TBR Football

Tottenham Hotspur will be eager to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they host London rivals West Ham United on Saturday.

Ange Postecoglou’s charges will lock horns with the Hammers in Saturday’s 12:30pm kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham have dominated in many of their games, showing the potential is there to become a real nightmare for opponents.

However, Spurs have suffered from defensive errors and a lack of consistency in taking their chances and, as a result, they’re currently just ninth in the standings.

Meanwhile, the Hammers currently sit 12th and will be high in confidence following their resounding 4-1 win over Ipswich Town last time out.

Tottenham have been boosted by the imminent return of two players who have been on the sidelines, namely Son Heung-min and Richarlison.

Postecoglou spoke to football.london on Friday and shared what Spurs have done differently with his latest road back recovery.

Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham ace Richarlison has ‘trimmed down’

The Tottenham boss revealed that not only has Richarlison recovered from his injury, but he’s trimmed down and is now in amazing shape.

“We’ve taken our time with him but it hasn’t been just about him recuperating and recovering from the injury,” said Postecoglou.

“We’ve tried to use it to build his fitness base up so when he comes back and to be fair to him, he’s worked awfully hard. He has trimmed down, he looks really lean now and has worked really hard.

“We’ve tried to use it almost as a pre-season for him on an individual basis to not just get him to recover from his injury because he probably recovered from his injury a couple of weeks ago, but we’ve used the last couple of weeks to get his fitness base up and him into good physical condition so we don’t have to keep going through this cycle of him coming back and breaking down.

“Like I said, to be fair to him he’s worked really hard and he’s looked really good. He’s had a good week of training and he has missed playing.

“He is a real infectious guy as well so good to have him back with the group.”

Richarlison road to recovery

Richarlison has been out of action since Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Everton in late August.

He featured for just 24 minutes in that game, alongside being a last-minute substitute against Leicester City the preceding weekend.

Richarlison also suffered from injuries last season, resulting in him struggling to nail down a starting place in the latter stages of the season.

The 27-year-old underwent groin surgery earlier in the 2023/24 campaign, which saw him hit a rich vein of form shortly after his return.

Tottenham Hotspur boast plenty of superb players in their ranks, including one who has been deemed one of the Premier League’s best in his position.

The player in question is Pedro Porro, who has gone from strength to strength since Ange Postecoglou took the ranks at Spurs.

Porro now plays in a fairly unique role for Tottenham, often looking like a number 10 when the Lilywhites are in possession high up the pitch.

The 25-year-old is obviously still able to adapt his game to more traditional roles at full-back too, as he did for Spain over the international break.

With Dani Carvajal injured, Porro stepped up for Spain, starting in both of their games over the break and doing very well indeed.

Porro’s rising stock means admirers are starting to cast an eye on him, with Real Madrid now said to be circling.

Dean Jones has now provided an update on Tottenham’s stance towards their asset amid interest from the Bernabeu side.

Tottenham could be willing to sell Pedro Porro for upwards of £60milion

Jones, writing on GiveMeSport, says Tottenham could be open to the idea of selling Porro to Real – if the deal provides significant financial gain.

That is apparently the view of “insiders close to the club”, who believe a hefty profit from the £39million man’s sale could be seen as a smart move.

Tottenham would prefer to keep Porro and are not actively looking to sell, stressed Jones.

However, the transfer insider says the prospect of a sizeable profit may make it hard for Spurs to resist Real Madrid’s advances.

With that in mind, Jones relayed an estimate from GMS sources – upwards of £60million.

Tottenham must not make themselves out to be a selling club

It’s not as though Tottenham are a mid-table Premier League club in terms of their squad quality and must cash in on their main assets in order to keep progressing slowly.

Spurs very nearly finished in the top four last season and will fancy their chances of doing so this year, but in order to do so, they cannot go backwards in terms of squad quality.

With that in mind, Tottenham really ought to keep hold of Porro, whilst continuing to add quality to their squad. If they do so, there’s no reason they can’t become established in the top four once again.

Should Spurs sell the Spaniard, then it may send a message to the dressing room that they’re not serious about competing, and other players could well look to jump ship in the coming transfer windows.

Tottenham Hotspur are renowned for having one of the best stadia in the world which opened six years ago now.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is still considered the cream of the crop when it comes to the stadia in the Premier League.

However, the incredible achievement of building the 62,000 seater stadium has not been translated into on-field success.

Tottenham still find themselves in search of their first piece of silverware since their League Cup triumph back in 2008.

But it seems as if the stadium does still impress the side which has been top of the Premier League for years now, Manchester City.

Indeed, former Spurs right-back Kyle Walker has waxed lyrical about the Spurs stadium but has revealed something shocking about their facilities.

Why Tottenham charge some away teams to use dressing room

Spurs have won two of their three games in north London this season with their only defeat coming against their bitter rivals.

Although the facilities may be up to scratch, it is apparent the players are not quite there, at the moment, with Spurs slumped down in ninth.

But the facilities on offer for the visiting teams are clearly making the away sides feel very comfortable when visiting north London.

Speaking on his podcast, Walker admitted Tottenham have some luxurious soaps on offer which the club actually charge away sides for if they are stolen.

“The news Spurs one is incredible. You’d have that as your home team dressing room. You don’t even have to bring your shower gel to the showers, you can just use theirs. It’s fantastic,” he said.

“But I’ve heard if you do take the shower gel they do charge the away team.”

Spurs need to make Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a fortress

Tottenham are coming out of the latest international break having won as many games in the Premier League as they have lost.

And next up is a home game against West Ham United who have proven a tricky opposition for the Lilywhites in recent years.

But if Tottenham are to make it back into the Champions League then they are going to have to transform their home into a foretress.

Spurs have won only once on the road in the league this season which has their home form carrying the majority of their points total.

However, there may now be some questions asked whether their new stadium is making the visiting sides a little too comfortable.

With the October international break finally done, Tottenham Hotspur’s players can get back to business in the Premier League and cups.

It hasn’t been the worst of international breaks for Spurs, with their players emerging unscathed for the most part and quite a few doing well for their countries.

For instance, Dejan Kulusevski was impressive in Sweden’s two Nations League games, while Pedro Porro delivered a superb display for Spain against Serbia on Tuesday night.

Several Tottenham youngsters were also in action at youth international level and, on Tuesday night, one of their academy stars was on the scoresheet for his nation.

Spurs duo James Maddison and Mikey Moore were among those who praised their 20-year-old colleague.

Tottenham duo James Maddison and Mikey Moore praise Dane Scarlett

The player in question is Spurs academy striker Dane Scarlett, who is currently out on loan at Oxford United in the Championship.

Scarlett started on the bench for England Under-21s in their U21 Euro qualifications games against Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

The Tottenham gem came on off the bench in both games and, while he didn’t score in the 2-1 win over Ukraine, he netted in the 7-0 rout of Azerbaijan.

Scarlett took to Instagram after the game, sharing a photo of his goal celebration.

Moore posted a heart-eyed emoji, while Maddison replied with a handshake emoji.

Some more of Scarlett’s peers, such as Dante Cassanova, Jaden Williams and Omari Hutchinson, also showed their appreciation.

How is Scarlett doing away from Tottenham on loan?

In August, Tottenham announced that Scarlett had linked up with Oxford on a season-long loan.

However, the 20-year-old hasn’t had much game time to date.

He has just six appearances to his name, for a total of 142 minutes, and his only start has been in the Carabao Cup.

Hopefully Scarlett manages to get more game time for the U’s going forward.

There’s usually no love lost between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.

However, when it comes to good news relating to individual players, such as new contracts, then it’s not unusual to see praise from players who ply their trade for rival clubs.

And on Wednesday afternoon, a contract announcement regarding a Tottenham player led to West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville praising his peer.

The player in question is Djed Spence, who has committed his future to Spurs until the summer of 2028.

News of Spence’s new contract marks an amazing turnaround for the 24-year-old, whose future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looked uncertain for a long time.

Prior to this season, Spence made just six appearances for Spurs and has been shipped out on loan three times while on the Lilywhites’ books.

However, the former Middlesbrough man worked incredibly hard over the summer and convinced Ange Postecoglou to put faith in him for the future.

West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville praises Tottenham ace Djed Spence for penning new contract

And now, Spence’s hard work has been rewarded with a new contract, which resulted in widespread praise from fans and peers, including Summerville, his former Leeds United teammate.

The West Ham ace, who signed for the London Stadium outfit just this summer, wrote “my bro” in the comments, along with a heart-eyed emoji.

Spence and Summerville played together at Leeds last season, with the Spurs ace having spent time on loan at Elland Road. They made seven appearances together.

How has Summerville been getting on at West Ham?

Summerville joined West Ham from Leeds United this summer in a deal reportedly worth £25million plus add-ons.

The 22-year-old has made eight Hammers appearances to date. Six of those have come in the Premier League, of which one was a start, and the other two were in the Carabao Cup.

Every club in world football have at least one player they regret missing out. Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona are no different.

Spurs looked at the likes of William Saliba, Willian, Sadio Mane and more before they would go on to become household names at rival Premier League clubs.

But at least Tottenham did get a deal done for Micky van de Ven, the former Wolfsburg defender who arrived in North London as a relative unknown during the summer of 2023. Liverpool had shown an interest before the Ange Postecoglou’s side secured the Dutchman’s signature.

The enduring brilliance of Virgil van Dijk, at least, offsets any disappointment Liverpool may feel at failing to land their captain’s compatriot.

Barcelona, in contrast, were very early to the Van de Ven party.

The 6ft 4ins colussus was plying his trade in the Netherlands with FC Volendam when Bojan Krkic, the former Blaugrana striker, arrived in Holland to scout some of the brightest young talents in Dutch football.

Barcelona could have signed Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven

“They told me that he was growing a lot, so I went to see him at the next match,” Bojan tells Cadena Ser, Van de Ven’s remarkable pace catching the eye even before he moved to the Bundesliga in 2021.

“That same week, they did physical tests in training and it turned out that Van de Ven had a higher speed than Kylian Mbappe!”

Bojan recalls pleading with Barcelona to take a chance on a than unknown defensive talent. Much to his dismay, the Spanish giants would not rubber stamp a deal that would have set them back just £3 million.

“I called them and insisted on Barcelona, because we had him for three and a half million [euros],” adds Bojan, formerly of Stoke City, Ajax and AC Milan. “It didn’t run at the end.

“[Barcelona failed to sign Van de Ven] due to sporting reasons.”

Flash forward to 2024, and there is an argument to be made that Micky van de Ven is now among the top five left-sided centre-halves on planet earth. Van de Ven was recently recorded as the fastest player in the Premier League.

And Van de Ven’s remarkable attributes were epitomised in Tottenham’s 3-0 win at Manchester United before the October international break.

Van de Ven’s speed likened to Spurs icon Gareth Bale

A stirring defensive display protecting a lead Van de Ven helped give to the visitors with a barnstorming run, scything through the heart of Erik ten Hag’s Man United.

“The run from Van de Ven for the first goal at Old Trafford, it’s probably the best run I’ve ever seen from a centre-back. Certainly live! It was absolutely incredible,” said an awe-struck Gary Neville, Spurs’ number 37 picking up the ball in his own half and eventually setting up a Brennan Johnson tap-in from almost the opposition touchline.

“The actual cross at the end of it was spectacular.

“I’ve got this major problem at the moment with centre-backs rolling their foot on the ball, passing it back to one another, passing it sideways, passing it to the goalkeeper… It’s boring me to death!

“So to actually see a centre-back drive forward with the ball, we don’t see that as much anymore. We don’t tend to see centre-backs driving into space, running with the ball, committing people…”

Tottenham Hotspur are already looking to make some additions in north London despite the summer transfer window only shutting last month.

It has not been the start to the 2024/25 season which Ange Postecoglou will have dreamed of prior to the opening game of the season against Leicester City.

So far, Tottenham have been unable to push on from their issues experienced on that opening night against the Foxes.

The north London outfit continue to find themselves rueing missed opportunities with the recent game against Brighton & Hove Albion showing exactly that.

However, one thing which is clear at Tottenham is the club’s desire to invest in young talent which has been evident over recent months with the additions of Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray.

Tottenham launch bid for Irish talent

Bringing in young talent for the future is something which is clearly of importance to Tottenham with the Lilywhites boasting an incredibly young squad.

That can be seen with further additions for the long-term with players like Luka Vuskovic who is currently out on loan with Belgian side Westerlo.

And the development of players like Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear cannot be forgotten with the pair now playing first team football.

According to journalist Conor McEvoy, Tottenham have now launched a bid for the St Patrick’s Athletic striker Mason melia.

The bid is yet to be accepted by the Republic of Ireland side despite claims elsewhere suggesting so.

However, Tottenham have shown their interest in the 17-year-old forward in the way of placing a bid for the in-demand youngster.

With the Irish side believed to be looking for around €1m (£840k) for the striker, there are a number of Premier League sides – including Arsenal – who are interested in Melia.

Who is Mason Melia?

Having only turned 17 a matter of weeks ago, Melia would fall into the category of extremely young talent with Moore at Tottenham.

However, his path to the first team would likely be a lot more distant than that of Moore who is already making an impact on Postecoglou’s XI.

It is in the Irish Premier Division where Melia has impressed with a return of six goals and an assist in his 31 appearances (just 14 starts).

Speaking about the youngster back in September, St Patrick’s striker Aidan Keena told the Irish Independent just how impressed he has been by young Melia.

“When I was 16 I was in the St Pat’s U-19s. So it’s brilliant to see him in the first team at 16. He knows how good he is and how good he can be, he has a good head on his shoulders,” he said.

Tottenham Hotspur have their fair share of players out on international duty, and some have really stood out for their nations this month.

For instance, Dejan Kulusevski has taken his impressive Spurs form into the Sweden camp and shone in their Nations League encounters against Slovakia and Estonia.

There have also been impressive displays from a player Tottenham sold for just £10million this summer.

In addition, the player in question is in a position where Spurs really could have done with some cover this term.

Joe Rodon shining after Tottenham exit

In July this year, Tottenham sold defender Joe Rodon to Leeds United for a reported £10million fee, as per BBC Sport.

The Wales international had been on the books at Spurs since 2020 but never really got a look-in for most of his time at N17.

Rodon spent last season on loan at Leeds and did very well, helping them reach the Championship play-off final.

While the 26-year-old completed a permanent move to Leeds, Archie Gray went the other way, linking up with Tottenham for a reported £30million.

Rodon was especially impressive in Wales’ Nations League win over Montenegro on Monday night, with both Wales Online and Clwb Peldroed giving him an 8 out of 10 rating.

The former wrote of the Jose Mourinho signing at Spurs: “Been in top form for his club and continued that at Cardiff City Stadium.

“So rarely lets you down. A top operator and another terrific performance. Some big interventions late on.”

Meanwhile, the latter wrote: “Rodon continued his fine form at the back for Wales as he won near enough everything that was sent into their box.

“He showed real leadership whilst partnered with the lesser experienced Cabango next to him.”

How Rodon has been doing for Leeds this season

Leeds Live recently gave the former Spurs man a 7 out of 10 for his efforts at club level this season.

‘Hasn’t been at the level he set last year, but that says more about then than now,’ they wrote.

‘Centre-back has hardly been disastrous this season, but there have just been a few nervy moments he has been on the wrong side of at points. The Norwich penalty, for example.

‘Steady and dependable, but not quite that authority of 23/24 yet.’

Perhaps Tottenham didn’t feel Rodon was at the required level for Spurs, while the opportunity to sell him in order to facilitate the Gray deal was an opportunity that couldn’t be passed up.

However, Spurs could certainly do with a bit more cover at centre-back this season, and as things stand, January can’t come quickly enough.

Arsenal have already earned the early bragging rights over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League following their meeting last month.

It was Mikel Arteta‘s side who prevailed in the meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Gabriel Magalhaes scoring the only goal of the game.

There is already a gap forming between the two north London rivals with Arsenal having a whopping seven point gap over Tottenham after just seven games.

However, it seems as if the two rivals are set to go head to head in the race for the signature of a Champions League midfielder.

Arsenal and Tottenham most interested clubs in midfielder

Over the years the two north London clubs have battled it out for certain players with the two sides sharing similar targets.

Riccardo Calafiori was a player of interest to Tottenham over the summer but the Italian ended up making the move to Arsenal.

Currently, it is Arteta’s side who look like the more attractive offer for any potential target after two seasons of battling for the Premier League title.

According to Tutto Juve, Arsenal and Tottenham are two of the clubs monitoring Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Georgiy Sudakov.

The two north London clubs are believed to be the sides showing the most interest in the Ukraine international.

Shakhtar have already hinted to any interested sides that they will be looking for a considerable amount of money if he is to be sold.

Sudakov’s impressive start to the campaign is said not to have gone unnoticed by the big Premier League outfits.

Georgiy Sudakov hailed as real talent

It really has been some start to the 2024/25 campaign for Sudakov who already has 10 appearances under his belt.

The 22-year-old has featured twice in the Champions League but his sene goals and two assists have come in his eight appearances in the Ukrainian top flight.

Speaking to the Ukrainian media, Shakhtar’s manager Marino Pusic spoke incredibly highly of the midfielder.

“He is an exceptionally talented footballer. Talent comes from nature or God, but you have to do something with it to develop it,” he said.

For Tottenham Hotspur’s £26 million man, his time in English football has largely been a case of one step forward, another step back.

And if he was hoping for more regular opportunities this season, the performances Radu Dragusin has produced on the rare occasions in which he has been included in Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI will not have done his chances much good.

Dragusin struggled badly as Tottenham needed two late goals to see off second-tier Coventry City in the EFL Cup. His only Premier League start in 2024/25 came during the 2-1 defeat by Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

And, during Dragusin’s most recent appearance in Postecoglou’s XI, he lasted only seven minutes against FK Qarabag in the Europa League.

Sent off only moments after kick-off as he dragged down a Qarabag attacker when through on goal, the Romania international cannot catch a break.

And, nine months after he arrived in North London from Genoa, Tottenham fans are yet to really see the Dragusin who dominated the best attackers in Serie A. Dragusin found himself on the radars of Napoli and Bayern Munich before choosing North London too.

Agent says Radu Dragusin is staying at Tottenham Hotspur

Napoli, now top of the table under former Spurs boss Antonio Conte, have been linked again with Dragusin recently.

But his ever-outspoken agent, Florin Manea, insists that the ponytailed powerhouse remains determined to fight for his place at Tottenham, even if that is easier said than done with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven ahead of him in Postecoglou’s pecking order.

“No, no,” Manea tells Sport pe Surse when asked if the 2023 Italian champions have made contact.

“It is normal for Napoli to have him on the list. He is a footballer who played well in Italy. I don’t think that Tottenham will part with Radu, even in the current situation, where he is not a starter.

“Apart from Romero and Van de Ven, they have no one [at centre-half]. I think that Radu will get more chances this year. And, if he plays 20 to 25 matches this season, I’m satisfied.

“We even talked after that moment in the Europa League when he saw red. He told me; ‘I’m learning, I’m putting it behind me and we’re moving forward’,” Manea adds, Dragusin suspended for that win away to Ferencvaros in matchday two.

“I think that, at this big level, the mentality is the most important. You have to fight and overcome the moments. In football, you live from one week to the next.”

Ange Postecoglou expects Dragusin to succeed at Spurs

Tottenham boss Postecoglou is keen to preach patience with Dragusin. The one-time Juventus youngster is still only 22 years of age, after all.

And he should not be written off after only a few months in which he is yet to be handed a run of games in Spurs’ first-team.

Furthermore, there is no shame in being kept out of the XI by World Cup winner Romero and arguably the finest left-sided centre-half in the league; Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven combining outstanding defensive awareness with the speed of Gareth Bale.

“He’s going to play a big part in our season,” Postecoglou told reporters at the start of September after that Newcastle reverse.

“I mean, he’s only 22. He’s still a young man, especially for a defender. And I thought exposing him to this atmosphere and the threat, the particular threat that Newcastle posed with [Alexander] Isak up front, he had to be really concentrated, and I thought he was.

“I think he’s going to play a big part in our season. Him coming through that, that whole experience, will set him up well.”