Cartilage Free Captain

Do you feel you are poorly evaluated?

Since people can’t quite figure me out, they don’t put me in any particular category of players. Someone made a compilation of me this summer. When he was done, he said: “You’re actually a really good player.” (Laughs.) You see? You have to sit down for ninety minutes and try to analyze, to understand, why I did this or attempted that. And at the end, you make your judgment. I like to take risks. Which no longer exists in today’s football, where everyone plays it safe. People will tell me: “Your pass completion rate isn’t at the level of the great midfielders.” OK, but I have one argument: I take more risks. I’ve missed. Does that mean that technically, I’m weaker than them? I don’t know.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Do you want creative football?

But that’s exactly why I started playing football! I don’t like sitting in front of my TV saying: wow, he’s really good, and then when I’m on the pitch, not trying to do the same. I’m genuinely tired of hearing: “OK, he’s too good, he does this and that.” Then do it! We have the incredible privilege of being out there. Let’s try! I’m not saying you should attempt impossible things. But I don’t want to say: I’m not going to try because I’m afraid of failing.

Joao Palhinha kept the season alive as Tottenham Hotspur snuck past last-place Wolves, but the journey is far from over. West Ham remains two points ahead with four matches to go, and it no longer seems like even 40 points is a safe mark this year. Just getting there would require a 2-1-1 closing for Spurs, and with a trip to Stamford Bridge still looming, it essentially requires points from each of the other three fixtures.

That seems…unlikely, but survival was always going to require some luck. Sunday’s trip to Aston Villa represents the toughest remaining opponent in terms of table position, though Unai Emery’s side is dealing with the Europa League semis and questionable league form, having won just two of its last eight fixtures (both victories coming at home, however). Tottenham is not favored, but points must be earned somehow.

Match Details

Date: Sunday, May 3

Time: 2:00 pm ET, 7:00 pm UK

Location: Villa Park, Birmingham

TV: USA Network (US), TNT Sports 1 (UK)

Table: Spurs (18th, 34 pts), Villa (t-4th, 58 pts)

Spurs have had mixed results against Villa, but the recent stretch has not been kind. After a 4-1 win in November 2024 (following that impressive 4-0 trouncing the March before), it has been four straight losses in this head-to-head, including FA Cup eliminations in consecutive seasons. The reverse league fixture saw Rodrigo Bentcanur score in the opening five minutes before Villa came back to win 2-1 in North London.

Two Things to Watch

Expecting little

The first three matches under Roberto De Zerbi have done little to suggest the attack will reach his desired levels of fluidity. With three goals scored and an average xG under 1.0, it is fair to question if Spurs are simply unable to score enough to avoid relegation, even if the defense is miraculously improved (which is obviously a fantasy in itself).

Theoretically, the Villa defense is exploitable, sitting right next to Spurs in xGA this season, despite allowing the sixth-fewest actual goals. Three of the past six league opponents have found the back of the net at least three times each, though the other three contests during that stretch featured a total of two goals conceded. Most recent battles between these sides have seen modest scoring, and that feels like a safe bet again.

Much of this comes from Tottenham’s ever-dwindling list of healthy attackers. With Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons joining the crowded infirmary, good luck finding any sort of consistent attack. Richarlison, Mathys Tel, Lucas Bergvall, and Randal Kolo Muani are just about the only options, so there are going to be a ton of longballs that hopefully yield a lucky bounce in the final third.

Weekly Intangibles Update

To recap: Opta (an imperfect source, but at least a reasonable one), has West Ham at 40.2 points, with Leeds (45.7) and Forest (44.0) safe from the fray. The Hammers’ trip to the Gtech on Saturday is massive, especially since Spurs will know their standing ahead of the trip to Villa Park. While a draw (or loss) provides an opportunity to, at least temporarily, escape the drop zone, a West Ham win gives Spurs essentially no wiggle room.

Obviously, there is no result on Saturday that lowers the importance of Tottenham’s own fixture, but the gravity of seeing West Ham up five points does not sound great. Assuming equal results against Leeds, that would mean Spurs would need to win two of its other three matches in order to match the Hammers’ theoretical 42-point tally, and since one of those is against Chelsea, suddenly Villa is basically a must win.

Thankfully the home side will not be saying the same thing. Overcoming the 1-0 deficit to Forest in the Europa semis is the primary focus now with an eight-point cushion in the Champions League places, so perhaps Emery will mercifully deploy some rotation over the weekend. Wolves did not exactly roll over last Saturday, but hey, I would much rather face teams with nothing to play for than those still in the hunt. If talent is not enough to get Tottenham over the line, maybe desperation will be.

Good morning everyone -

Saturday marks the final day in the EFL Championship regular season and there’s a tonne to play for. The relegation picture is already sorted: Oxford United, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday are all going down.

At the opposite end of the table, there’s everything to play for. The only certainty is that Coventry are going up. The rest? Not so much.

Ipswich Town, Millwall and Middlesbrough are fighting for the second automatic spot. Two of those clubs will fight with Southampton for seeding in the playoffs. And Wrexham, Hull City and Derby County are all fighting for the sixth spot.

Here’s a quick look at the table:

Coventry (92 Pts) (C)

Ipswich Town (81 Pts, +30 GD) (X)

Millwall (80 Pts, +13 GD) (X)

Middlesbrough (79 Pts, +25 GD) (X)

Southampton (76 Pts, +24 GD) (X)

Wrexham (70 Pts, +4 GD)

Hull (70 Pts, +3 GD)

Derby County (69 Pts, +9 GD)

Now let’s get on with your Matchday 46 viewing guide:

Wrexham vs Middlesbrough: By far the biggest game of the weekend and the one with the biggest permutations. A Wrexham winends Boro’s automatic hopes and secures the Red Dragons a playoff spot, bringing Rob and Ryan’s Premier League dreams one step closer.

Ipswich Town vs QPR: The maths here is pretty simple. Ipswich win and they’re going up. QPR are pretty bad and have lost three in a row. Ipswich Town have the second best home record in the league.

Millwall vs Oxford United: This might be a tougher game for Millwall than you’d expect. Oxford United are coming off a 4-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday even after going down, so I don’t think they’ll be pushovers. Plus recent history suggests Millwall find a way to stumble at the end of the season. Is Alex Neil’s side any different?

Preston NE vs Southampton: There could be worse ways for Southampton to end their season than with a trip to Deepdale. The best they can achieve is fourth which comes with an advantage in the playoffs, but is it worth risking injury to players?

Hull vs Norwich: This is a tough one for Hull to end the season with. Norwich sit ninth in the table and have won three of their last five. But the big question is if they’ll be “on the beach” so to speak. You can probably ask the same question for many of the clubs playing this weekend.

Derby County vs Sheffield United: Derby County have had a remarkable season and surprisingly are in the mix for the playoffs. They’ll need some help though. A point is good enough only if Wrexham and Hull both lose. A win also is only good enough if neither Wrexham nor Hull win.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Why Don’t You, by Squeeze

And now for your links:

No links today as fitzie is on holiday —

There’s been a lot of smoke in the air over the future of Gugliemo Vicario at Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, it’s probably safe to say that Googly Elmo is almost certain to leave the club this summer if a good transfer figure can be worked out. Vicario, who is currently recovering from a lower abdominal surgery, an injury he’s been carrying for much of this season, has reportedly wanted to return to Italy to continue his career. Can’t hardly blame him for that, considering Spurs have about a 50% chance of being relegated to the Championship.

Pursuant to those existing rumors, Gazzetta dello Sport has a report out yesterday that says Vicario and his agent have already reached a deal on personal terms with Inter Milan. Now, “agreement on personal terms” doesn’t mean that much when Inter would still need to come to an agreement with Tottenham for his transfer fee, but somehow that doesn’t feel like a significant hurdle to overcome. That said, the article states that Inter are “cheering” for Spurs to get relegated, presumably because that might lead to a reduced fee compared to what might be demanded if Spurs stay up. It also depends on what happens with current Inter #1 Josep Martinez, who appears to be undecided on whether he’ll leave the club or not; he’s apparently linked with a move to Girona this summer.

Antonin Kinsky has shown to be a bright spot for Spurs between the sticks after his disastrous Champions League first leg appearance vs. Atletico Madrid. He hasn’t yet had a ton to do but has made some important saves in Spurs’ last three matches. The idea of selling Vicario meanwhile hasn’t proven to be that unpopular with the Spurs faithful, who have been critical of Elmo for some dodgy matches and a weakness in distribution and controlling his area.

Should Vicario go, and that does feel pretty likely at this point, Spurs will have a decision to make — either go with Kinsky as their #1 and purchase someone like Leeds English veteran Karl Darlow as a homegrown backup, or go big for an established starter this summer. No matter what there’s going to be some massive changes to the club this summer, and keeper feels like one of the positions that will see some change.

This season has been one of real promise for Tottenham Hotspur Women under Martin Ho, but it looks like it will also be a summer of great transition. Tottenham already announced the departures of club legend Kit Graham, along with Charli Grant, Amy James-Turner, Luana Bühler, and Josefina Rybrink. Now they’re losing their club captain and talisman, Bethany England. Beth will depart this summer at the conclusion of her Tottenham contract.

When Tottenham signed Beth England in January 2023, it was a massive statement of intent for a club that had up to that point never seemed to find its feet in the WSL. This was a major, major signing at the time — Spurs plonked down £250k to purchase Beth from Chelsea, a pittance compared to the transfer fees in the men’s game, but a signing that was at the time the WSL inter-league record transfer fee. Spurs hoped Beth would kick-start the team into greater relevance in the league, and Spurs fans hoped this was just the beginning of what would be a massive investment in the women’s team.

The first part turned out to be true. In England’s four seasons at Spurs she has scored 32 league goals (38 in all competitions) and was a huge part of Spurs making the FA Cup final two seasons ago. She quickly became club captain and was a catalyst for a lot of excellent things that happened under Robert Vilahamn and Martin Ho. After yesterday’s departures, there was some hope that the 31-year-old England was considering signing a contract extension at Spurs, but that appears to have been misguided — it’s likely the club wanted to give their captain a special solo sending off today, and that seems both right and fair.

The promised and hoped-for investment in the club never really panned out, though. While the club has refreshed itself, mostly under Ho this season, and is playing some of its best-ever football, the signing fees have been modest and Spurs have not invested at the rate we thought would happen. That’s a shame, because England could’ve been surrounded by more and better players while she was here, considering the state of finances in the WSL.

Even so, England’s impact at Tottenham should not be discounted. She proved not only be a fantastic leader and goal-scorer, but also a fan favorite, despite her tenure at Chelsea. She leaves Tottenham as the club’s all-time leading goal scorer in the WSL era (stats from Spurs Women’s early days are difficult to track down). She’s as close as Spurs Women may get to a Harry Kane-like figure.

There’s no indication on what Beth will do next, but there’s no question she’ll have plenty of options and opportunities to continue her career, if she wants to do so. She also leaves Spurs in better hands than when she joined — Tinka Tandberg seems poised to fill her role as dynamic scoring forward, and Spurs will hopefully use Beth’s departure to make a big splash in the summer transfer window. At least that’s the hope.

England has been an incredible and devoted servant to the club. I’ll greatly miss her and her blonde topknot, but will follow her career wherever it takes her. She deserves all the plaudits from Spurs fans coming her way.

Thanks for everything, Beth.

Good morning everyone!

Your hoddler-in-chief will be heading to Mexico for a short holiday. The big question is will he be able to watch the Tottenham game this Saturday. Also, does he want to wake up at 6.30am during his holiday for it?

Those questions remain to be answered.

But I wanted to write a quick hoddle anyways before fitzie takes flight today and because I want to spend a little bit of time on Friday’s hoddle.

So use this time to write about your holidays, vacations, thoughts on the Boreham Wood vs Forest Green match, or wherever your heart leads.

I leave you with a nice song by James Taylor, who hasn’t been featured in a Track of the Day for a while. It’s a lovely, soothing song that’s been in my mind these last handful of days. Enjoy it.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Mexico, by James Taylor

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “The BookKeeper: Exploring Tottenham’s worsening finances and how much relegation would hurt”

Tottenham Hotspur Women announced that Kit Graham, Amy James-Turner, Luana Buhler, Josefine Rybrink and Charli Grant will depart the club at the end of the 2025-26 season.

All these players have had their moments in the sun for Spurs, but I don’t think any of this is hugely surprising. Kit has hardly featured under Martin Ho and went on loan to Ipswich Town in January. Charli Grant and Josefine Rybrink haven’t featured much recently either, and Amy James-Turner and Luana Buhler haven’t featured at all for personal reasons and injury respectively. It’s still a decent number of the squad to let go, and we can only hope Spurs are working hard to secure their replacements in the summer.

I want to spend some extra time talking about Kit because she was one of my favorite players to watch when I first started following Spurs Women. It got me right in the feels when Kit spoke about how much she enjoyed journeying through the WSL with Ashleigh Neville in her goodbye interview (which you can read here).

Kit joined (somewhat contentiously) from Charlton 7 years ago as an “unnamed trialist”. She grew to be a core part of the Rehanne Skinner side that finished 5th in the WS until a devastating ACL injury in November that kept her out for over a year. Before the injury, she looked like one of the most creative players in the league. When she came back, Spurs had lost a great deal of that team – Rachel Williams gone to United, Maéva Clemaron back to Switzerland, and Ria Percival also on the sidelines with an ACL injury. Spurs were in the midst of a winless streak and a relegation scrap, and there wasn’t much time or space for her to get back up to speed.

Vilahamn used her as a defensive midfielder at times, notably in our iconic North London Derby win against Arsenal, but then Kit did her ACL again immediately before Vilahamn’s second season, and never really featured much for Spurs again. Kit brought us a lot of joy in those early WSL days, but I know a lot of us will always wonder where she and Spurs would be without those knee injuries. Luckily, she’s currently rebounding on loan at Ipswich, who she has helped guide to safety in the WSL2.

So here’s wishing Kit, Amy, Luana, Josefine and Charli all the best for the future, we absolutely loved having you all!

Tottenham Hotspur Women drew 0-0 against Manchester United on Sunday. The game was much more even than previous renditions of the matchup, and Spurs were unlucky to come out of it with only one point.

There were a couple surprises in the lineup. Bethany England missed out on the squad due to a knock, and Eveliina Summanen was on the bench. Ella Morris came in for Hanna Wijk (who missed out due to an MCL injury), a big call considering Ella had only played 15 competitive minutes since her ACL injury last year. Otherwise, injuries late in the season have left Martin Ho with a squad that basically selected itself.

Spurs started with a solid spell of possession that failed to turn into more. A flurry of shots leading in the 13th minute ended with the ball rolling wide on a deflection. After a winter of disorganization, Ho’s cobbled-together defense finally looked organized tidying up after United’s spells of attack. United only registered one off-target shot in the first half. Spurs had a spell of (largely set piece) activity in United’s box toward the end of the half but couldn’t capitalize on that, either.

The second half was similar. Spurs were solid in possession but wasteful in the final third. Signe Gaupset rolled one slightly wide in the 65th minute after Spurs took a dangerous free kick, and minutes later, Drew Spence put a shot wide of the back post. Ho only made two substitutions in the match. Lenna Gunning-Williams came on for Tinka Tandberg in the 81st minute, and Eveliina Summanen replaced Olivia Holdt (who looked to be suffering with what I hope was just a calf cramp) in the 90th minute.

Thoughts

It was good to see the team clicking again, albeit against an exhausted-looking United side who have had to balance the Champions League on top of all the other games teams normally play. Spurs outshot United 22(5) - 10(3). It was a shame so few of those were on target, but it is promising to see Spurs string together a performance in which they possessed the ball and created chances while also limiting the opponent.

Ella Morris was incredible against United. I was a bit worried seeing her in the starting lineup since she didn’t look herself in her short cameo against Chelsea, but I think it’s safe to say she’s back. She dominated up and down the right wing in both attack and defense, and she looked lively and explosive. At one point I even saw her nutmeg United’s Rolfö (and worth noting Olivia Holdt got in her cheeky nutmeg on Rolfö as well). I’m absolutely thrilled about this. Ella was one of the only bright points in that abysmal 24/25 season, and I loved watching her. Now we just need to make sure she stays healthy and on the pitch!

Looking Ahead

There are two matches left in the season – London City Lionesses and Brighton. Our squad is somewhat depleted, and both our opponents have been flying high (Brighton in particular beat Manchester City over the weekend, not many teams get to say that). Winning both games may be tough, but I’ll be looking for Spurs to continue some of the positive patterns we’ve seen before hopefully strengthening over the summer.

Good morning everyone! It isn’t May yet, but I can’t help but look towards it. I’m sure we all are anyways.

It’s the run-in until the end of the season and, in just a few weeks, we’ll learn whether or not Tottenham Hotspur will be in the Premier League next season.

This time I want to do things a little different and see how Tottenham’s run-in compares to West Ham. Regardless of how you view it, one thing is for certain: Spurs have very few attacking options.

Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons are both now out for the season. What options does that leave us with? Richarlison and Mathys Tel, which is a lot to ask for.

Spurs currently sit two points back of West Ham and both play against Leeds. Could that really be the determining factor?

Then it seems as if both will lose their respective matches to Chelsea and Arsenal. That leaves a pair of wildcard matches in Aston Villa and Everton, and Brentford and Newcastle. Both pairs feature to faltering clubs (Villa and Newcastle) and two who are inconsistent yet fighting for European places (Everton and Brentford).

It’s a strange profile of a run-in, but that’s where I feel we are with both.

Tottenham Hotspur men’s schedule: at Aston Villa (3 May); Leeds (11 May); at Chelsea (17 May); Everton (24 May)

West Ham men’s schedule: at Brentford (2 May); Arsenal (10 May); at Newcastle (17 May); Leeds (24 May)

I still don’t want us to forget about the women’s squad, whose season is also coming to a close. It’s been a much more successful season for Spurs women. They’ll clinch fifth place with a point in their remaining two games against London City and Brighton. But I think it’ll be a good test regardless to see how Spurs perform against the sixth- and seventh-placed teams in the league right now.

Tottenham Hotspur women’s schedule: London City (3 May); at Brighton (16 May)

Fitzie’s track of the day: No Springtime, by Allison Russell

And now for your links:

Matt Law: “Tottenham’s survival hopes could be hit by Solanke injury”

Football London: “Dominic Solanke injury update sees Tottenham nightmare go from bad to worse”

BBC: “Why Mourinho could be Real’s ‘ultimate wildcard’”

The Independent: “Brighton unveil plans for Europe’s first purpose-built women’s football stadium”

Here’s a smidgen of good news in what’s otherwise been a pretty crappy day in Tottenham Hotspur-land. Oxford United might have been relegated from the Championship back to League One, but young Tottenham striker Will “BIG WILLY LANKS” Lankshear has had a pretty phenomenal year for them on loan. He’s earned the club’s Golden Boot award, and was named Oxford Young Player of the Year.

Oxford (obviously) were not a very good team. They played terrorist defensive football before sacking their manager midseason. They weren’t especially great after that either, but Lankshear was one of the bright spots in their season. The 21-year-old Lankshear scored a team-high 11 league goals for Oxford from an xG of 10.64, five more goals than the next closest player, and had two assists, good enough for fifth on the team. 10 of his 11 goals came from inside the box, and he proved himself adept at finding space and opportunities inside the opposition area despite Oxford being 22nd in the Championship in goals scored and 19th in xG.

Lankshear is an intelligent box striker, adept at movement, excellent at timing his runs, and pretty clinical with his finishing for a young player without any top flight experience. Oxford may have gone down while he was there, but this was a very encouraging loan for Lankshear, and it would not at all surprise me if he locks down a reserve place in Tottenham’s first team next season whether or not Spurs are relegated. But Spurs will need to invest in a couple of midfielders who know how to pass the ball first, or like Richarlison, he’ll struggle to make an impact.