

But what is clear is that the fixture calendar is at a saturation point, and is probably past it. The number of matches top level players are expected to participate in has only gone up — the revamping and expansion of European competitions like Champions and Europa League has added fixtures to the calendar, and there are increasing international demands through additional friendlies and made-up competitions like the Nations League. Combine that with major tournaments like the Euros and World Cups every two years and players simply don’t get as much of a break, if they get one at all. It’s untenable.

So I welcome Levy’s comments, even if there isn’t a whole lot he can do on his own. It will take a concerted effort, either via Premier League clubs, an edict from the FA or UEFA, or (last resort) collective action from players, i.e. some sort of walkout or strike. We’ll see if any of that happens, but SOMETHING needs to because there are simply too many games in the football calendar right now.

good morning!

Welcome to the very first Trending Up / Trending Down of the season, where Hoddle Headquarters look at what around Tottenham Hotspur is Trending Up, and what’s Trending Down.

Trending Up:

Brennan Johnson: Not much more to add here than what’s been widely shared already. He had a really solid week last week, scoring two goals.

Djed Spence: Seemingly back from out of nowhere, Spence appears to be making a serious case for himself in the squad. Three appearances this season and already one goal scored.

All in all, a very good week for former Nottingham Forest players.

Tottenham Hotspur Women: The women’s squad kicked off their season with a 4-0 win agaisnt Crystal Palace. The thumping puts them joint-first in the table.

International Fixtures: Remember these? Well guess what, they’re back! That’s right, the Europa League kicks off this Wednesday. It’s been too long since we’ve played Qarabag.

Trending Down:

Wilson Odobert: Always hate putting injured players in this category, but out til mid-October is missing at least a couple more weeks. Hate to see it and hope he’s back soon.

Fraser Forster/Guglielmo Vicario: Lumping these two together after a very strange period. Frist, Forster was kind of a disaster against Coventry.

Vicario has been a little shaky so far this year. I don’t know what to make of his performance Saturday. A horrid mistake he got away with, a couple other flubs, but some terrific saves. Since my trust in him is slightly down, he gets lumped in this category. Good news is it’s easy to get into the Trending Up.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Danny Boy, by Bill Evans

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$) with how Brennan Johnson is feeling the love from his teammates

Alasdair Gold with his latest loanee roundup

Dan Friedkin agrees to buy Everton

Tottenham Hotspur Women put four unanswered goals past newly promoted Crystal Palace in the first game of the season. Spurs summer signings showed their quality and combined well with the rest of the squad, hopefully setting the tone for a season full of attacking variety and bold play.

Last season, Robert Vilahamn seemed to favor reliable, tenured Spurs players in the opening stages of the season. This season, not so. Vilahamn handed full Spurs debuts to Clare Hunt, Maite Oroz and Hayley Raso. Anna Csiki and youth talent Lenna Gunning-Williams appeared off the bench. Notably, club captain Beth England also started the game on the bench.

Spurs opened strong with an early, offside chance off the crossbar. The team looked to be pressing well and creating turnovers–though Becky Spencer was called into early action to scoop up a through ball after a few missed challenges–and combining in attack even better. Drew Spence also had a shot saved by the excellent Shae Yanez after Jess Naz laid off Hayley Raso’s cross.

The breakthrough came in the 19th minute after Spurs’ organized pressure created a turnover in the middle third. Eveliina switched play over to Hayley Raso, who beat two defenders and calmly passed the ball into the bottom corner. I truly could not tell whether she meant that to be a shot or a cross, and I don’t really care–it was a great goal, and immediately wiped away any lingering regret I had over Celin Bizet’s departure to Manchester United.

Play slowed a bit throughout the remainder of the first half. Hayley Raso and Martha Thomas both had particularly good chances to score, but things ended 1-0. Both sides came out unchanged for the second half. Spurs still looked to be the stronger side, and after just seven minutes of play, Jess Naz doubled the lead. She pressed to create a turnover after a Crystal Palace throw, then sprinted into space to receive Drew Spence’s excellent through ball. Yanez did manage to save Jess’ initial shot, but she made no mistake putting away the rebound.

Martha Thomas had two more excellent chances to score before she was replaced by Beth England in the 64th minute, and she was unlucky not to come away from this game with more. At this point in the game, Anna Csiki also replaced Jess Naz and swapped sides with Hayley Raso. Although Anna Csiki and Ash Neville didn’t seem to have quite as good an understanding of each other, this didn’t seem to disrupt the attack much at all, and Raso seemed equally capable of creating trouble on the left as she did on the right.

Spurs added another goal in the 76th minute. After some lovely interplay between Amanda Nilden, Maite Oroz, and Hayley Raso, Nilden found Beth England, who played a one touch ball to Drew Spence, who calmly fired a rocket of a shot past Yanez at the near post. Shortly after Vilahamn brought on Olga Ahtinen for Eveliina Summanen. He made two final changes in 87th minute, swapping Amanda Nildén for Charli Grant and Hayley Raso for Lenna Gunning-Williams. Throughout all the changes, Spurs kept on attacking. The final goal came from Ahtinen, who, after a few attempts, let off a stunning strike that Yanez couldn’t touch.

New faces and old ones

Look, everyone looked great. Many of last season’s high performers picked right up where they left off or getting back to their best. But holy shit, were the new signings good or what??

Raso caused Crystal Palace all sorts of problems, and is therefore getting a bunch of very deserved love for her debut performance in a Spurs shirt. She was super press resistant, excellent technically, and just generally contributed a huge amount in attack. It looks like she’s already developed a good working relationship with Ash Neville, and I can’t wait to see how that combination progresses throughout the season.

Oroz immediately stood out to me as well–she was all over the pitch, running and running and using her acceleration and quick changes of direction to make herself available to receive the ball. I’m not even really sure I saw her tire physically or mentally as the game went on, which was made apparent when she teed up Olga Ahtinen’s goal with one simple touch.

Clare Hunt was solid and calm at the back, not that she had very much to do. Anna Csiki looked to be capable and sharp as a winger, and I’m excited to see what she has to offer there and elsewhere on the field. Our academy product, Lenna Gunning-Williams, definitely looked like a league-ready player on her debut–pressing so well she robbed Palace’s defense of the ball to set up chances twice in the ten or so minutes she was on the pitch.

Looking ahead

Folks, Vilahamn-ball is officially up and running. Spurs registered 17 shots on target (on target!!) against an admittedly pretty bad Palace side. Everyone looked strong, smart, and tuned into the plan from the first whistle to the last.

Of course I’d love to tell you that all our problems from last year have been fixed–no over-reliance on Grace Clinton, better service to our excellent attackers, stronger aerial presence at the back. I can’t really tell you all that though because Palace were really pretty bad. There were moments when I started to see their ideas taking shape, but it didn’t really matter–Spurs just had more individual and tactical quality all over the pitch.