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It’s time for player ratings as the whistle has been blown and the first half of football between Spurs and Ipswich has come to a close, with the visitors on top at the interval.

Goals from Szmodics and Delap have helped Ipswich to a healthy first-half advantage in North London.

If results go their way, a win for Spurs could see them climb as high as third, whereas opponents Ipswich are still on the hunt for their first Premier League victory this season. The Lilywhites will be desperate to continue their fine run of home form ahead of yet another international break, but Ipswich will undoubtedly prove to be a tough test for Tottenham.

The two sides last met in the summer of 2020, when Jose Mourinho and Son led Spurs to a 3-0 victory in a friendly against the Tractor Boys. Competitively, however, Spurs are winless in three against Ipswich, with a 2-1 defeat in 2002 being the most recent occasion the clubs have met in the top flight.

Over the duration of the first forty-five minutes, we analysed each player’s individual performance, rating it on a scale ranging from 1-10.

Tottenham player ratings vs Ipswich

Guglielmo Vicario: The Tottenham goalkeeper wasn’t heavily troubled however he failed the first test that was thrown at him. Later, he parried a ball that could’ve been caught directly into Dragusin that led to Ipswich’s second. 4.

Pedro Porro: Porro bombarded down the right side throughout the first half, looking to make some form of attacking impact. None of his crosses were at all effective and were often claimed by Muric. 5.

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Cristian Romero: After an injury scare last weekend, the Argentine has recovered in time for Spurs’ final clash before the international break. His poor clearance fell perfectly for Szmodics who opened the scoring. Outside that, he hasn’t been great at keeping the Ipswich forwards quiet. 4.

Radu Dragusin: Looking to make amends after a dismal display in midweek, Dragusin returns to the eleven today. The Romanian effectively assisted Delap for the visitors’ second goal and he isn’t silencing any critics so far. Poor once again. 3.

Destiny Udogie: Combined well with Son and Spurs’ left flank but didn’t cause Ipswich too many issues, neither offensively or dfensively. 5.

Rodrigo Bentancur: The Uruguayan linked the defence and the forward line effortlessly, looking comfortable as ever in the 6. He swept up an abundance of loose balls with strong challenges. 7.

Pape Sarr: Sarr’s recent run of form has kept Maddison at bay as the Senegalese retains his spot in the starting eleven. He enjoyed plenty of the ball in the first forty-five, but was particularly wasteful with it. 5.

Dejan Kulusevski: The Swede has taken up a position on the left wing on multiple occasions, perhaps in an attempt to involve himself more. Spurs’ main creator hasn’t received the ball enough to create anything real, however. He will be disappointed in his first-half display. 5.

Brennan Johnson: Missed a golden opportunity extremely early on, poking the ball just wide of the post. Can’t remember him doing anything else notable. 4.

Dominic Solanke: Spurs’ striker continued to be effective deeper on the pitch, linking up with Kulusevski and Sarr cleverly. His hold-up play was exceptional as always, however Solanke will be desperate to receive more service in the final third. 6.

Hugo Lloris has given an insight into what it was like working under Antonio Conte, revealing that the players eventually had to detach themselves from the Italian’s emotional outbursts.

Things unravelled for Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte got a tune out of the players during his first 12 months at Tottenham, helping the club secure Champions League qualification in the 2021-22 season.

However, things started unravelling for the Italian a few months into his second campaign at the club as opposition sides came up with ways to nullify his system.

The Italian eventually departed the club in March of 2023, and we have now got an insight into what it was like in the Spurs dressing room when things were souring for the former Tottenham boss.

Hugo Lloris on what drives Conte

Lloris has now explained that Conte was ‘tormented’ whenever Spurs failed to win matches and had to get out his frustration by unleashing on the squad.

The former Tottenham captain confessed that some players developed a fear of failure under the 55-year-old and were unable to express themselves on the pitch.

Lloris said (via The Standard): “I found Antonio Conte to be quite a character, driven by victory, which gave him energy, but he found it very hard to control his frustration when we started drawing, let alone losing because his inner torment had to get out; and if he was tormented, then everyone had to share that torment too, and things could get very complicated very fast.

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“He told me once that in any given week, his happiness lasted an hour, just after winning, and that was it. In training, he oversaw everything, organising tactical sessions with 10 outfield players against one goalie; but it was hard for the creative players to find their places in his restrictive game-play.

“The rigidity of the structure and set sequences did us a lot of good at first but, after a few months, teams learned how to play against us and it became tougher to win. During matches, Conte was as extreme and eruptive as he appeared, garnering respect and fear. Such a strong personality pushed wingers to prefer to play on the side opposite the dugout.”

Lloris reveals players grew tired of Conte’s rants

The former Tottenham goalkeeper revealed that Conte was honest and had no filter, regularly unleashing on the players when results did not go their way.

The Frenchman further stated that the former Spurs boss was never interested in the process and only cared about the result, leading to the players eventually having to block out his words.

He added: “I have never forgotten our first defeat under Conte: a 2–1 loss to NS Mura in Slovenia in the Uefa Conference League. Even though I wasn’t playing, I was still entitled to his screams and reproaches, just like everyone else. In squad meetings, we would spend at least 30 minutes a day doing video analysis, not forgetting the interminable preparation camps at our training centre.

“After the defeat in Maribor, he had screamed: ‘Mura, Mura, who’s Mura?! We lost to Mura!’ I can still hear him. If a player needed a little love, he’d better not knock at Conte’s door. For Conte, trust is earned in training. He has no filter; he’s sincere and honest. He’s a manager who lives only by results, whereas, from a player’s perspective, performance is important too.

Fabrizio Romano has revealed one of Tottenham’s top midfield targets is now one step closer to signing a new contract with his current club.

Spurs reportedly want to bolster their midfield

Ange Postecoglou is not short of options in the middle of the park, with the Australian rotating between Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma.

In fact, Archie Gray has not even been used in the middle of the park, which many see as his best position, while Lucas Bergvall had to be content with opportunities in the Europa League.

However, it has been widely reported that Spurs are on the look for a midfield addition in January and several outlets have claimed over recent weeks that AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders is near the top of the North London club’s wishlist (TBR Football).

Fabrizio Romano provides Tijjani Reijnders update

The Dutchman has been exceptional since his move from AZ Alkmaar to Milan last year, having established himself as a mainstay in the Rossoneri midfield.

The Serie A club were always expected to do their utmost to hold on to the Netherlands international, and it has now emerged that they have made some progress in their efforts to do so.

According to Fabrizio Romano, talks over a new deal between Milan and Reijnders are now progressing, with the club considering the midfielder to be a key part of their project.

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Transfer speculation might be a ploy from Reijnders’ entourage

We often see a noticeable increase in transfer speculation when players are in talks with their clubs over a new deal, which is the case with Reijnders as well.

This is not a coincidence as agents often tend to feed rumours to the press in an effort to strengthen their position during the negotiations.

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust is pleased to see that the club have listened to their views on ticketing for Spurs’ upcoming Carabao Cup quarterfinal against Manchester United.

Tottenham’s controversial ticketing decisions

Some of the decisions that Spurs have made over recent months on ticket prices have not been well received by parts of the fan base, with their decision to remove senior concessions being the most controversial.

The club’s decision to price their upcoming Europa League clash against AS Roma as at Category C level also received some pushback, with THST asking the club to reconsider their call.

However, the Trust are happy that the Spurs hierarchy have listened to their request for the Carabao Cup quarterfinal.

Tottenham’s decision on clash against Man Utd

Spurs will take on Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 19 for a place in the final four of the Carabao Cup.

The club have decided to stick with the same price as the tickets for the previous round, which means that adults will have to pay £37 and those under 18 will have to pay just £10 for a ticket.

Here is how THST reacted to the announcement:

A good gesture by Spurs

The club would have likely sold out the allocation even if they had priced the tickets higher, given the magnitude of the game and the quality of the opposition.

It is a good gesture by Spurs to show some consideration for the fans on this occasion, and there is no doubt that the stadium is going to be rocking on December 19.

Dominic Solanke joined Tottenham in early August in a move that raised eyebrows amongst fans for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the amount of time it took for Spurs to sign a much-needed striker had many convinced that their targets were busy at international tournaments, and so they had to wait for their return to their clubs. Yet Solanke wasn’t part of Gareth Southgate’s last-ever England squad at Euro 2024.

Another aspect that was questioned was the 27-year-old’s club-record £65 million price tag (transfermrkt). Yes, Solanke hit brilliant form in the campaign previous, scoring 19 goals and assisting three while appearing in all 38 Premier League matches for Bournemouth (WhoScored?). But that had been the first time Solanke finished a season with a league goal tally in double-figures outside of the Championship.

Ange Postecoglou’s man

So why did Spurs spend all that time and money on the signature of Dominic Solanke? Ange Postecoglou was desperate to bring him to North London.

When asked earlier in the season about the signing, Postecoglou said “The reality was that Dom is the one that I wanted. It took the whole summer to get him in, but he was the one that fitted the profile that we wanted.” (Daily Mail)

Postecoglou decided that Solanke was the perfect player to lead his attacking line, not only for his goalscoring ability, but also his ability to press intensely, his impressive fitness, and his comfortability in dropping back to win the ball back at times. And it’s fair to say Solanke has showcased all these strengths in a Tottenham shirt already.

Slow beginnings for Solanke

Solanke suffered something of a slow start to life at Tottenham, battling a lack of fitness and an ankle injury, the England international didn’t bag his first league goal until the end of September in a 3-1 victory over Brentford (transfermarkt).

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Postecoglou was quick to dispel any early criticism saying “People are just so quick to judge, mate. It’s a small sample,” when asked about his slow start (BBC).

Solanke’s improvement has been more than evident in the past few weeks. The striker has racked up seven goal contributions in 13 appearances for Tottenham so far this season. While there is certainly more room for improvement with those numbers, they aren’t in any way poor, and his eye for goals was certainly unleashed at the weekend against Aton Villa, his performance hailed as “unbelievable” by Ange Postecoglou (Irish Independent).

Off-the-ball brilliance

Where Solanke has shone the most in recent weeks is his work off the ball. It has been key in Tottenham’s attacking improvements this season. His ever-determined press gives a sharp edge to Spurs’ notorious high-line, while his ability to track back and turn the ball over quickly, not too unlike Harry Kane, has added to Spurs’ clinical counter-attacking tendencies.

While it can be argued that Tottenham’s slight improvements in set-piece defending this season, having only conceded directly from two, can partly be owed to the addition of Dominic Solanke’s dominating stature. It’s these strengths that have proved Solanke the valuable missing link that makes this Tottenham side their most effective.

The Difference a year can make

Spurs spent last season with a mixture of Heung-Min Son and Richarlison up front, scoring 29 goals between them (transfermarkt), but they lacked these off-the-ball strengths that Solanke now brings in heaps.

Last season, Postecoglou brought his high-pressing philosophy to Tottenham, but it was seen all too many times that if the opposition found a way to beat their press, Spurs would find themselves in trouble.

The addition of Solanke transforms the effectiveness of this pressing system, and if the press is beaten, teams are finding it harder to race off on the counterattack thanks to Solanke’s ability to track back with the rest of the team. What Dominic Solanke brings to Tottenham could quickly become invaluable as he has the ability to harden the structure of Postecoglou’s system.

Tottenham must be careful

While Dominic Solanke is quickly becoming one of the most important players at Tottenham, it’s pivotal that Spurs don’t overwork the former Bournemouth star. This became clear quite early on when Solanke came from the south-coast club having appeared in every single league game for them last season, only to pick up an ankle injury on his debut for Tottenham.

Spurs’ injury woes seen last season have certainly transferred over to this campaign with Son, Wilson Odobert, Cristian Romero, Mickey Van de Ven, and worryingly Richarlison all picking up injuries already this season.

Tottenham cannot risk losing Solanke for a long period of time given what he brings as they look to pick up consistent results throughout the Winter months. If Solanke can stay injury-free and continue performing, there is no doubt he can be one of the signings of the season.

Tottenham’s former scout, Bryan King, who is still well-connected at the club, believes that the Lilywhites should not hesitate to offer one of their stars a new contract.

Tottenham’s U-turn on the future of key man

It was reported by GiveMeSport on Tuesday that Spurs had done a U-turn on Heung-min Son‘s future and decided not to offer him the South Korean a long-term deal for the time being.

Instead, the club allegedly decided that they would simply activate the one-year option in their captain’s contract, thus taking the deal to 2026.

This information was backed up by TBR Football, who revealed that the South Korean’s camp was shocked by Tottenham‘s U-turn as all parties seemed aligned during the initial contract discussions.

Bryan King disagrees with Spurs’ decision

Bryan King believes that Tottenham should not think twice about offering Son a two-year deal on fresh terms if the forward is willing to commit his future to the club.

The former Spurs scout pointed out that the deal will also make business sense for the North London club, given the 32-year-old’s star power.

Reacting to Tottenham’s U-turn on Son’s contract, King told Tottenham News: “I think Spurs should be asking Son if he wants to finish his career with the club.

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“Here is a brand-new two-year deal, and if the one year goes well, we take up the second year or if you want to go, we release you.

“There are a lot of Korean supporters that come over for Spurs’ matches, which will be very lucrative. Therefore, keeping him around for as long as possible makes a lot of sense.”

The hold-up might be temporary

Spurs may have simply decided to put off the negotiations for a few months, possibly due to the fact that they are currently in talks with potential investors (The Mirror).

Son remains one of Tottenham’s most important players and he is now the face of the club. It would be extremely surprising if the club does not offer him a new long-term deal before the end of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur and two other Premier League clubs who are circling over a South American star have been told that they will not be able to sign the player on a discount.

Next big export from Argentina?

Boca Juniors are one of the most storied clubs in South American football and have produced several players who have gone on to be superstars in the European and world game.

It now appears like winger Kevin Zenon might be the club’s next big export to Europe, with the 23-year-old winning several admirers with his displays in the Argentine top-flight.

Tottenham are thought to be one of the clubs following the Boca star closely but it has now emerged that a deal might not be as cheap as the Lilywhites thought.

Boca’s stance on Kevin Zenon

This latest update comes from LM Neuquen (as translated by Sport Witness), who named Spurs, Aston Villa and Newcastle United as the three clubs who are eyeing Zenon ahead of the January window.

The report says that the Magpies have even sent emissaries to closely observe the wide-man, who now looks like he will be heading to Europe sooner rather than later.

However, it is pointed out that Boca will not be letting their star man leave on the cheap, with the outlet pointing out that the Argentine club even rejected an offer of $18m (£13.9m) from Hoffenheim for the player.

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They say that the Premier League trio would thus have to come up with an ‘attractive offer’ to convince Boca, although they do not state how highly Zenon is valued.

Does Zenon have a release clause in his contract?

This is not the first we are hearing of Tottenham‘s interest in Zenon but this report contradicts the information reported by various outlets over the last couple of months.

While reporting on Spurs’ interest in the winger, the likes of Fichajes and Pasion Futbol claimed that the Argentina Under-23 international has a $15m (£11.4m) release clause in his contract.

However, LM Neuquen’s claim about Hoffenheim’s rejected offer suggests that there is no such clause in the player’s contract.

David Pleat points out that Daniel Levy decided against cashing in on many of Tottenham’s stars in the past despite the club’s financial pressures, revealing that he could have got £85m for a player who the club eventually let go for free.

Tottenham’s financial pinch during the stadium build

Many Spurs fans understandably feel that Levy should have backed Mauricio Pochettino with funds around 2016 to 2018 and that his refusal to do so prevented the club from going the extra step and winning a Premier League title.

The Tottenham chairman would argue that the club were in the process of building a new stadium and that finances were always going to be tight during that period.

While there is no doubt that Levy has loosened the purse strings a little more over the last few years, there continues to be a sense of missed opportunity among the fan base, given how close the club were to having a special team under the Argentine coach.

David Pleat defends Daniel Levy

Pleat has now praised Levy‘s resolve to keep that team together, pointing out that the Tottenham chairman did something that refutes the perception that he puts profit over being successful on the pitch.

The former Spurs manager remarked that the club could have sold many of their top young players for massive profits at the time, and claimed that Levy even turned down £85m for Dele Alli despite the financial pressures of building a stadium.

Pleat told The Spurs Show: “There are some wonderful things Daniel (Levy) has done, to get the stadium running, to get the banks to help with the money.

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“When that stadium was being built we had, I remember it clearly, we had England players, Walker, Kane, Dier, Trippier, there was another, Dele Alli, Dele was £85m at one time we could’ve got, we had good collateral on the field.”

Levy knows his legacy will be judged by silverware

Even though Levy has elevated Tottenham both on and off the pitch during his time as chairman, the huge black mark on his reign is the fact that the Lilywhites have constantly failed at the final hurdles and failed to win trophies.

That is something the 62-year-old is well aware of, which is why he brought in ‘win-first’ managers like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, with those experiments backfiring spectacularly.

Part of the reason why Levy is reportedly determined to stay on as chairman even in the event of a minority sale is down to wanting to protect his legacy.

Inter Milan have now entered the race for a Tottenham Hotspur defender, who reportedly wants to leave the club in search of regular game time.

Spurs man proves his value to Ange Postecoglou

Radu Dragusin has had to wait patiently for his time to shine since his switch from Genoa almost a year ago.

The defender is now finally getting his opportunities due to Tottenham‘s injury woes, and he is certainly delivering, having produced flawless displays against Manchester City and Aston Villa over the past week. Unfortunately, those standards dipped somewhat against Galatasaray.

However, the speculation over his future continues to intensify as we get closer to the January window, with reports over recent weeks suggesting that both Juventus (Gazzetta dello Sport) and Napoli (Mirror) are plotting moves to take the player back to Serie A.

Inter Milan join the race for Rsdu Dragusin

InterLive have revealed that those two clubs have now been joined in the race for Dragusin‘s signature by Inter Milan, who are monitoring the Tottenham man closely.

The Nerazzurri reportedly believe that the 22-year-old is ‘looking for a new team’ as he is not happy with a fringe role at North London.

If Spurs do make the centre-back available for sale in January, it is said that Simone Inzaghi’s men are likely to make a move for the player.

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Tottenham will not shoot themselves in the foot

Dragusin is one of just three full-time centre-backs currently in the Tottenham squad, which is why it would be foolish for Ange Postecoglou‘s men to let him go.

Given Van de Ven’s injury record, the former Genoa man will undoubtedly have an important role to play this season.

David Pleat has been speaking about the Tottenham academy players who failed to fulfil their potential, revealing that he once thought Spurs had the next Christian Eriksen on their hands.

Tottenham have not brought enough players through

Not enough players have come through the Tottenham academy to make a real mark on the first team over the last decade or so.

During that time, only Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Andros Towsend and Oliver Skipp have had any sort of consistent success at the top level.

However, that now appears to be changing, with many feeling that a golden generation of Tottenham youngsters is now on the cusp of breaking into the senior set-up.

David Pleat says many youngsters underachieved

Tottenham’s former recruitment consultant David Pleat has now admitted that many of the youngsters who came through the ranks at Spurs failed to fulfil their potential.

The 79-year-old admitted that he was particularly excited about Alex Pritchard, revealing that he thought the midfielder would become as good as Eriksen.

When asked about underachieving Spurs youngsters, Pleat said on The Spurs Show: “There are so many others. I remember (Nabil) Bentaleb the midfielder who played the odd game. (Adam) Smith at Bournemouth, they have all had good careers.

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“Pritchard. I thought at one point that Pritchard would be another Eriksen, he did very well in academy games. Of course, (Ryan) Mason who we sold to Hull played so well with Harry Kane, they played well together.”

Prtichard’s career a cautionary tale

When Pritchard was coming through the ranks at Tottenham, many at the club considered him to be the best talent in his age group.

He and Tom Carroll were the real stand-out players in that group but the likes of Harry Kane, Andros Townsend, Steven Caulker, and Adam Smith have all gone on to have better careers.