BBC

We wanted your suggestions for Tottenham's all-time best Premier League XI.

And you delivered!

Here's the first bunch of your replies:

Tom: 3-4-3. Robinson, Romero, King, Vertonghen, Modric, Dembele, Carrick, Eriksen, Son, Kane, Bale. Ledley King is a Tottenham legend and one of the best Premier League defenders of all time. Our centre-backs have been better than our full-backs so I've gone for a back three. Dembele was sensational but underrated outside of our club's fanbase. Kane, Son and Bale pick themselves.

Anant: 4-3-3. Lloris, King, Mabbutt, Van de Ven, Walker, Bale, Modric, Ginola, Kane, Rebrov, Berbatov. A mix of speed, skill, agility and full passion. Campbell would have made it if he hadn't moved across.

Matthew: 4-2-3-1. Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen, King, Rose, Dembele, Modric, Kudus, Eriksen, Son, Kane. A top quality starting XI. This would have been Premier League challenging levels.

Howie: 4-3-3. Lloris, Walker, King, Vertonghen, Rose, Modric, Dembele, Dele, Bale, Kane, Son. They are the best players. Honourable mentions to Rafael van der Vaart, Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen, Sandro, Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson.

Emile: 4-4-2. Lloris, Walker, Van de Ven, Vertonghen, Udogie, Son, Dembele, Dele, Bale, Kane, Berbatov. All elite, classy and exciting footballers.

Joe: 3-5-2. Lloris, King, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Bale, Trippier, Modric, Ginola, Son, Klinsmann, Kane. The players I've enjoyed most over my years of watching. Some hard omissions of note would be Mabbutt, Woodgate, Dele, Van der Vaart, Keane and Defoe - a pretty good bench!

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust claims the atmosphere at the stadium has "declined" as a result of some fans being "priced out of attending".

With just three wins from 15 Premier League home games in 2025, Spurs have struggled for results in front of their own supporters at the 62,850-seater stadium.

Despite their Europa League success last term securing them a place in the Champions League this season, the club's return to Europe's top tier has not brought bumper crowds, with numbers of 54,755 and 49,565 for home fixtures against Villarreal and Copenhagen.

The fan group said: "Over the past couple of seasons, it's undeniable that the atmosphere has declined at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"Too many empty seats and too many supporters, particularly young supporters, priced out of attending. Thin the crowd and you thin the noise.

"Europa League nights last season, with sensibly priced tickets, proved the point: fair ticket pricing fills the ground, often with the next generation of Spurs fans. And the noise follows.

"The Champions League - our flagship nights - has seen thousands of empty seats, in our view due to unrealistic and unaffordable match pricing.

"A world-class stadium without a full house is only half a home."

Tottenham recently announced the visit of Borussia Dortmund in January will now have category B pricing instead of category A, and ticket prices for this season were set in the summer when Daniel Levy was still chairman.

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He scored the winning goal in last season's Europa League final and cost Tottenham Hotspur £50m, making him the second most expensive Welshman in history – second only to the great Gareth Bale.

So why, when Wales faced Belgium in a vital World Cup qualifier last month, was Brennan Johnson dropped?

On the face of it, the 24-year-old should be a figurehead for his country; a proven Premier League goalscorer in a squad where most players represent clubs in the second or third tiers. Yet Johnson finds himself out of favour.

With the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons and Mathys Tel competing with him for a starting spot at Spurs, rotation is hardly a surprise.

But for Wales, Johnson would expect to be one of the first names on the team sheet – even if his performances have underwhelmed for some time.

It was still significant, then, when head coach Craig Bellamy relegated the former Nottingham Forest forward to the bench against Belgium.

Wales conclude their World Cup qualifying group with matches against Liechtenstein on Saturday and North Macedonia three days later, all but certain to be in the play-offs next March.

Whether they will be home or away for the semi-final is in the balance – as, it seems, is Johnson's place in the team.

To assess Johnson's career with Wales, it is instructive to start from the start.

He made his debut aged 19 in November 2020. Then, after missing out on the squad for the Covid-delayed Euro 2020 the following summer, it was not until the 2022 World Cup campaign that he really established himself in the senior set-up.

Just as Johnson's international career was taking off, the end was fast approaching for Wales' greatest player of all time, Bale.

"Brennan's had a lot of pressure and expectation," says former Wales striker Nathan Blake.

"I've been around people who were already labelling him the next messiah and I was like 'Stop putting that sort of pressure on the boy'. You have to let him develop into whatever he becomes.

"If he becomes the next Gareth Bale, great. But I always say, I don't want to see the next Gareth Bale, I want to see the first Brennan Johnson. Right? Because he's different to Gareth Bale. They're not the same person."

Bale was irreplaceable. As well as being Wales' record goalscorer and cap holder, Bale was a generational talent, a freak of nature, a magician who could change the course of a match all on his own. He was a one-off. As Bellamy says: "There's no next Gareth Bale."

Nobody expected Johnson – or any of his team-mates – to scale those same superhuman heights as Bale, but the former Real Madrid superstar's retirement in January 2023 created a void.

Wales had promising attacking players coming through in the form of Harry Wilson, David Brooks and others but, when Johnson joined Spurs for £50m less than eight months after Bale's departure, the scrutiny of his performances intensified.

While Wilson has thrived with the added responsibility and scored six goals in his 12 games under Bellamy, Johnson has the same tally from 40 caps.

Whether he has played in his favoured right wing position or as a centre-forward, Johnson has seemed lost; reluctant to take on opponents on some occasions, hesitant in shooting on others and often turning to play a safe pass backwards.

Former Wales captain Kath Morgan offered a blunt assessment after the Belgium defeat: "He's a £50m player allegedly but, I'm sorry, what is his contribution to Wales? This is now consistently happening."

Blake is also frustrated by his recent displays but strikes a more sympathetic tone.

"I think we just need to temper our expectations a bit," he says.

"Since he broke into the first team at Forest and to now at Spurs, I don't look at his game and say it's developed that much.

"But that's not the problem – the problem is people are expecting the next level and it's just not happened. I think that's what's really and truly eating Brennan, the expectation on him."

While the spectre of Bale is inescapable with Wales, Johnson had another impossible act to follow at Spurs, joining in the same transfer window that saw Harry Kane leave for Bayern Munich.

"He came in at quite a weird time for the club. I'm not sure they really had a good plan for how to replace Kane," says Jack Pitt-Brooke, who covers Spurs for The Athletic.

"Johnson came in at a difficult moment but, with injuries to other players, he ended up playing tons that year and he was actually pretty good."

It helped that it was then-Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou who signed Johnson, who scored 23 goals in all competitions during his first two seasons.

"He fitted what Ange wanted from wingers," Pitt-Brooke adds. "Really high and wide, scoring goals where a winger goes down one side, pulls the ball back across the box, and the opposite side winger taps it in. Johnson was good at both delivering that cross, and also tapping it in at the far post."

Under Postecoglou, Spurs won the Europa League – with Johnson scoring the winner in the final against Manchester United – but the Australian was sacked this summer after the club finished 17th in the Premier League.

Thomas Frank replaced him – and the Dane replaced Johnson, with Kudus.

"Frank wants to play a different way, and he wants his wingers to do a lot more on the ball than just score tap-ins," says Pitt-Brooke.

"Spurs paid £55m for Kudus, who doesn't score many goals, but everything until he gets to the opposition goal is much better than Johnson.

"At the moment, I don't think any Spurs fan would have Johnson in their first-choice team. It's not really clear where he fits."

Johnson has managed four goals in his 17 appearances in all competitions this season but, according to many supporters and pundits, does not offer much else.

"He doesn't really do a lot apart from scoring goals," says Pitt-Brooke. "There are obviously worse things to be than a guy who's just known for scoring goals, but I think people would probably have expected him to have done more.

"He's a bit of a mystery."

Johnson does not face the same competition for his place with Wales, which is why his benching against Belgium was so striking – despite his indifferent form.

Although he prefers to play on the right, Johnson has played up front, but Oxford United's Mark Harris – without a goal in 29 games for club and country – started as the centre-forward.

"That would have been a big punch in the solar plexus for Brennan," says Blake. "In a game of that magnitude."

Considering Wales needed to win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying automatically for the World Cup, this was a blunt message from Bellamy to Johnson, who only appeared as a substitute with half an hour to play.

When a rat made its way on to the pitch, Johnson was one of the players who tried to usher it off to the sidelines. Some Wales fans on social media joked that was his most telling contribution of the entire evening.

"He's not being selected by Spurs, he's not being selected for Wales, so there's a big question mark on how you come back after that," Blake adds.

"Regardless of what we say, it's only Brennan who can get back on track and shut any social media noise up, shut any fan noise up.

"Fans are not haters. They'll hate your guts for missing a chance but, a minute later, you score a goal, they absolutely adore you."

Johnson will get a chance to win over the sceptics at some stage during these final two games of Wales' World Cup qualifying group, particularly as their attacking options have been hit by striker Kieffer Moore's withdrawal through injury.

Yet as Bellamy demonstrated against Belgium only last month, no matter how important the game or how famous the player, nobody is sure of their place.

"I feel for the lad because it's not nice when the world is talking about you," says Blake.

"But it comes with the territory. He's got work to do."

Last season made very little sense to Tottenham fans. A terrible Premier League campaign, an incredible night in Bilbao and a mercurial manager whose contradictions were reflected in his team.

This season was supposed to make more sense. Thomas Frank was brought in as a pragmatist who would strengthen Tottenham's core and put the team on a more rational footing.

Some of those things have happened but there have also been other, different problems arising as well - which makes taking stock at this stage of proceedings quite challenging.

It is difficult to move past the injury crisis that has deprived the new manager of his main three attacking and creative players.

Imagine a Mauricio Pochettino team without Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen?

The Frank equivalent of Dominic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison means any assessment of Spurs from an attacking perspective so far this season is impossible.

We just do not know how good they can be yet.

From an organisational perspective, there are signs of clear improvement.

I have been struck by how much more the Tottenham players seem to sense danger and respond accordingly than last season.

The raft of away wins is impressive. The manner in which they have executed plans on the road has been refreshing.

Meanwhile progress in the Champions League, while not jaw-dropping, has been just that. Progress.

However these successful away days also help to make the home form look even worse.

The most egregious example being that horribly unimaginative defeat to Chelsea.

If you are Tottenham, you simply cannot play that badly against Chelsea. Or Arsenal. Or West Ham.

So far I think we have just seen indicators - both of how good Spurs can be and how bad.

When Frank has anything approximating a first-choice attacking line-up, it will be fascinating to see how he approaches games and what he asks his team to do.

The trouble is events so often derail plans and intentions in football. And the next event occurs next Sunday against You Know Who.

The away form suggests Spurs can pose some interesting questions.

Despite all the talk of time and renewal in the summer, this is another of those games where the margin for error is tiny.

A number of Premier League clubs interested in bringing and former Brentford striker Ivan Toney, 29, back to the English top flight but wages could prove a significant obstacle. (Sky Sports, external)

Tottenham are among those keeping an eye on the Al-Ahli forward but are testing the market as they draw up plans to sign a new attacking player in January. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column here

I usually groan at the thought of another international break interrupting the excitement of the Premier League, but this one is well timed for Tottenham.

After a promising start to the campaign, with a convincing win at home to - albeit newly promoted - Burnley and our traditional victory at Etihad Stadium, it looked as though Thomas Frank had fixed our defence.

However, now the errors have crept back in and we look particularly vulnerable defending our box. When added to a frustratingly limited attacking threat and an increasingly embarrassing home record, it is no surprise there is growing unrest among fans in N17, who pay a lot of money in the hope of actually enjoying the product.

So, this pause in league fixtures provides the ideal opportunity for Frank and his team - players and staff - to reflect, recharge and reset.

It also gives supporters a chance to take a step back and appreciate that this project, which is still in its infancy under a new manager, needs more time to realise its true potential.

Although some performances have been far from ideal, we are fifth in the Premier League and remain undefeated in the Champions League so far this season.

It is worth noting that has been achieved with a number of key players missing because of injury, and others having their minutes carefully managed as they return to the unrelenting and unforgiving pace of the Premier League.

Many fans have been confused and irritated by some of Frank's starting line-up choices and decisions around substitutions, as evidenced by the audible boos around the stadium when Xavi Simons was taken off against Manchester United on Saturday.

However, as Frank prepares us for battle against 'you know who', I'm inclined to trust his rationale - at least until the end of his first season.

Spurs fan Sam Gilley will be ready for anything when he tries to win the vacant British super-welterweight title at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Gilley already holds the Commonwealth belt and hopes to 'double up' against Ishmael Davis on Saturday.

He will be on the undercard of the rematch between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, in his first bout since a draw with Gideon Onyenani at Ipswich Town's Portman Road ground in June.

"I'm boxing at a stadium again and it's in November, so it's probably going to rain, but I can't let things like that interrupt what I've got to focus on. I've been preparing myself, and even if it snows, I'll be alright that night," he told BBC Essex.

Gilley, from Ongar, Essex, has won 18 of his 20 professional bouts, losing only once - and that was over four-and-a-half years ago.

Yorkshireman Davis, by contrast, lost three in a row before winning a points decision in a six-rounder against Elliot Eboigbe in his most recent contest last month, which took his record to 14-3.

Gilley said he has been dreaming of becoming a British champion since he took up boxing at the age of 11, and the chance to do so at the home of his beloved Tottenham is an opportunity he does not intend to waste.

"I went to the first Benn-Eubank fight as a fan and I thought, 'Imagine fighting here, it'd be quite daunting,' but since the fight's been made, it's not daunting at all. It's just filling me with excitement," he said.

"I went back to Portman Road to watch Ipswich in the Norwich game because I've become quite pally with [Ipswich forward] Sammie Szmodics, and going back to the stadium was horrible [after drawing there].

"I don't want that feeling going to Tottenham every week. But that's not really come into my head because I am so confident for this fight. It is just going to be one magical evening for me.

"I've known Conor for a long time. We've been sparring for a long time, so to be on a show of that magnitude [is great]. This is so beyond a dream for me, even when I was there as a fan, I didn't think I could box here one day.

"Until I got the phone call saying you're on that show, I couldn't imagine me boxing at Tottenham. I have to pinch myself every day with this opportunity I've got."

Sam Gilley was speaking to BBC Essex's Sonia Watson

Tottenham have been boosted by the news that forward Randal Kolo Muani does not require surgery for a facial injury suffered in the draw versus Manchester United.

The France international was involved in a heavy collision with United defender Harry Maguire in the first half of the 2-2 draw and was replaced by Wilson Odobert.

Muani is understood to have suffered damage to his jaw in the incident and was sent to see a specialist on Monday to discover the extent of the injury.

Initial reports have suggested he could miss up to eight weeks - a period that would run into months if it was deemed surgery was required.

However, it is understood Muani has been told he does not need an operation and while club medics do not want to put a definitive timescale on his return, there is optimism the 26-year-old can return to action well in advance of the feared six to eight-week period.

Kolo Muani joined on transfer deadline day from Juventus on an initial season-long loan deal.

The start of his Spurs career was hampered by a dead leg but he has made eight appearances for Thomas Frank's side since his arrival, though is yet to score.

Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko will miss Slovenia's crucial World Cup qualifiers but club officials do not think he suffered a major problem in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

United have also opted to let defender Lisandro Martinez link up with Argentina at their European base before their friendly with Angola, but the 27-year-old will not feature in the match.

Sesko lasted just 30 minutes before limping out of the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, after jarring his knee when he was tackled by Micky van de Ven.

The £73.7m forward was pictured leaving the ground without crutches, but was not moving freely.

When asked whether the issue was serious, head coach Ruben Amorim said because it was a knee issue "you never know" and said Sesko would need to be checked as it might affect his January transfer plans.

This sparked fears of an extended absence, which could coincide with the departure of fellow forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo - plus defender Noussair Mazraoui - for the Africa Cup of Nations next month.

However, while the full extent of Sesko's injury and the length of his absence will not be confirmed until further tests have taken place at United's Carrington training ground, the club are privately distancing themselves from concerns the 22-year-old could be sidelined for months.

He will miss Slovenia's pivotal matches against Kosovo and Sweden, which they need to win to stand any chance of securing a World Cup play-off berth.

Martinez, meanwhile, has returned to training with Amorim's squad and is closing in on a return after having major knee surgery in February.

Amorim has not called the defender into his matchday squad just yet, and is determined to take it easy on a player who has endured a number of long-term injuries since his arrival from Ajax in 2022.

United feel Martinez will benefit from linking up with his international colleagues, especially as it does not involve extensive travel. It is understood a member of United's performance team will travel with Martinez during his time away.