Spurs get a kicking for – checks notes – drawing 2-2 with the Champions League winners. Plus, one man’s Premier League table revealed.
Mail us at theeditor@football365.com; you might want to read our pre-season predictions first.
Spursy? Not this time
I am sure the emails and articles are already being written, calling us ‘Spursy’ for not winning. I’m writing to rebuff them.
Firstly, we didn’t lose. Not in the game, not in real time. We drew.
Secondly, we were the better team until Dembele changed position.
But most of all, this isn’t us throwing away a lead at Fulham or dropping four points in two weeks from winning positions against Sunderland and Man U away. This was Paris Saint-Germain, European champions. This is against a team bankrolled by limitless wealth, featuring many of the best players in the world.
We did well tonight. Call us Spursy when we throw away leads at home to Sunderland, not today.
Sam
F365 says: Frank outclasses Enrique and PSG but Levy is already letting him down at Tottenham
Tiresome Spursy chat ahoy
Luis Enrique (presumably): Lads, it’s Tottenham.
Sanjit (Donnarumma > Chevalier) Randhawa, Kuala Lumpur
…Go 2-0 up and throw away the lead with lazy defending against a team that’s only been in training for 1 week . Sh*t the bed after going up in the resulting penalty shootout. One word.
Spursy.
Some things just never change.
James Jones, STFC
…Les Gars – C’est Le Tottenham!!!!
Mark Johnson
…Same old Spurs. Wonderful.
Mike, WHU
…2-0 up in the match until the 85th minute, 2-0 up in the shootout and still lost. Never change Spurs, never change.
Andrew Worby
Transfer values make no sense at all
Transfer valuations don’t make sense, in fact very little valuations do, essentially something or someone is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it or them.
But this summer seems really strange and some clubs do much better than others. For me Spurs have always been one of the best but lately Chelsea have really upped their game, Arsenal seem poor and Man U are terrible.
Man U buy Hojlund who is a young international striker for £64m from Atalanta where he scored 9 goals in 32 games. He then goes on to be not great for Man U scoring 14 goals in 62 games, while his international record is 8 goals in 26 games. Apparently, he’s now available for around £30m.
Liverpool buy Nunez who is a young international striker for £64m and had scored 32 goals in 57 games for Benfica before joining. He then goes on to be not great for Liverpool scoring 25 goals in 95 games while his international record is 13 goals in 35 games. He gets sold for £46m.
Chelesa buy Jackson who is a young international striker for £32m and had scored 12 goals in 35 games for Villarreal before joining. He then goes on to be not great for Chelesa scoring 24 goals in 65 games while his international record is 1 goal in 20 games. Apparently, he is now available for £80m.
You can argue Hojlund has been “more” of a failure than Jackson, but not to the point where his value has more than halved while Jackson’s has more than doubled especially when you consider before their Premier League moves their form was similar and actually Hojlund’s international record is much better. Then tag on what happens to Man U players when they leave, think McTominay and Elanga then I think there is a fair case to say that ignoring the valuation Hojlund who is younger could turn out to be a better player.
Spurs meanwhile somehow get £20m for a 33 year old Son who had 1 year left of his contract and seemed to have been suffering from injuries for the last couple of years vs Arsenal who let 33 year old Jorginho leave for free even though he also had a year left of his contract. Additionally compare the fact that although Son has been amazing for Spurs his game was built on pace vs Jorginho who never had pace and is the sort of player you can imagine influencing games well into his late 30’s similar to Modric or Scholes, he also won a lot more than Son and even came 3rd in the Ballon d’Or a whopping 4 years ago.
The ultimate p!ss take from Chelsea is managing to sell young and good-ish international winger Madueke for £50m while trying to buy young and good-ish international winger Garnacho for £30-40m.
Obviously, lots of this is speculation as I’m sure my friends in the comments sections will point out, still strange world.
Paul K, London
CHECK OUT: Every Premier League transfer and release confirmed in the summer of 2025
How can transfers be woke?
It was only a matter of time before one of the meaningless phrases ‘woke’ or ‘wokeness’ were applied to transfers.
For those who have been living under a rock for the majority of the last decade, these phrases are used by right wing politicians, their minions and supporters to decry something they don’t like but know that fully verbalising their reasons would require racism, sexism, homophobia or some other form of bigotry which they are trying to avoid.
What Chris fails to explain is how aligning footballer’s contracts closer to other business sectors is anything other that ‘woke’.
A, LFC, Montreal
Liverpool fan does not want to be defined by minority
I am a little surprised that Crystal Palace’s fans are getting away with their disgraceful failure to keep a minute’s silence for Diogo Jota on Sunday. Obviously, they should all be condemned in the strongest possible terms, and perhaps the FA should consider banning them from the next half dozen away games. What’s that you say? It was only a tiny minority? It’s not fair to tar them all with the same brush, just because some of their fans behaved badly?
Well, that’s just not how it works, is it?
You don’t have to believe me, but what about the intellectual behemoth that is Dave Tickner? He explains in his latest article, about Liverpool fans, saying that they:
paint Trent Alexander-Arnold as a legacy-ruining disgrace for wanting to join the biggest club in the world having fulfilled the terms of his contract
…because, of course, this is exactly what happened. It wasn’t that a small (but vocal – have you noticed that the most mentally challenged often have the loudest voices) minority gave him a hard time on Twitter, some booed him at a game, only for there to be a big backlash both within the club and outside it, and for this to not be repeated, with Alexander-Arnold leaving on clearly positive terms, despite the disappointment of losing him.
No, none of that happened, what Dave conveyed is the unimpeachable truth, Liverpool fans now all hate TAA because he left the club on a “free” (they actually got more for him than they did Michael Owen) transfer, and he can never show his face in Liverpool again. And what’s more, because of this, the very idea that they might encourage Alexander Isak to leave Newcastle (for in the region of £150m) is of course, the rankest hypocrisy imaginable, and it’s only fair that literally every Liverpool fan should hang their head in shame. Forever, obviously. This shit sticks, and really, the shame should be passed on for generations.
This is how it works, yes? I’m off to walk down the street naked whilst my neighbours shout shame and throw rotten vegetables at me, and I deserve it, because it turns out that some people who support the same team as me are dickheads. If only I had chosen another team to support.
Mat (my god the Isak saga is unbelievably boring)
Isak more hassle than he’s worth?
I enjoyed Dave Tickner’s article poring over the stink that Alexander Isak and his entourage have created in the past few weeks. I wrote in earlier in the window, when Liverpool were on the verge of signing Wirtz, saying that I’d have been more nervous if they were using that money to buy Isak. But now that that scenario has materialised, I find myself wondering if their pursuit is worth the huffluff?
I’m well aware that that question will provoke a whole gallery of Pool fans screaming about getting a world-class striker coming into his prime etc. And Isak himself would no doubt suggest that getting his way would suit him just fine. But given the grubby mess that this has become, surely there’s been some pause for thought on the Liverpool side of the equation?
We’re not talking about prime Messi or Ronaldo here. Isak is an eye-catching finisher who tracks around the 20-goal mark in a full Premier League season, and you could probably expect him to up that output in a stronger team. But his fitness record in England has been patchy and he’s shown himself to be prepared to throw a petulant hissy fit this pre-season. He remains the best option in a position they’d like to add depth to, but the furore feels overblown.
Add in the crazy sums being touted, whereby he’ll probably cost north of £130m, and it all just makes for a cocktail that would have me twitching if it were United pissing the Geordies off. The fact that he won’t just put in a formal transfer request, and his team is using the media to squeeze Newcastle, adds another layer of oddness to the whole scenario. I get that Liverpool probably do need another striker, and that he clearly wants to go there, so the whole sorry fiasco will continue to tiresomely rumble on until deadline day approaches and someone has to make a final decision.
On a related note, fair play to Newcastle for taking a hard stance. Player power in football is at a level that often makes contracts and adult behaviour (I know) seem like forlorn concepts. But in the cold light of day, Isak signed a 5 year contract and he has 3 years left. If he has any maturity or a smidgeon of pride in how he’s perceived, he has to accept it if they choose not to sell him when they’re in a position of strength.
Realistically, his hand becomes impossible to counter in a maximum of 18 months’ time, and he has a World Cup to focus his mind in the meantime. Sitting on a bench getting splinters in his arse really won’t stand to him when that rolls around. But I guess forward thinking and perspective went out the window some time ago.
Keith Reilly
One man’s predicted Premier League table
Okay, traditions are traditions and here we are with the predictions for what is about to come.
AC in Milan
