Football365

It’s perhaps the most famous set of results in English football history: 1-5, 6-1, 10-1, 2-0, 6-1, 3-3, 3-0, 4-4, 2-8, 3-3.

No, it’s not Tottenham’s last 10 results in all competitions, but the First Division results from Boxing Day 1963, the silliest of all days. Sixty-six goals across 10 games, with twice as many teams scoring three or more goals as managed one or fewer. A brilliant thing, and alas a bar no subsequent Boxing Day could match.

This, though, is already confirmed as the most batsh*t Premier League season ever and if anyone can live up to the boys of 63, it’s the 2024/25 Barclays. So we’ve considered the eight games on offer, and assigned them each one of those 1963 efforts. Yes it is handy we don’t have to include the 10-1 because of that. We don’t just make up our rules on the spot, you know.

Just be grateful we haven’t done 16 Conclusions on these made-up results, because we’re absolutely not above that kind of thing as you know.

Manchester City 2-0 Everton

Easy one to start. A full eight years before his birth, 1963 Everton were already channelling their inner Sean Dyche and refusing to play any part in the Utter Woke Nonsense going off around the country, contenting themselves with a disappointing but entirely regulation 2-0 defeat at Leicester.

Everton were one of only two teams not to score on that famous Boxing Day 61 years ago, and that’s also something they’ve managed to achieve in six of their last seven games here and now. Let’s gloss over the fact they accidentally scored four in the other one.

Four of Everton’s last six games have ended 0-0 and had there been such an option on the 1963 classifieds we’d have had it; if you can shut down Arsenal and Chelsea as Dycheball has in the last couple of weeks you can surely do the same to this pale imitation of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Does seem a bit wild that this is the most regulation, vanilla prediction among all this nonsense and it’s one of the ones we’re least sure about because City scoring twice against Everton seems just absurdly far-fetched right now.

Bournemouth 3-3 Crystal Palace

Excuses in first: this is the one we’re least happy about. But one of the key quirks of the 1963 results is that the only home wins available to us are 2-0, 3-0, 6-1 or 10-1. We don’t think Bournemouth, good as they are, are going to win 6-1 (or, indeed, 10-1) against Crystal Palace, bad as they are. And the 2-0 and 3-0 both have more compelling contenders elsewhere.

But we’re not about to go suggesting Palace might win this 8-2 as title-chasing Blackburn did at West Ham all those years ago either. So we’re a bit stuck really. Doesn’t leave us with much anywhere else to go than the 3-3 draw Forest and the Blades offered up.

It’s not an absolute madness as suggestions go, though. Bournemouth have scored exactly three goals three times in the Premier League this season, and conceded exactly three goals twice. Palace did score three at Brighton recently, before conceding eight goals across two games against Arsenal.

We’ve almost talked ourselves into actually believing this one.

Chelsea 3-0 Fulham

The West London posers were two of the biggest contributors to the 1963 silliness, scoring 15 goals between them. Fulham got 10 of those against Ipswich, who might be grateful to escape on a technicality here by not playing Arsenal until Friday.

However, if Fulham wanted to be considered live contenders for a key role in all this year’s predicted festivities then they should have thought about that before spending 90 minutes struggling to find their arsehole with both hands against Southampton of all teams. That is simply not the way to go about getting us to predict they might score a whole load of goals at Chelsea. They were fools to think it was.

No, Fulham right now have become altogether too dreary. Relentlessly competent off the ball but uninspiring on it, especially if Emile Smith Rowe isn’t there to add a little something, something.

Enzo Maresca’s hugely impressive Chelsea do have an undeniable capability for chaos, but we’d humbly suggest that manifests more often than not in being open to chaotic extravagance against teams who are more often and more proactively agents of chaos, rather than generating it themselves.

Thrashing Wolves and Southampton, for instance, or roaring back from a goal down against Brighton to score four by half-time. And most obviously with whatever that absurdity was at Tottenham.

Against less chaos-inclined opposition, Chelsea have rarely brought their own to the table. Perhaps the most obvious parallel for this Boxing Day test in Chelsea’s recent efforts was the Villa game, with Unai Emery’s men unable at that time to fully emerge from a funk that left their football on the dreary side of staid. And the fact we’ve crowbarred that in because it enormously conveniently finished 3-0, the only remaining non-nonsense home win we’ve got to choose from, is neither here nor there.

Newcastle 3-3 Aston Villa

Another nice straightforward chance to use one of the teams involved 61 years ago when selecting our scoreline for what is, on paper, the game of the day.

As noted by Steven Chicken in Big Boxing Day, we’ve a sneaking feeling that both teams’ recent resurgence makes this a ‘take a draw’ kind of affair that allows both teams to rumble on to the next game with momentum retained and positive vibes in place.

Of course, this is Boxing Day 1963 we’re talking about. So both teams being happy to settle for a point means the game ends 3-3. In fairness, Newcastle have scored 15 and Aston Villa 10 across their last five games respectively, which makes 3-3 seem slightly less outlandish than it otherwise might. And it was also the scoreline the last time a good team – Liverpool – visited St James’ Park. To be honest, it’s starting to look nailed-on.

Nottingham Forest 4-4 Tottenham

A wonderfully entertaining Spurs team travelled to the midlands on Boxing Day 1963 and emerged with a madcap 4-4 draw. The 2024 version of Spurs are so absurd that such an outcome from another trip to the midlands 61 years later would, if anything, be slightly underwhelming for a team whose last four games have involved losing 4-3 at home from 2-0 up against Chelsea, scoring five goals before half-time at Southampton, attempting to lose from 3-0 up and eventually tripping over themselves to a 4-3 win against Manchester United and contriving a situation where their defeat against Liverpool could entirely accurately be described as ‘only 6-3’.

If you’ve ever wondered how Spurs are so good at being Spurs, it’s because they’ve been doing it for so long. They went into that West Brom game back in 1963 in great shape in the title race, went ahead in the third minute and held two-goal leads on three separate occasions before ending up with only a single point to show for it. The one difference between 1960s Spurs and the current pack of plonkers – admittedly a significant one – is that the 1960s version did still win things.

Clearly there’s no great leap of imagination required to picture Spurs playing out a 4-4 draw, especially one in which their game management is laughably poor, but do Forest have it in them? That’s admittedly less clear for a team that is just quite simply good and has neither scored nor conceded four times in a single game this season. But we can get there. Forest have, for instance, both scored and conceded three in a game at some point in the last few weeks, and once you factor in the Spurs nonsense multiplier it’s perfectly easy to imagine how Forest could both score and concede one more than that. If you can win 3-2 at Man United, you can absolutely draw 4-4 with Spurs.

Southampton 1-5 West Ham

Okay fine, there’s very flimsy evidence that we can expect this kind of thing from West Ham. We are forced here to lean far, far too heavily on a 4-1 home win against Ipswich nearly three months ago. But there’s no denying West Ham retain the requisite component parts to perform a madness even under the stifling not-sacked-yet gaze of the Spanish Moyes, Julen Lopetegui.

And really, we don’t actually need to know that West Ham can score five away when we know with such absolute certainty that Southampton can concede five at home. Especially to London clubs. It’s happened twice this month already.

Wolves 6-1 Manchester United

A proud, old powerhouse of English football giving Manchester United an absolute shoeing? We’re in. With the Gary O’Neil shackles well and truly thrown off, who among us would truly be surprised to see Wolves the latest club to inflict defensive misery on Ruben Amorim’s baffled back three? Not us, that’s for sure.

Wolves have fleetingly shown themselves to be a side with goals in them – they got four at Fulham a while back, didn’t they? And another three at Leicester this week. And most importantly Manchester United’s current players simply cannot yet defend coherently or cohesively in Ruben Amorim’s preferred formation. They’ve conceded seven goals across their last two game and unfortunately for them it is DEFINITELY about to get even worse.

Liverpool 6-1 Leicester

Obviously Liverpool can’t hope to play against a team as stupid as Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham every game, but they do get to do it two games in a row this Christmas thanks to their next assignment being against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester.

They’ve conceded seven goals across their last two games against Newcastle and Wolves, and must now make a significant step up in class against a team absolutely rammed full of confidence after getting all those lovely presents at Spurs.

We must admit we were tempted by the 10-1 here, but the neatness of another 6-1 Liverpool win to match that Stoke mauling back in the day gets the nod. It is also, we will just about accept, probably very, very, very slightly more likely. But we really are not ruling out the 10. We’re going to be kicking ourselves, aren’t we?

Is Ruben Amorim ‘doing a Jose Mourinho’ to prove a point to Manchester United? Also: Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou should only be doubted if he strays from his principles.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com…

Where is the Man Utd criticism?

I had to laugh around all the discourse about Spurs being a laughing stock getting trounced by a three goal margin at home. Yet there’s very little about Man Utd being and doing the same.

Hated. Adored. And now also ignored.

Derek, LFC

I’m loving Big Ange instead

You know, reading all this dross from the other side of the world about Ange’s need for a “Plan B”, playing kamikaze football, being out of his depth, I had to bite. I’ve read about Ange’s shortcomings for well over a decade now. He proves you all wrong time and time again.

Ange had trouble in the 2000s as the coach of the Joeys, Australia’s national team youth side. And at the end of that dark tunnel, he made a promise to a close friend and colleague: enough compromise, I’m sticking to my principles. This lead to success at ‘Roarcelona’, the Socceroos, Yokohama and Celtic. Mickey Mouse you say? I’d love to see the credentials of Sir Alex and Arsene pre-EPL. I’d also love to see the “winning” English managers have achieved. So why should he listen to you or your pundits? You can’t even win your own league.

It is from sticking to his principles that he has made it to Tottenham. For all those Spurs fans that have short memories (*cough* the regulars of certain youtube channels *cough*), the Spurs’ motto is “Audere est Facere”. To dare is to do. We lost this under Poch’s final season, Mourinho, Nuno and Conte. Turgid, dire football, relying on Kane and Son to pull us through it all. I really enjoyed waking up at 3am on a Monday to watch that utter garbage.

Now no Kane, an older Son. Here is a manager willing to commit to breaking a mental fragility at a club so unwilling to change. To do so with significant contraints in his squad depth. A man who has an identity of attacking football, something Spurs fans (again, very short memories) have begged for for years. Danny Blanchflower would be disgusted by these “fans”. Quick reminder to those that have forgotten: “The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.” Take that from someone who was actually successful at Tottenham. Sounds like Danny was almost exactly describing Ange…

Argue to a brick wall about Plan Bs and being pragmatic, it’s a loser mentality. The THST were a joke, ready to ‘explain’ to Ange about the importance of Arsenal losing the league. Like he hadn’t just come from the Old Firm derby, a rivalry beyond the football pitch. Again, the English thinking they know best. Lsoer mentality. But what Ange can do right now, is build the right mindset. Make the impossible happen, and transform the club’s relationship with success.

A Plan B like a low block does nothing for the club’s future. Nothing for the players like Bergvall and Gray who will be there for years to come. To play on the front foot even when the going gets tough, means these players won’t retreat, they won’t hide, when the games matter. When success is within reach. They will take the game to anyone. Don’t lie to me: you all saw the score from 1-5 to 3-5 and thought “no way, but maybe?”

On the game: Liverpool have no injuries, insane depth everywhere on the pitch, an extra day of rest, and are the clear best in England and Europe. What did you expect? Just defend for your lives? Sorry, the manager doesn’t believe in you guys. Give up before the first whistle and know your place. Be losers before the game even begins. Seems like the message from the pundits and some Spurs fans (those at the ground were brilliant).

The moment Ange strays from his principles, it’s over. That’s not what the club needs in this revolution. It needs the strongest will in the darkest night. No matter the difficulty, the injury toll, the lack of squad depth, Tottenham Hotspur have to believe they can still beat anyone, anytime, anywhere. Once the team is ready to compete with personnel, the mentality will already be there, ready to take this club to another level. Ange is trying to eradicate the English from Tottenham, and build an unwavering belief that the team can win no matter the circumstance.

Oh, and F365. Utter gutter journalism. The constant use of derogatory terms for a team with about 10 injuries, a (correct) ban for racism, signings that reflect more a child labour camp than a football club, and only now rebuilding when a rebuild was required 5 years ago. You yearn for personalities, for points of difference in this league. Bemoan likeness amongst teams. Yet write utter dross time and time again about a guy who won’t waiver over his beliefs in how to lead a team. I can’t imagine the rubbish you would have written about Gasperini at Atalanta when his attacking football resulted in crazy scorelines. That would be if I can even read beyond the 40 pop-ups and ads on your website.

Do better.

Matt

Big Ange criticism

Hello,

Why do you insist on making preposterous statements concerning the ability of Tottenham’s visionary coach?

Ange Postecoglou has a successful style which is poised to sweep the PL. His issue at present is that the players he inherited are not ideal for his system, neither in character nor in ability.

Give Ange his due praise instead of displaying your obvious lack of discernment.

Regards,

Jerzy Fila

Man Utd is not an office…

Morning,

Interesting from Saby MUFC reading this morning. They might be on the clickbait hunt, but I have to say, MUFC is not an office and Amorim is not a middle manager.

Firstly, as a person who works in an office, if I witnessed sexual harrassment, theft, or some generalised gross miscounduct on my very first day, I wouldn’t wait a few months to get the lie of the land and then address it. Some things you just know aren’t good and a failure to address them immediately is poor management.

Secondly, writing a report on sales performance in various regions of the UK, or creating a mad spreadsheet looking at 18 month projected recruitment needs is not comparable to watching footballers on the training ground. The ability to send an email is not the same as the ability to instantly control, with one touch, a football fizzed to you whilst you’re in a tight space. My point: it takes longer to judge performance in an office than it does in a sport.

Thirdly, after the lassitude and lethargy of the last decade at United, I would venture that someone on the front foot is exactly what is needed, and this sqaud, the majority of whom simply don’t pass the eyeball test when watching, needs signifcant change. Implementing a system that you know works is a reasonable approach, and if that also begets a reset of playing staff, well, then I’d say that’s a positive.

Further, how can have a stable team when you don’t yet know the players? If there is a failing there, and there is, it is the casual approach of the senior management in not removing Ten Hag ealry enough to give Amorim a pre season with the squad.

All of which said, agree with you totally ref Fernandes.

Have a wodnerful Christmas all,

Michael, The North

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…Does anyone else feel that maybe Amorim is “doing a Jose”? And by that I mean purposefully picking players who we know aren’t good enough in particular positions so it can be used as evidence to get rid?

I mean, Malacia has never really been good enough. A solid enough back up at full back but in midfield?

No one thinks Zirklee is a 9. And we have a 9 on the bench who has been doing well (are we saving him for something?), plus another not in the squad and seemingly destined to be pushed out but who is comfortable (and has been successful) as a 9.

No one thinks Garnacho is a 10. Dude cannot pass and simply doesn’t have that kind of vision or awareness. He’s an out and out winger.

No one thinks Eriksen is a hardworking central mid. He could likely do very nicely where Bruno gets to sit and misplace passes and shots. He can also take a decent corner and free kick. So obviously that’s not happening. We’ll let Bruno keep doing that as it’s working so well.

Casemiro? Nah. Collyer? Amass? Nah, both apparently are to be sold for a pittance if rumours are true.

We all knew (or at least, the sane non-plastic fans knew) this change would take time. And it requires a different type of player than we necessarily have in depth.

But it does start to feel like there’s some purposeful intent behind some of these selections. Either way, it’ll all come out in the wash, and this season is not the season to judge or build up huge expectations. Other than maybe to play the best suited players in their best available positions in matches we don’t need to concede so tamely.

Badwolf

Johnny Nic back to his best

Thoroughly enjoyed JN’s latest diatribe. It’s been a while but that was up there with some of his best. ‘Like cutting off your cock because you might get syphilis’ had me in stitches. Keep it up and Merry Christmas to all at f365.

Rob

He HAS to go

Dear Editor

I have been saying this for a year. Ange Postecoglou is out of his depth in the Premier League. It is all very well winning in the Aussie, Japanese and Scottish Premier leagues – the latter which have giants such as Hearts, St Johnstone and Dundee – but our Premier League is arguably the best in the world.

It is impossible to have a Plan B which is the same as your Plan A which doesn’t work.

In the Carabao Cup match against Man Utd, the game was won in the 55th minute – yet this inane system of short passing in the penalty area and mistakes by Forster left the result in doubt until the final whistle.

Who is daft enough to have high-line against Liverpool speedsters, Sala and Diaz. While smiling sheepishly, Ange is adamant he will not change and any player not playing to this ‘system’ will be out.

I was writing a letter to Daniel Levy on Sunday evening, with match still with 20 minutes from finishing.

Here are two ‘HAVES’!

Tottenham HAVE to sack Ange and HAVE to make Bournemouth an offer for Andoni Ariola which they cannot turn down.

Regards

Jim Sokol

Missed concussion?

Beginning to think that the concussion protocol in the Premiership missed a previous incident involving Fraser Forster.

Jason G, Montreal Canada

On Spurs v Liverpool

Obviously, happy with the results on Sunday. I know the odds were always with us to be top at Christmas, and that that doesn’t really matter except for pride at this stage of the season but it’s nice to have the lead and the points buffer back.

But: Am I the only Liverpool fan who watched those first two Spurs goals going in and thought: “Kelleher would have saved that”?

It used to be that I would watch Kelleher’s games seeing goals going in and thinking “Alisson would have had that” more recently, I’m watching saves and thinking “Alisson wouldn’t have got that”.

I know the history of how great Alisson has been, and still is compared with most, I just don’t think he’s our best keeper any more and I think we might be about to nudge our best keeper out of the door by not recognising him. Worse still, Kelleher could sign for a rival and still be helping them beat us to trophies in six or seven years’ time.

What is football for? I mean that existentially: what is it for? The ex-pro pundit would no doubt sit on a sofa, often a colourless bore, with legs wide apart and say “at the end of the day, Gary, it’s all about results”, because they always, always do.

But it’s simply not true, is it? Because if it was, almost no one would play because they’d know they were not good enough to win anything. In case our pundits have forgotten, or have never realised, almost no club wins anything almost all the time, and relegated teams get thousands to see them. So whatever ‘it’ is, it isn’t all about results.

If it’s about results, it’d be a pretty miserable procession every season and I can’t see it lasting 150 years on the meagre rations of a win every now and again. If you think that then you undervalue the football experience.

So when they spout such nonsense, ignore this brain-in-neutral garbage.

Obviously, the point of football is to have fun, though increasingly that is being forgotten or crushed. Football is driven towards pragmatism for fear of harsh judgement by social media and a lobotomised press who report social media comments as if it’s actual news, consistently soiling itself in creating every journalist’s eight ‘stories’ each day.

Most teams play a similar brand of football, most players are trying or are playing in a similar fashion. If you’re not and are a maverick, you’ll soon have all your interesting bits ground off by the millstone of pragmatism.

Pleasure…that’s what keeps us coming back for more. We’re often told grinding out a 1-0 win is the sign of title winners, but so what? If it’s boring, who wants to watch other than the glory hunters who always want to be on the winning side?

Look at how many managers are criticised for playing defensive, negative, cautious football. Gareth Southgate, largely inaccurately, couldn’t move for the ‘never mind just winning, win with more style and flair’ shouters. David Moyes deployed football as a form of euthanasia and got the sack, despite winning a European trophy (with the biggest budget by far to help him, of course). Still believe it’s all about results?

Which brings us to Tottenham. Some fans criticised previous managers for perceived negativity. “Play the Spurs way,” said the protectors of the White Hart Lane flame. But look at what Danny Blanchflower said: “The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”

He’d have loved Ange. But it is a philosophy that is now anathema to most and certainly to the overly solemn pundits for whom it’s always “a results-based game”. Bollocks to that.

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

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👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

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So they got in a manager whose main driving force is free-wheeling entertainment. Loved at all-conquering Celtic, this achievement was ignored by the wearers of the impenetrable Our League blinkers who are also often notorious Scotia-phobes, born out of sheer ignorance. Criticism is inconsistent, accusing a losing team of basic flaws but quietly ignoring the same things when they win. Because the truth is that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And that’s fine.

Nobody could have been in any doubt that Ange would bring a dynamic, unconservative, attacking game to Spurs. And so he has. There’s been ups and downs, but as the song goes, if you lose all the highs and lows, it’s funny how the feeling goes away.

As of Saturday, they had won seven league games, none by a single goal and only one by two goals. All seven of their league defeats had been by a single goal and there had been only two draws. They have eviscerated and been eviscerated as on Sunday. Perhaps beating City 4-0 isn’t the stellar achievement we thought initially, given City’s crapulence, but it’s still huge. You want to ditch this in favour of a side that’ll bring on an extra defender and close the game down for the last 20 minutes? No, you can’t have both, it doesn’t work like that. You have to choose.

And now here come the critics and chin-strokers, taking it all so seriously, wearing the neutral clothing of conservatism. The anti-football mob who now don’t want the exciting stuff just because it means they lose sometimes. It’s like cutting off your cock because you might get syphilis.

These joyless creatures still believe that “it’s all about results” sh*te and talk about Ange’s unwillingness to change as a weakness, or stubbornness. But they are the most glorious team we’ve seen since mid-90’s Newcastle. Do you want to be remembered for generationally great moments, or do you want a trophy? Bland or spicy? Corporate or maverick?

The irony of complaining about him after all the negative managers seems lost on them. The rest of us, those who know football is fun, see only the positives. Not shutting games down pays the greatest compliment of seeking to entertain us. I find it incredible that anyone would criticise that.

The critics who say he should ‘tweak’ his style in-game are missing the whole point. Always with the ‘tweaking’. Mostly this sage advice is ‘please don’t do that thing that you did to make you lose’. Duh. But nobody says that when they win so spectacularly, even though they’re playing the same way.

This is sport, not an A-level examination. Having a good time is the whole point. And Spurs entertain and crucially allow their opponents, like Liverpool on Sunday, to entertain too. Only Spurs would lose 6-3 after being 5-1 down. They don’t give up, or get any tighter, the crowd still roaring in anticipation with every attack; this should be what football is all about, not some efficient soulless grind or airless pragmatism.

It’s not surprising he gets frustrated and annoyed at the same criticism time and again from the same stupids. Some of the criticism is unfair and doesn’t understand what he’s trying to achieve and it comes from a place that doesn’t interest him. These people who call for pragmatism are anathema to him. He is rightly contemptuous of their attitude.

Has everything got to be calculated and methodical as if football is a scientific experiment? Football is already more like accountancy than rock ‘n’ roll, thank God there’s someone with the courage to put the pedal to the metal and ignore the brainwashing.

Inevitably, somewhere in the mix, is a certain anti-Antipodean hostility and mouth-breathers in the press who have already proven ignorant enough to think he’s achieved nothing, are trying to rough him up with their stupidity, still gravely saying ‘don’t you have to change?’ and calling for more sense. But many of us know sense is the death of excitement and creativity.

Ignore the stupids Ange. Whatever your league position, you regularly have one of the most attractive teams to watch and that has to be worth something. It’s all about enjoyment and you’ve got Tottenham sometimes playing and allowing the finest football for a generation and if football isn’t about fun and excitement then it’s about nothing. Keep fighting against the low drone of mediocrity.

Erik ten Hag would be the ‘Spursiest’ of all Spurs appointments, but the real problems at the club will only be solved by a board change.

Send your views on all subjects to theeditor@football365.com

Where’s Erik?

We’re at hospital waiting our turn on the c-section list and I was reading who will be the next Spurs manager article. Was genuinely surprised not to see this name as there is no ‘Spursier’ appointment. Erik Ten Hag.

JC STFC

Ange in/out? Who cares?

It has reached the point where, at HT yesterday, I was pleased to be on cooking duty. Missing significant elements of the match such as Liverpool’s third goal…and fourth…and fifth. I genuinely wish we hadn’t scored those two late goals as we deserve a spanking just so Ange can finally stop with the weird smirk and passive aggressive post-match interviews.

Speaking of which, Sky were absolutely delighted with his previous post-match interview where he exclaimed “are you not entertained” by repeating throughout the second half.

A clown club – a comment Football365 have used roughly 247 times a day in the past few months – is fair. What isn’t is the fact that this business and its CEO, are taking the absolute p*** out of its fan base (that should read its legacy supporters in truth – the holiday making day trippers are loving it). I knew someone trying to sell their Chelsea ticket on the exchange, a 4:30 Sunday evening kick off, two weeks before Christmas and the club were demanding £84 – and that wasn’t the most expensive ticket either. The ticket didn’t get sold.

That Levy isn’t going anywhere means it’s all pretty irrelevant, and (relatively speaking) depressing. In the past year we have sold/released Kane, Dier, Hojbjerg, Perisic, Sanchez, Lloris, Emerson, Skipp, Winks, Sessegnon, Lo Celso, Ndombele and Rodon….that is a staggering amount off the wage bill, with a minimal amount incoming comparatively. Until the club is prepared to pay the required wages to secure the best players, then it really doesn’t matter what coach is there, the ceiling will always be ’try for top four’…

Depending on your source, we’re anywhere from £11m to £24m below Liverpool and almost £63m below Arsenal…the other three, understandably, are a fair bit further north of Tottenham.

Thank f*** we have the greatest entertainment/business park in Europe.

Dan Mallerman

…All Spurs problems stems from the greed and miserliness of Daniel Levy. No decent coach will want to play for Spurs. Please get rid of him if you want to see the real Spurs.

R.S.

The Angeball red herring

Let’s get one thing straight.

With the personnel available to Postecoglou on Sunday night, the outcome was always going to be a win for this excellent Liverpool team. So, the only question would seem to be, would it have been better to play “sensible” or orthodox tactics and lose 3-0, or to do what Tottenham did and lose 6-3? I for one am firmly in the “death or glory” camp. Who wants to die wondering. With the team facing an inevitable outcome, defiance was the only way to go.

After all, Angeball had got Spurs to a semi-final only 3 nights previously.

The meek shall inherit the earth? Nonsense!

Best Regards,

Kirit (NW London)

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

👉 16 Conclusions from Spurs 3-6 Liverpool: Salah, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Kulusevski dazzle above the shod

👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

👉 Spurs play ‘football on acid’ and Ange Postecoglou is ‘out of his depth’

The neutrals’ choice

I was losing interest in the Premier League TBH, but this stupid/brilliant Spurs team is pulling me back in – I love them so very much.

Happy Christmas F365 folks – hope you have a joyous one, and I hope those that will find it hard get through okay. And that we stuff Doncaster at home next weekend – festive goodwill only goes so far.

Jeremy (I’ll never cheat on my Colchester with you Spurs, but I can admire from afar) Aves

The Lysergic Lyricas

Lysergic acid diethylamide actually focuses the sensory perceptions and allows patients – under proper clinical supervision – to better deal with the effects of various trauma including depression and PTSD. This is why, moving forward, it might potentially act as an important tool in dealing with the treatment of complex psychological issues. In research – for example – spiders who are given LSD create webs that are more mathematically precise than those they create naturally.

Ange’s team, on the other hand, plays football like a troupe of rodeo clowns who drank all of the coffee and snorted all of the cocaine; they’re wizards for about three minutes, until the shakes and the paranoia set in…

Also, Riccardo Calafiori is an excellent football player. We are fortunate to have him.

Merry Christmas and all the best in 2025 to the entire F365verse…except, obviously, Stewie.

George, Little Spruffleton on the Waters

Inevitability

There’s only one way this is going…

Ange is an Aussie, mate.

So the football world will shun the idealist romance of Angeball and plunge into a post apocalyptic wasteland where the only currency is cold hard football statistics.

‘Mad Facts’.

Not sure how Mel Gibson will be received in the Spurs Stadium when they’re filming the biopic mind.

Merry Christmas to all.

John (‘the batteries, THE F***ING BATTERIES!!!’) Mac, Cork

Fraudiola and all that

As a Liverpool fan, I find the criticism Pep Guardiola is currently receiving unwarranted, primarily because I never believed he deserved the overwhelming praise showered on him during his periods of success.

Timing and choice are critical to success, and Pep has often benefitted from both. I first heard of him during his tenure at Barcelona, where his squad included Valdés, Alves, Puyol, Márquez, Abidal, Yaya Touré, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Eto’o, and Henry. A team of undeniable world-class talent. It was a case of stepping into the perfect setup at the right moment.

After a sabbatical, Pep moved to Bayern Munich, a club so dominant in Germany that opposing teams might as well have rolled dice while riding unicycles and singing Nessun Dorma. He inherited a team fresh off a treble-winning season and equipped with an unmatched financial edge. Again, impeccable timing.

Then came Manchester City. Even before his arrival in 2016, City had assembled a backroom staff tailored to his needs and began acquiring players on his wishlist. With the club’s vast financial resources, he inherited the ideal conditions. From John Stones and Leroy Sané in his first summer, to Laporte, Mendy, Walker, Silva, and others, City have spent over €50 million on 16 different players under Guardiola. Few managers have ever enjoyed such consistent backing.

But now, cracks are showing. Financial scrutiny has perhaps diverted focus from the squad, and Guardiola faces challenges he cannot simply solve by snapping his fingers or buying another €80 million player. His system demands perfection, yet this ageing team appears drained of creativity, individual flair, and adaptability. When Erling Haaland doesn’t score, they effectively play with ten men.

Critics like to lambast managers such as Russell Martin or Ange Postecoglou for their inflexibility, accusing them of sticking to systems that don’t suit their players. Is Pep facing a similar issue now? Does he still have the players capable of executing his complex system?

This situation reminds me of the Monte Carlo roulette incident in 1913, when the ball landed on black 26 consecutive times. Gamblers, convinced red was “due,” kept doubling down—only to lose again and again. Is Guardiola now gambling on his team “clicking” back into form, betting on red because he believes his way is the only way?

Why, then, does the media hesitate to critique him as harshly as others? Is it because he’s Pep, and they assume he’ll figure it out eventually? Or is it because they, too, are betting on red?

Is Guardiola an all-conquering genius? Or has he simply made astute career choices and now finds himself grappling with the same challenges as everyone else?

Kind regards,

Ian H

Amorim’s lack of big club experience a problem

Consider any office construct. You’re a mid-level company Manager joining a huge organisation. Your first task would be to bed in, understand the environment, stabilize yourself first and then move forward with the personnel who have been there the longest (they may not be the ones you need in the long run, but surely want for the time being).

Over time, once you’ve gained the experience, understood everyone, you decide whom to lean on, whom to work with and whom to release. This is the general fabric of function in any role which involves people management. Am afraid, Amorim has already failed in that regard. He didn’t have a strong enough ground to start with a destabilized atmosphere that he created from week two. A risk not worth taking.

Now for the other points which i’d wish any United Manager would pay some heed to:

Bruno doesn’t offer enough in midfield with regards to flow of play or even quality finishes. To me he’s just plain mediocre. The odd Hollywood pass or creative goal should not define his role.

Licha is not designed to work as a defender, leave alone a left-sided one. He’s best suited as a defensive midfielder.

Playing with a mix of seven defenders/defensive midfielders is just an awful strategy if you’re trying to control a game, least of all against teams like Bournemouth. A 3-5-2 works best if your wingers are mostly attacking with the ability to defend and not the other way round. Malacia and Dalot on the wings with Garnacho on the bench is a waste of the real qualities of a team.

Lack of a stable team, which to me, was equally an issue under ETH, is hurting the cohesion of this new setup. It’s immensely important for each individual to know where they stand, else it becomes a guessing games in their heads which can be massively counterproductive. Zirkzee over an in-form Hojlund is a perfect case in point.

And finally, a football Manager, like any other senior official in a company, needs to bring with oneself individual/team based strategies, which one needs to implement. Strategies, which have worked in ones previous role. Reshuffling the pack and changing their holistic approach, isn’t what i’d call a major plan of action. A real plan consists of improving on the players’ skill sets and using them to the betterment of the team. This is what I find lacking in most leaders these days.

Stephen Warnock has hit out at Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr, who he feels aren’t holding-midfield players and the former has no desire to get back and help the Tottenham side.

Bissouma and Sarr have been Spurs’ preferred midfield duo for the last two games. At points this season, Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur have also been seen there.

Bissouma has played all of the last 180 minutes, while Sarr managed 58 minutes against Liverpool before being hooked – after playing the full game against Manchester United. Tottenham conceded nine goals across those two games.

Warnock has slammed the pair for not having the capabilities to play their own positions, while he felt Bissouma did not want to try for his side.

“If your two full-backs go forward, your two central midfielders have to sense danger and be able to run,” he said on Sky Sports.

“They [Sarr and Bissouma] cannot run. They don’t sense danger, so they’re not holding midfielders. So why have you got them playing holding midfield?

“Bissouma yesterday, I’d have run past him. He couldn’t run. He didn’t want to run. He didn’t have the desire to get back and be aggressive with people, and sense that a tackle or even a shove into someone at times is so important.

“You cannot play that system with them two in midfield.”

MORE ON TOTTENHAM FROM F365:

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👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

👉 Spurs play ‘football on acid’ and Ange Postecoglou is ‘out of his depth’

Being outplayed by Liverpool’s midfield is common for sides at the moment, with the Reds flying high at the top of the league. Spurs did concede three to Manchester United the game prior, though, so not having players at the top of their games is something of a concern.

Bissouma and Sarr are clearly seen as holding-midfielders, though they have had a torrid time playing the position of late – and the former was recently labelled “braindead” to highlight that.

That the position has been chopped and changed in games leading up to the last two suggests Postecoglou is aware they may not be standing out, but until Bergvall progresses – being only 18 – or a new signing is made, Tottenham will be forced to make do.

Tottenham have reportedly made an approach to sign Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey, with contact being made to ease their current defensive crisis.

Spurs are struggling defensively at the moment. In their last two games – against Manchester United and Liverpool – they have conceded nine goals.

Ange Postecoglou is not interested in changing the way his side plays, despite a trio of regular defenders being sidelined through injury, which has seen Archie Gray playing at centre-back – a position he’d never played before – among the changes.

According to Football Insider, Tottenham have made contact for the signing of a new defender as they ‘look to ease’ their defensive crisis.

That man is Atalanta’s Godfrey, who it’s said they have made an approach for.

The report states Spurs want to sign the Englishman on a short-term loan for the second half of the season. Given Atalanta top Serie A at the moment, they’re unlikely to do anything which will hinder their chances of winning the title.

That said, Godfrey has played just 22 league minutes, as part of a total tally of 93 minutes since he moved from Everton in the summer, so may be allowed to leave on loan.

There is reportedly a belief that he could be allowed to leave given his lack of minutes since joining Atalanta.

If he is to join Spurs, it will be a move which has been a long time coming. It was reported in December 2023 that Spurs were pushing ahead with their interest in Godfrey, while he was at Everton.

At the time, Tottenham were desperate to add to their defence, with a similar crisis to the one they are seeing now taking place.

MORE ON TOTTENHAM FROM F365:

👉 16 Conclusions from Spurs 3-6 Liverpool: Salah, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Kulusevski dazzle above the shod

👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

👉 Spurs play ‘football on acid’ and Ange Postecoglou is ‘out of his depth’

They ended up signing Radu Dragusin in January, but he only played a handful of times last season, and this term was hardly used before injuries to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.

The priority will be covering their absences, but Godfrey could potentially compete with Dragusin to be next in line, while he can also play as a right-back, a left-back and a midfielder, so could be a useful asset for Spurs.

Liverpool star Ryan Gravenberch has revealed the Reds planned before their win over Tottenham to “press the right centre-back” Radu Dragusin, a plan he felt they executed “really well”.

Spurs were put to the sword by Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday. Having conceded three goals in victory over Manchester United in the week, it seemed they were there for the taking.

The Reds did just that, smashing in six goals in the 6-3 victory.

Midfield man Gravenberch has revealed that the plan was to attack Dragusin, and that paid off.

“Yeah we had a really good game plan, we wanted to keep them on the right side and press the right centre-back. Sometimes it went well and sometimes they did it good but by the end, I think we did really well,” Granvenberch told LFCTV.

Indeed, with the amount of goals put past Spurs, none of the defence covered themselves in glory, but Dragusin was involved a lot. For the first goal, he saw the ball whipped over his head for Luis Diaz to score.

For the third, he was beaten in the air by Dominik Szoboszlai on the half-way line, who pushed on and finished the goal himself when he reached the box.

For the fourth, Dragusin stepped towards the Liverpool attack at the wrong time, saw the ball slotted past him, before it was knocked across the box and eventually ended up in the net.

MORE ON TOTTENHAM FROM F365:

👉 16 Conclusions from Spurs 3-6 Liverpool: Salah, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Kulusevski dazzle above the shod

👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

👉 Spurs play ‘football on acid’ and Ange Postecoglou is ‘out of his depth’

Many sides have been put to the sword by the Reds this season, with the Premier League leaders having scored 37 goals so far.

But that Tottenham’s defence have not played an awful lot together, and Dragusin would likely not be playing if Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven were fit, means they were given an easier task than by some.

It is the most goals Liverpool have scored in a game this season, but was also only the first time Spurs have lost by more than a goal, which says more about the Reds’ attack than their defence.

Tottenham are reportedly weighing up a move for Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford in January, as Fraser Forster is struggling to show he’s worthy of playing consistently in the wake of an injury to Guglielmo Vicario.

Spurs took a hit when Vicario sustained an injury in a 4-0 victory over Manchester City. He had not missed a single Premier League minute for the north Londoners since joining the club before then.

That consistent streak being broken saw Forster – who has played for England on six occasions – elevated to the No.1 spot.

But he has struggled to convince Tottenham he is worthy of staying there. He made a couple of mistakes in the 4-3 League Cup victory over Manchester United, and though it would be harsh to blame him for Spurs’ high line and Liverpool’s persistent attack, he shipped six goals against the Premier League leaders the following game.

Ange Postecoglou stated after Vicario’s injury that Forster would be given the faith, but the Mirror suggests that may no longer be the case, with Burnley’s Trafford on the radar for a January transfer.

It’s believed Tottenham are weighing up a move for the goalkeeper who, in 21 Championship games this season, has conceded just nine goals.

MORE ON TOTTENHAM FROM F365:

👉 16 Conclusions from Spurs 3-6 Liverpool: Salah, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Kulusevski dazzle above the shod

👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

👉 Spurs play ‘football on acid’ and Ange Postecoglou is ‘out of his depth’

Trafford is seen as a keeper who could potentially push Vicario for the No.1 spot in the coming seasons, and that suggests he’d already be ahead of Forster in the pecking order, with the keeper only seen as second choice.

It’s believed Trafford could move to north London for £20million, which would make him the most-expensive goalkeeper Tottenham have ever signed, even more than Vicario, who cost them £17.2million when he joined in 2023.

Jamie Carragher reckons Ange Postecoglou was tricked by Arne Slot into persevering with his gung-ho Tottenham approach ahead of their clash with Liverpool on Sunday.

Slot’s side ran out comfortable 6-3 winners over Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Postecoglou stayed true to his attacking style of football that’s been heavily criticised during a run which has seen his side lose three of their last four Premier League games.

But Slot lauded the Tottenham manager’s approach ahead of the clash, rejecting claims that football can ever be “too attacking”.

The Dutchman said: “People talk about trophies, trophies, trophies and that is so important. For me, his brand of football is so much more important. If he can combine it with winning something that would be so good for football in general because then people can stop talking about ‘is it too attacking?’ How on earth can you play too much attacking football?”

“I think it is a privilege to be a season ticket holder at Tottenham and to be a fan of them at the moment because they play such a great style.”

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

👉 16 Conclusions from Spurs 3-6 Liverpool: Salah, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Kulusevski dazzle above the shod

👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

👉 Spurs play ‘football on acid’ and Ange Postecoglou is ‘out of his depth’

Carragher, whose less than positive opinion on Tottenham and their devil-may-care approach under Postecoglou has been brought up in Spurs press conferences this week, claims the Australian boss fell right into Slot’s trap.

He believes the Liverpool boss was lavish in his praise of Spurs and Postecoglou in the hope they would continue to play in a manner he knew would lead to an easy victory for his side.

He said on Sky Sports: “That press conference on Friday from Arne Slot was hilarious. People thought he was defending Ange – I don’t believe that for one minute. Slot was desperate for Tottenham to play the same way as they played Man Utd and they did. Liverpool could have scored 10. Everyone I spoke to, Liverpool supporters said it was obvious.”

Postecoglou said after the game that he was tired of being asked the same questions.

“I’ve been really patient the last 18 months, answering the same questions over and over again,” said Postecoglou. “If people want me to change my approach, it’s not going to change.

“We’re doing it for a reason, we’re doing it because we think it’ll help us be successful.

“If people don’t understand the circumstances we’re in, the challenges we have from a team and squad perspective, which are as obvious as I want to make them now – I get the idea that people think I should just flick the switch and change and somehow that would make us a different team.

“But it is what it is, I’m just going to continue staying focused on trying to build this team to be the team we want. In the interim, we’re going to have to accept there’s going to be challenges along the way.”

Peter Schmeichel thinks Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was “crazy” to play such a high line against Liverpool in their 6-3 defeat on Sunday.

The Reds ran into a two-goal lead early as Luis Diaz and Alexis MacAllister put Arne Slot’s side in command before James Maddison’s curled effort got Spurs back into the match.

But Liverpool ran away with the match from there with a goal from Dominik Szoboszlai and a brace from Mohamed Salah putting the Reds 5-1 up on 61 minutes.

Tottenham duo Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke got a goal back each to set up an interesting last ten minutes but Diaz scored his second of the game late on to make it 6-3 to the visitors, which probably flattered the home side.

Liverpool thrived behind Tottenham’s high line and former Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel insists Postecoglou was “crazy” to stubbornly play to his principles against the Premier League leaders.

Schmeichel said on Premier League Productions: “It’s on [Ange Postecoglou]. He’s playing to his principles. Today it was crazy, the high-line, the space they left behind, they’re not playing with a ‘keeper who’s comfortable cleaning up behind. You can’t play a system the players can’t play because of principle. For that they’ve conceded three on Thursday [in the League Cup] and six today.

“When you look at the table, they’re not on the front page, they’re on the second page. Tottenham are not supposed to be on the second page, it’s because of the way they play.

“The stubbornness of wanting to play that way, they got what they deserved and it could have been a lot worse.”

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

👉 16 Conclusions from Spurs 3-6 Liverpool: Salah, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Kulusevski dazzle above the shod

👉 Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

👉 Spurs play ‘football on acid’ and Ange Postecoglou is ‘out of his depth’

Turning his attention to Liverpool, Schmeichel reckons this could be the year they “win all the big things” and lift an unprecedented Quadruple.

Schmeichel added: “I think Liverpool in the last couple of years have had goals all over the pitch and that’s been the strength of the team.

“It would be interesting to see exactly what the difference from last year to this year, they look more solid, but they’re still scoring the goals and coming up with the chances like they did last season, but they look more solid.

“We’re at Christmas now, they’re top of the league, they’re in the semi-final for the League Cup, they’re top of the Champions League, that is brilliant, absolutely fantastic, and now you’re looking at them and thinking: ‘Yeah, this might just be that year where they can go on and win all the big things.’

“When you look at the playing material, it’s not really what Manchester City had where they have two teams, but still, it’s working out for them, and it’s absolutely fantastic, I’m starting to think they can go all the way [to win the Quadruple].”