Cartilage Free Captain

Your hoddler-in-chief will be travelling to his native california for the holiday season.that means we’ll be short of timely links for you link-hungry commenters. but i am endeavouring my darnedest to ensrue you get a little morsel of links for your link-hungry appetite. it might not be spurs, it might not be football. but it’ll be a link. and, by fitzie, you will not care one bit. now, onto the hoddle

We’re near the end of the new year which means it’s time to check in on fitzie’s favourite songs of 2025. I had a hard time figuring out my top songs of the year, and the 2025 edition features only half the songs from 2024. Is this because of the industry’s output, or your hoddler-in-chief’s insulation from the industry? I think the latter.

Regardless, there was a lot of good music this year. Much of it probably passed by your hoddler-in-chief. But we still found 10 songs that warranted singling out. So here we go - here are fitzie’s top 10 songs of 2025:

No.10: La Perla, by Rosalia

Rosalia bursted onto the scene this year with her fourth studio album. I’m a little surprised by how much I like this particular one. It doesn’t quite feature the Latin beat that we usually get, and maybe that’s why I find it so refreshing.

No.10: 9, Manchild, by Sabrina Carpenter

This is pretty much Sabrina Carpenter’s answer to Chapell Roan’s Good Luck Babe. It doesn’t hit as hard as that track. It isn’t as good, frankly. Nor is it as good as Espresso, the 2024 Summer Song (and a feature in fitzie’s top 20 last year).

But dammit, it’s catchy. And that gives Sabrina Carpenter a place again in Fitzie’s top tracks.

No. 8: Cry, by Haim

Okay, I’ll admit Haim’s fourth album didn’t quite live up to expectations. It’s hard to after the huge success of Women In Music Part III, so I try my best to distinguish the two. The biggest bright spot is Este Haim’s turn in the spotlight carrying lead vocals. She does a really nice job with this pop track. I like it a lot. And I don’t care if you dislike it. It’s my top 10.

No. 7: Dense Phantasy, by Aaron Parks

The lone jazz song in fitzie’s top ten songs of the year. It sounds the closest to the Blue Note series your hoddler-in-chief fell in love with. I’m glad this kind of jazz still exists.

And I’m glad we have people like Aaron Parks still playing it.

No. 6: Lou Reed was my Babysitter, by Jeff Tweedy

Jeff Tweedy is back with a new record, and one that feature some of his tightest songwriting yet. This entry pays homage to Lou Reed (an easy way to win over the hoddler-in-chief). This song, more than six minutes, might not make it to the airwaves, but it sounds very Lou Reed not just from the lyrics but also the construction of the melody. It’s Lou Reed.

We shouldn’t be too worried about how much this song sounds like Lou Reed. He was Jeff Tweedy’s babysitter, after all.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Lou Reed was my Babysitter, by Jeff Tweedy

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “Even Cristian Romero’s most ardent advocates can’t defend his latest act of petulance”

The Times: “Haim on Relationships, our song of the year: ‘It took almost ten years’”

NPR: “Rosalía’s LUX is NPR Music’s No. 1 album of 2025”

Mojo: “Jeff Tweedy’s Favourite Albums Of The Year”

What a weird, spirited, disappointing, strangely encouraging match that was. Tottenham Hotspur outplayed what was a pretty garbage Liverpool performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, but couldn’t get out of their own way. Xavi Simons picked up a stupid VAR-upgraded red for a rash challenge on Virgil van Dijk, Cuti Romero picked up a second yellow (also bull) late and was also sent off, Liverpool scored a goal that never should’ve counted, there was some of the worst refereeing I’ve ever seen in professional football, and Tottenham still nearly got a result, rallying late and nearly equalizing while down two men. The final score was a 1-2 loss, but for once the anger I was feeling was not because of how Tottenham Hotspur played football under Thomas Frank.

Steve Martin is, and will forever be, my favorite comedian. I grew up listening to his early ‘70s absurdist, banjo-centric stand-up on LP, and have followed his career ever since I was a kid from smoky comedy club stages to movies and to his professional bluegrass music career. One summer when I was in my early teens my older brother and I set out to watch (on VHS!) every movie that Steve’s been in, starting with his cameos in The Muppet Movie and the awful Movers and Shakers to his rom-com hits of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. We were successful, much to our incredibly patient parents’ chagrin, and it cemented our love and respect for his comedy chops, physical comedy gifts, and timing.

The idea for this theme came from another reader whom I can’t remember, but it’s a good one and I thank whomever it was for sending me back down memory lane. Since our summer movie marathon, Martin has been in so many more movies so it makes this one of those super large categories that can’t be properly contained in a five-star Tottenham Hotspur player review system. But dammit, I’m going to give it my best shot, though I’ll limit it to movies that he’s had a starring or major supporting role in and not just a cameo.

Here are your Tottenham Hotspur player ratings to the theme of Steve Martin movies.

There are other Steve Martin that are more popular, and several that are higher rated by movie-goers, but for me Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is Steve Martin at the peak of his film comedy. Pairing Steve, playing a small-time con-man with Michael Caine, a sophisticated grifter, makes for some excellent comedic moments, especially the “Ruprecht” scenes. The plot is ridiculous, but Martin and Caine obviously had an incredible time making this movie and they play so well together. A masterpiece.

No Tottenham players in this category.

No Tottenham players in this category.

Steve does zany, physical comedy incredibly well, but he’s just as comfortable playing a straight man (see Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, which probably deserves to be on this list and yet isn’t) or a comedic foil. As he aged, he tended towards these kinds of roles; this is an earlier one and one of the best. Martin low-plays the jokes in this family comedy as a relatable dad. He doesn’t steal the show in this one, but he’s a wonderful cog in an ensemble cast that sells the premise.

Djed Spence (Community — 3.5): Pleased with Djed on this one. Got forward and behind Liverpool’s back line on a number of occasions. Three stand out — the one vs. Bradley that led to the bullshit foul call on him, the chip into the box for Kolo Muani’s header, and the should’ve-been-a-penalty shout that ended up a bullshit non-call.

Richarlison (Community — 4.0): Came out playing with an edge likely borne out by anger and frustration at the situation. Got shoved down in the box (no call, lol), got up immediately, and poked a ball home to give Spurs a chance. Had an equalizer blocked later on. Pru pru, motherf—ers.

I will always love The Jerk. Is it a perfect comedy movie? Nah. There are some jokes that were funny at the time that didn’t age well (although I will defend the “born a poor black child” who can’t dance scene to the death and it’s obvious he treats the bit with the social and racial respect it deserves) but the physical comedy and the sheer volume of yucks is off the scale and it has so many bits (“The phone books are here!” “I don’t need anyone… except this paddleball…” “He hates these cans! Stay away from the cans!”) that I still quote to my bewildered children decades later. One of the best movies from Steve’s “Wild and Crazy Guy” post-SNL era.

Pedro Porro (Community — 3.0): Looked sharp in the opening half hour but was significantly neutered going forward after Xavi’s red card. He’s frequently hot and cold on his delivery, and this time he was pretty lukewarm, but overall it was a decent outing.

Micky van de Ven (Community — 3.5): Did well to cover defensively, though he couldn’t quite get a touch on Isak’s goal. Ignore all the Liverpool trolls — that was a good sliding challenge on Isak and not at all dirty; sometimes injuries happen on clean challenges and that was one of them.

Randal Kolo Muani (Community — 3.0): Went close with a soft header in the first half, had a deflected shot off the crossbar in the second, and got into numerous dangerous positions. Happy with that performance, even if he needed to score one of them.

As a kid, this was one of Steve’s movies that I kept coming back to again and again. This was the very first collaboration with Martin’s long-time friend and co-conspirator Martin Short, along with Chevy Chase, who makes an odd third wheel, but one that remarkably works in a zany and stupid-in-a-good-way Mexican comedy. The jokes don’t always land, especially after nearly 30 years, but the ones that do REALLY do (I still use the phrase “Would you say you have a… plethora of piñatas?” in public. Those who know, know.)

Guglielmo Vicario (Community — 3.0): Yes, he was awful with the ball at his feet… again. Couldn’t really do anything to prevent either goal and had a few smart saves otherwise.

Rodrigo Bentancur (Community — 3.0): Worked his tail off in midfield, especially after Xavi’s red. No real complaints about him this time, which is a nice thing to say.

Archie Gray (Community — 3.0): Continue to be pleased with Archie’s progression in midfield this season. If nothing else, we can say that this is the year Archie turned into a good, useful player.

Lucas Bergvall (Community — 3.0): Interesting tactical wrinkle to play Lucas in the left-sided half-space in lieu of a true left winger. He tucked in a LOT and dragged defenders with him which gave Spence freedom to bomb forward. A workman-like match for him with little to show for it.

Thomas Frank (Community — 2.5): I don’t think you can judge Frank too harshly for this loss as really none of it was on him, there was historic referee ineptitude, and he actually got Spurs to outplay a pretty terrible Liverpool side. That said, I don’t think this performance told us too much either. Three stars feels fair.

Brennan Johnson (Community — 3.0): This felt like a match where Brennan’s unique skills could’ve made a difference from the beginning. As it was, he set up Richarlison for a chance and did his best while Spurs were down a man. Was this his farewell match before he fucks off to Palace?

Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau is one of the great comedy characters in movie history. If you’re going to make those movies you better get a lead that can knock it out of the park. The problem is that as good as Steve is at physical comedy, you can’t out-GOAT the GOAT. Steve didn’t have a lot of material to work with in this movie (or its sequel) but I think he realized he’ll never be funnier then Sellers and kind of phones it in.

Cuti Romero (Community — 2.0): His cheap pass and giveaway set up Isak for Liverpool’s first goal. I won’t get on him too much for the second yellow because of extenuating circumstances — John Brooks got so many things wrong (shove on Cuti for Liverpool’s second goal, bullshit dissent yellow card, failure to call a foul on Konate) that getting sent off feels unfair. But this wasn’t an especially good match for Spurs’ club captain irrespective of the sending off.

Joao Palhinha (Community — 2.5): Not much of an impact in this one, though we can thank his whiff in the box for setting up Richarlison.

Wilson Odobert (Community — 2.5): Tough for me to judge him too harshly since Spurs were down to nine men for much of his cameo, but I wanted to see a little more attacking with the ball.

I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn’t. A noir spoof starring Steve Martin directed by Carl Reiner? Yes please! And you can tell Steve also really wanted this to work. But this was a brilliant short film idea expanded out to movie-length and the bit falls a bit too flat, as do many of the jokes. A shame, as Martin seemed to really want this to work — you can tell he was really going for it here.

Mohammed Kudus (Community — 2.0): Seriously, what’s the point of this guy? Even before the sending off I was screaming at him slowing down in transitions, killing counterattack possibilities, and dribbling into trouble over and over and over. I wasn’t wild about his transfer at the time, and I’m even less wild about what he brings to this team now.

Xavi Simons (Community — 1.5): You don’t ruin the bit. What an incredibly stupid challenge to make on Van Dijk. I’d argue it was more of an orange card exacerbated by watching it slowed down on VAR, but I’m not arguing the sending off at all. It was rash, impetuous, and awful and even though the rest of the team came out firing afterwards, this was a Liverpool team there for the taking and Xavi tied one of Spurs’ hands behind its back.

Another family comedy with Steve as the comedic foil, but this time co-starring Queen Latifah as an escaped con who must convince people that the bumbling divorcee Martin is a “perfect romantic match” to avoid going back to prison. Latifah seems to be having a ball but nobody else in the theaters were. In contrast to The Jerk, the racial stereotype jokes were somewhat problematic then and especially are now.

John Brooks: I read after this match that this was just the fifth Premier League match this guy has officiated. He should not do another one. Words cannot express how uniformly awful this officiating was. I am generally not a “blame the ref” guy but in this case, I put about 65% of the loss on him and his stupid, insane decisions in a match that he had clearly lost control of. Don’t worry, I’m sure the PGMOL will issue an apology and make all of us feel better.

Universally considered the worst Steve Martin movie ever made, and who am I to say otherwise? Just a disaster from start to finish, and you can tell Steve phones this one in. Oh well, not every movie’s going to be a banger. But if you’re doing a Steve-O-Thon this holiday season, you can safely skip this one, I won’t tell.

No Tottenham Hotspur players were as bad as Mixed Nuts.

Little Shop of Horrors Memorial Non-Rating

Mathys Tel

Erik Lamela Memorial Shithouse Award

Richarlison: Given only for him squaring up to Szoboszlai after the goal to give him a little extra business. That’s a proper shithouse move for our shithouse pigeon.

We don’t have much of an update about Tottenham Hotspur co-Sporting Director Fabio Paratici and his potential departure to Fiorentina. News broke a couple of days earlier that La Viola, currently dead last in the Serie A table and looking set for relegation if they don’t complete a major turnaround, had approached Paratici (but crucially not Tottenham) to gauge his interest in becoming Fiorentina’s new Director of Football position.

So the update is not that Don Fabio has agreed to leave the club, but that Fiorentina are serious about it. A lot can yet happen, but this does appear to be A Thing.™

I am not a betting man, but if I were I’d probably say that this is very likely to happen. While it’s weird that Paratici would leave Spurs, a club that backed him during his ban from football-related activities and gave him work as a consultant, after only two months into his current position. That said, Fabio is Daniel Levy’s man — the offer to work alongside Johan Lange as a co-Sporting Director came from the former Chairman, and Levy was outed by the Lewis Kids this fall.

So that makes it potentially a complicated situation. Irrespective of whether Fabio wants to leave to return to Italy or not, you can also see where Paratici leaving would create a vacancy that could be filled by the new regime. Maybe that means this becomes fully Lange’s show, or maybe Spurs CEO Vinai Venkatesham would shuffle the deck chairs again, appoint an actual Director of Football, and again adjust Lange’s responsibilities. Maybe new appointment Rafi Moersen would have some sort of role also. We don’t know, but it could potentially be significant, especially with the January transfer window looming.

But that’s putting the cart in front of the horse. First things first, we need to know what Fabio wants to do. Romano makes it sound like he’s willing to leave to build Fiorentina back up, potentially from scratch, and as I said earlier that might have its appeal. Whatever happens, I hope it resolves quickly one way or the other, because major backroom disruptions right before a critical transfer window is troubling.

Thank goodness we have a Tottenham Hotspur Christmas jumper.

I can’t seem to find the link, but I do remember (either this year or the one before that) complaining that Spurs do not have a Christmas jumper. But they do this year. Here it is:

Here I am asking a few questions:

Why do we need “Merry Christmas” where the kit sponsor usually is?

Why is there a “COYS” where the Nike logo usually is?

Why is the club crest so darn cool?

Regardless of the above, I do enjoy the cleaner look behind this jumper. It’s too late for your hoddler-in-chief to sport this bad boy (he will be wearing a gray Christmas jumper with the sketch of a dinosaur sporting a red Santa hat - it’s actually tasteful), and it might be too late for you. But it isn’t too late for Pedro Porro, Beth England or Micky van de Ven.

I did a little more searching on the Spur shop and there’s also a cockerel snowglobe (cool!), a THFC ornament (ok), a pet Christmas jumper (why?), Christmas socks (not bad) and a Christmas stocking (not the best but sure why not).

All this is to say I will stick with my Tottenham Hotspur oven mitt that I bought more than a decade ago.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’, by Albert King

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “Thomas Frank’s unexpected Arne Slot chat in a corridor after defeat and what Romero told Bergvall”

Jack P-B ($$): “Tottenham lost at home again. But in the chaos there was unity”

Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Liverpool to North London in Spurs’ final fixture prior to Christmas. A combination of red and white colors gave a festive feel to a challenging match, as Spurs looked to secure their first Premier League win against the Reds in over two years. Thomas Frank made some big selection calls, bringing in young players Lucas Bergvall, Xavi Simons, and Archie Gray to start, but without fully going for it as he retained his Rodrigo Bentancur safety blanket. Arne Slot did similarly with Liverpool, as Alexander Isak started on the bench and Florian Wirtz started as Liverpool’s only real wide attacker.

A first half that lacked in quality also lacked in chances for both sides. Randal Kolo Muani possibly had the best opportunity of the first 45, heading a shot straight at Alisson after Djed Spence headed a Pedro Porro cross back across goal. Liverpool had an opportunity of their own, with Florian Wirtz forcing an excellent save from Guglielmo Vicario, the Italian pushing the ball wide with Liverpool attackers on hand for a tap-in. Outside of those two moments, however, the half was a pattern of failed transitions and poor giveaways.

The moment that really set the tone for the rest of the match though was a brain explosion from Xavi Simons. With Virgil van Dijk facing back towards his own goal, Xavi attempted to press and lunged in to try and win possession. He instead raked his studs down van Dijk’s calf, and after initially being shown a yellow by John Brooks, was deservedly shown a red after VAR intervened. Spurs were down to ten men, but still didn’t seem overawed by the challenge ahead, going into the half at nil-all.

Liverpool looked to make their numbers advantage count, making a half-time change and bringing in Alexander Isak for Conor Bradley. That change paid dividends with Isak opening the scoring. Cristian Romero played a shocking pass straight at a Liverpool player, with the ball falling to Hugo Ekitike. With the Spurs defense out of shape, Ekitike squared to Wirtz in space, who played in Isak, with the Swede finishing calmly past Vicario.

Brennan Johnson was brought on for Mohammed Kudus, with Thomas Frank trying to engineer a way back into the match for Spurs, with Kolo Muani soon going close. A driving, mazy run at the Liverpool defense almost created something out of nothing, with his deflected cross looping over Alisson and pinging off the crossbar as Johnson lurked. A looping effort at the other end though ended with a different result, as a header from Ekitike dropped into the top corner. Ekitike clearly shoved Romero, putting two hands into the Argentine’s back and sending him sprawling, but for some unknown reason the goal stood, with Romero seeing a yellow for showing his feelings on the ridiculous call.

More substitutions followed as Liverpool dropped deeper, seemingly comfortable in their two-goal lead until Richarlison narrowed the gap to one, latching onto a loose ball during a set piece scramble and finishing well past Alisson. The Brazilian forward was nearly in again as well, breaking in behind but unable to put a shot on target as three Liverpool defenders closed in on him.

Spurs’ mountain to climb though soon became an Everest as they went down to nine men. Romero was shown a second yellow for an ill-judged lash out at Ibrahima Konate. There wasn’t much in it, but it was stupid from Romero when on a yellow, and Brooks didn’t have much choice but to brandish the second caution. Even while down to nine, though, Spurs kept pushing for an equalizer - but none was forthcoming, and Spurs went down 1-2 in yet another home loss.

Reactions

Was this Thomas Frank’s Chelsea moment? The fight shown by Spurs and willingness to throw everything at the wall to try and get a result, even while down to nine men, was impressive. They didn’t let up, even when it seemed everything (including but not limited to the referee) was against them.

Speaking of which: my goodness, that was one of the most one-sided refereeing performances I’ve ever seen. The number of fouls awarded to Liverpool was absolutely ridiculous, with the Reds dropping left, right, and center, and John Brooks obliging. Of course, the same calls going the other way weren’t given, and Liverpool’s second goal should never have stood. Brooks will probably need an escort out of the stadium.

That said, Xavi Simon’s red card was absolutely the right call. An absolutely idiotic challenge from the Dutchman, who was nowhere near the ball, and now he’s suspended for three matches through the festive period. Dumb dumb dumb.

Dumb dumb dumb probably describes Romero’s second yellow well. Why do that, Cuti? Of course, he should never have been on a yellow in the first place.

Are Liverpool the worst team we’ve played this season? As bad as Spurs were, they were really bad, unable to push forward without leaving themselves completely open to transition opportunities - a number of which Spurs had but utterly failed to capitalize on.

On that point, Mohammed Kudus: What would you say you do here, exactly? Another in a list of frustrating performances. The guy can dribble. Dribbling is cool! But the dribbling was too often followed by a pass to nobody, an aimless cross, or a run out of play, and I lost count of the number of transitions he killed with poor decision making.

Where to from here for Spurs? They are going to be short-handed now going into the busiest period of the year. It’s not great timing, and the pressure is only going to increase on Frank. Here’s hoping the team use this as a galvanizing moment, as opposed to folding under said pressure.

COYS!

There’s a bit of a bombshell report out on social media, and now corroborated by English journalists, ahead of Spurs’ match against Liverpool today. Matteo Moretto broke the news that Tottenham’s co-Sporting Director Fabio Paratici is wanted by Serie A side Fiorentina to be their new Director of Football.

Apparently Fiorentina, currently last in Serie A with six points in 15 games and likely headed for relegation if they can’t engineer a great escape in the second half of the season, wants to bring the Don back to Italy on a five year deal.

Moretto’s report was later corroborated by Matt Law, though Law notably states that Spurs have not received an official approach from Fiorentina for Paratici. So that’s the official club line, though who actually knows!

Your reaction to this news is likely a Rorschach test for your Tottenham fandom. If you are of the opinion that the tandem duo of Johan Lange and Paratici are at the core of Tottenham’s misfortunes in building the current squad, the idea of Paratici going home to mama might not disappoint you too much! On the other hand, if Paratici does leave that does leave a critical vacancy right before the start of the January transfer window, one that potentially could leave more power in the hands of Lange. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd…

It would be a little weird that Paratici would bolt for an Italian club that’s likely going to be playing in Serie B next season so soon after returning to Spurs in an official capacity, especially when Spurs were the club that allowed him to keep “working” in football during his ban over his involvement in the Juventus plusvalenza scandal. But maybe Fiorentina would provide him the challenge of rebuilding a former Italian power from scratch, and offers a return to working a high level job in his home country. That would make some sense to me too, I guess.

Tottenham Hotspur against Liverpool. A fixture that tends to not go well for the team wearing white. This is all Spurs need right now as they battle for some semblance of form. Or at least a result to go their way.

This Liverpool team isn’t quite the same though as some of the sides seen recently under Jurgen Klopp (or even current manager Arne Slot himself). Slot, in a parallel to Thomas Frank at Spurs, has struggled to get his side playing cohesively this season; but unlike Frank, appears to have turned a corner in recent weeks.

That said, this could be a match where both sides strive laboriously to create. As such, there will be a microscope of sorts on the two big-money Bundesliga creative signings in the shape of Xavi Simons at Spurs and Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. Could one of them perhaps be the difference in an arm wrestle of a match?

Let’s find out.

COYS!

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Time: 12:30 p.m. ET, 5:30 p.m. UK

TV: NBC, Sky Sports Premier League (UK). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: Peacock

Match thread rules

The match thread rules are the same as always. To any visitors coming here for the first time, welcome! We’re glad you’re here! Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. While you’re here, though, we have a few rules and regulations:

Absolutely no links to illegal streams. They’re bad and they get us in trouble. Violators will be warned or banned.

We have rules against “relentless negativity.” Nobody likes a Negative Nancy. Don’t knee-jerk and post outlandish or hurtful things just because you’re frustrated.

Along those lines, outright abuse of players or match officials is also not allowed. It’s fine to say “wow, that was a really bad call,” but it’s NOT okay to direct copious amounts of abuse in the direction of said official over a call you did not like.

Treat other people in the match thread the way you would want someone else to treat your grandmother. Be nice. This is a community of fans, not an un-moderated message board.

NO SPIDERS!

Finally, while we don’t have a rule against profanity, please try and keep the naughty words in check. Also, language that is sexist, racist, transphobic, or homophobic in nature will be swiftly deleted and you will be immediately banned. This is an open, supportive community.

Have fun, and COYS!

“I feel supported. I’ve done that the whole time. And as I said, also after [Forest], that hadn’t changed my mind. This is not a quick fix. This will take time. That’s not to say that we’re not going to do everything we can to beat Liverpool. I believe we have a good chance of doing that. But this is something where we are building. And I’ve said it many times. We, of course, first and foremost, are the most critical of myself. So that’s one thing. But I think it’s fair to say that there are a lot of people in it that need to perform well together. With me in charge, of course, and taking the right decisions.

“I don’t know if there’s one main [problem]. But there’s no doubt that we can’t run away. We need to create a bit more. And that’s both principles and good training. And it’s been nice to have a good training week where we could actually focus a lot on that. So that definitely helps. But also, how can you say? I’ve said it a few times. I think we have a few good players out with a lot of goals and assists in them. And we have a very good, talented group of players that haven’t produced the same numbers yet. So that’s part of it as well.

“I’m very comfortable and confident. That I will, how can I say, fix it. But just to make sure it’s not me. When this club comes out on top, there will be a lot of good people working together, aligned at the same time through the years. I just know one thing I’m pretty good at. I’m good at analyzing things. I know what good looks like and I know where we should get. And one thing is I’m 1000% sure we haven’t seen any club be successful unless they had key people in the right decisions for a long time. And I’ll back myself to be one of those key people to be in that position. So for whatever reason that I was not here, when you said whatever, the number of head coaches were sacked. I don’t know the reason why. I just know that if you want to have success, you need to have the right people aligned and go forward together. And there will be good times and there will be bad times. And that’s part of it.”

“I think there will always be, no matter where you are, I think definitely 10% of the fans will always question the head coach, no matter where they are. And then there will be a big group that are the loyal ones or the ones that can see a little bit bigger perspective.

“But I would say to the Spurs fans, I would say that first and foremost, it’s a privilege to be part of this fantastic club. And I think it’s a fantastic club with a fantastic potential that we haven’t fulfilled yet. So it’s a club with a top potential that we need to fulfil. And to fulfil that, there’s a lot of stages we need to go through. And one thing for sure, I’m working 24-7. I’ve never been thinking so much about football in my entire life. And I think a lot about football to make sure we get everything right.”

“I think [the goals are] two completely different situations. I think one is a missed clearance. So that happens. And the other one is a situation where I think it’s, you know, for me, that’s more on Archie. I’ve spoken to him. He knows next time it’s a one-touch bounce. And there’s no situation there. And it’s a situation that we have seen a thousand times in this league and across Europe. And we see a thousand times after this game where you play that bounce and you get out. So it’s like the same thing. My big philosophy is that you can’t play long and direct all the time or can’t play short all the time. You need to find a good balance. So it’s all about that.

“[Archie’s] been good. Also, when I watched the game back, I think actually he was the one that wanted the ball instant after the mistake. So I like that mentality, wanting to get on the ball. It’s part of it. Everyone who played football at this level or any level made a mistake. You make a mistake in life, you need to go back on it and go again. The beautiful thing about football, especially at this level, and in Tottenham, if you make a mistake, you can be pretty sure there will be a few questions about it. But you, of course, need to be able to manage it and he will do that.”

Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo is a wanted man after an impressive 2024-25 season and opening half of the current campaign. The Ghanaian has 7 goals and 3 assists so far this season, which has led to a bevy of clubs expressing their interest in signing him, especially when he reportedly has a £65m release clause that kicks in this January.

According to the Guardian, the 28 25-year-old Semenyo is open to leaving Bournemouth, and there are three big clubs linked with him — Manchester City, Liverpool, and Manchester United. The report states that Semenyo would prefer a move to Liverpool, given a choice, with City as his second choice. And the bad (but predictable) news — Tottenham is also mentioned, but has a “slim chance” of landing him.

Now — this is very likely Semenyo’s agent doing agenty things and linking him to large clubs that include a big payday. But also, he’s pretty good and has a release clause active in January and those things usually don’t come together in quite this way very often. What does seem clear is that, although Spurs are interested, they have a pretty slim chance of getting him, considering they’re now up against three of the richest and/or best clubs in English football. There goes that dream.

So here’s an idea then — Antoine Semenyo goes to City, further marginalizing Tottenham’s major summer target Savinho, who despite signing a contract extension this past summer is then made available to Spurs. I could get behind that. If we’re going to start dreaming, that’s maybe the dream to have, rather than hanging your hat on Antoine Semenyo in lilywhite this spring.

No wins in five, then two in a row — the truth was probably always somewhere in the middle for Tottenham Hotspur. But with the lopsided loss at Forest over the weekend, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Thomas Frank’s side has just one league win in seven and could find itself in the bottom five come New Year’s, eerily familiar from the previous season it was supposed to resolve.

To close out 2025, Spurs get Liverpool at home, a club that has caused them immense trouble regardless of either team’s form, and then a Palace side that is currently tied for fifth and just two points outside the top four. No one was expecting Tottenham to be completely fixed after the first half of the season, but there is a real chance that essentially no improvement will be shown over last year, which is a big problem.

Match Details

Date: Saturday, December 20

Time: 12:30 pm ET, 5:30 pm UK

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

TV: NBC (US), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)

Table: Spurs (t-11th, 22 pts), Liverpool (t-5th, 26 pts)

Tottenham has one league win over Liverpool in the last seven seasons and has lost (at least) both contests in five of those campaigns. Last year was no different with the Reds doing the double, while also erasing a 1-0 deficit in the League Cup semifinals by winning convincingly at Anfield to make it 4-1 on aggregate. In four fixtures last year, Liverpool scored 15 times against Tottenham. Lol.

Three Big Questions

Is this going to be ugly? After winning five straight to open the season, Liverpool lost six of its next seven league fixtures and is 2-2-0 in the most recent four. The Reds are still fifth in goals but average in goals allowed, though their fifth-best xGA suggest a little misfortune here. While these sides are nearly equal in goal difference, no one would believe their quality is anything close, even with Liverpool’s slump.

Mohamed Salah or not, expect the visitors to find the back of the net — likely on numerous occasions. Multiple goals have been scored in three of their last four contents and this is exactly the sort of side that will punish defensive mistakes. Maybe it ends up not quite as horrific as some of the battles last season, but Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak, and the rest of the attackers will be looking for blood on Saturday.

Does the approach revert? Accordingly, the logical decision after the weekend and now facing a team as scary as Liverpool would be for Frank to go way more defensive, which starts in central midfield. Archie Gray has been solid overall and should not be overly penalized for one mistake, but this is one of the few times it makes sense to get hyper conservative and secure at these spots.

Additionally, this feels like another chance for the return of the back three. Against Arsenal, the results were…less than desirable, but there clearly needs to be more stability in defense and this would be one way to achieve it. Frank has also not shied away from trying out different formations, and with his support quickly dissipating, we are reaching kitchen sink time.

Where is the hope? Optimistically thinking, maybe the week-long break between Forest and Liverpool, then again between Liverpool and Palace, is exactly what this club (and manager) needs. It has been essentially two matches a week the whole season long, and it certainly takes time for the new regime to get its structure into place, especially with so many changes compared to the previous managerial staff.

However, it could get dark very quickly. A loss to Liverpool is clearly the expected outcome, and a loss away to Palace would be zero surprise. That then brings Frank and Spurs to Brentford, where the atmosphere is going to be extremely anxiety-inducing. With Tottenham potentially dead in the league at that point, one has to wonder if recovery is even an option.