Cartilage Free Captain

It’s recovery day for Tottenham Hotspur after their dramatic 3-0 home win over Qarabag in their first Europa League tie of the new season, a match that saw them play 82 minutes down to ten men after Radu Dragusin picked up an early red card for a DOGSO infraction.

Sky Sports was present at what looked like a cold and rainy Hotspur Way training center to give an update on the team’s preparations for their upcoming Premier League match at Manchester United on Sunday. And there’s good news — the camera panned over and caught an (initially blurry) shot of Richarlison jogging outside with a member of the training staff, suggesting that he’s at least on the road to recovery after sustaining an undisclosed injury at the start of the season.

That’s good news for Tottenham, but they’re still sweating the status of Son Heung-Min. Sonny was subbed off midway through the second half after being attended to by Spurs’ physios, and while he looked fine walking off the pitch, manager Ange Postecoglou didn’t do much to assuage any fears that Son might have picked up a knock.

“I haven’t spoke to him,” Ange said. “He said he felt a bit tired, but I haven’t spoken to him or the medical team yet.”

Initial reports suggested that Ange had said “he felt a bit tight” which is probably what started the injury fears, but “tired” is probably actually what Ange said, and you can understand since Sonny also played significant minutes last weekend as well. We’ll probably get an update on Son when Ange holds his pre-match presser, which could happen today or tomorrow.

After the match, Ange also gave an update on Brennan Johnson, who came off at halftime, and stated conclusively that the Johnson-for-Dejan-Kulusevski sub was planned, and a tactical choice.

“Yeah he’s fine. It was just tactical. I thought we would need Deki Kulusevski because the way the game is going, Deki is a like a hybrid midfielder and can also break out on that right wing. It was just a tactical switch, but Brennan is fine.”

The nature of last night’s match likely meant that more first teamers got minutes than Ange had intended or wanted, and that might have a knock-on effect on team selection for Sunday. But we won’t know that until the lineups are released. It seems reasonable that James Maddison, Pedro Porro, and Cuti Romero will slot back into the lineup as they didn’t play at all against Qarabag. If Sonny needs a rest, Timo Werner could replace him, especially with Wilson Odobert still out with an injury. We could also see Rodrigo Bentancur start in midfield ahead of Yves Bissouma, at least initially. I would imagine Dominic Solanke will continue to start after a strong performance on Thursday night.

UPDATE: Well, that figures. Not five minutes after I post this article, Spurs’ social media channels dropped an update from Ange on Sonny’s status. Basically, he’s a game-time decision.

“Apart from Sonny, everyone’s okay, but I don’t think it’s too bad [with Sonny]. He wants to train tomorrow, so we’ll see how it goes in training and make a decision from there. We have another day up our sleeve to give him every chance.”

Last weekend’s dominance over Brentford was Tottenham Hotspur’s best performance of the season — and maybe ever under Ange Postecoglou. After a frustrating start to the league campaign, the win was an important validation that this project can work and that it is truly moving in the right direction. However, one victory cannot be the end of the story; that makes Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford such an intriguing proposition.

The home team arguably needs the result more, but this is a great opportunity for Tottenham to build on three straight wins across three different competitions. It took a couple late efforts against Coventry and a little more excitement than needed against Qarabag, but suddenly all arrows are pointing up for Spurs. Football has a funny way of turning quickly, though, so how Sunday plays out is anyone’s guess.

Manchester United (t-10th, 7pts) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (t-10th, 7pts)

Date: Sunday, September 29

Time: 11:30 am ET, 4:30 pm UK

Location: Old Trafford, Manchester

TV: USA Network (USA), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)

Manchester United is level on points with Spurs, but feels to be in a much worse spot. Erik ten Hag’s side failed to score against Palace last weekend and only mustered a point against Twente in the Europa League on Wednesday. Joshua Zirkzee was the flashy summer signing but has netted just one goal, in the season opener against Fulham.

Tottenham halted its three-match losing streak at Old Trafford in a 2-2 draw last January behind goals from Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur. Spurs won 2-0 in London early in the season, which was only the club’s second win in the last five years in this fixture. A draw would probably be a fair outcome, but this feels like a good time to steal an away win.

Living in reality

United and Tottenham sit third and fourth in xG, respectively, but neither is at the top of the league in terms of actual goals scored. This narrative has been beat to death for Spurs, but the Brentford match showed a bit of a different approach, as Postecoglou’s side traded a little possession for higher-quality looks with the ball. The team still has not dominated the score line as much as desired given the way it has controlled matches, but this was a good sign.

In Manchester, the story has been different. ten Hag’s squad has just five goals in five league matches, with Bruno Fernandes the main culprit (17 shots, zero goals). He and Zirkzee are not alone, though, with Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo, and Marcus Rashford far from clinical as well. Both teams simply are not scoring enough, but for different reasons. Whichever team figures out how to overcome their weakness, will have the upper hand Sunday — and perhaps in the top-four race.

Locked in

With this in mind, the key for Tottenham seems to be staunch defensiveness. United is not finishing its big chances, but generates plenty of them, and too often have Spurs given the ball up in dangerous areas. It may only take one moment to derail this contest, and an errant back pass to a centerback (see: first seven minutes against Qarabag) or overly risky play by Guglielmo Vicario could be the difference between three points or not.

United challenged Postecoglou’s high line in their last encounter, and expect that to be the case again. Staying disciplined should frustrate the under-performing United attack and could lead to some counters going the other way (which still seems like Spurs’ preferred method of scoring). Saying this is easier said than done, but there is reason for cautious optimism heading into this big contest.

good morning !

It’s been a little over a month since I last hoddled about running. It came during a months-long process of struggling to break through some sort of struggle I encountered. Overtraining? Lack of focus? Probably both.

Since that hoddle I decided it was time to run a half marathon. Maybe it was the fear of failure that kept me from pushing myself again, maybe it was aimless running (not running for fun, but not knowing what I was doing).

So here I am this past Sunday, lying on the ground after setting a new personal best of 1:35.06 (six seconds above my target time!).

I rediscovered the joy of running during the training sessions that led up to it, especially those long runs on Sundays. Sure, the anxiety the night before and waking up early the morning of were rough, but actually getting out there felt great.

That training paid dividends. What I’m most proud of was my steady-eddy pace the whole time. Aside from being a little too excited going out of the gate, and a little tired towards the end, my splits were pretty consistent —

Fitzie’s splits: 6:42 / 7:04.1 / 7:12.7 / 7:14.4 / 7:14.1 / 7:14.7 / 7:11.9 / 7:09.0 / 7:16 / 7:13.4 / 7:16.5 / 7:32.5

It can be very difficult to keep steady during a race. There’s a tonne of anxiety over people passing you, you passing other people, getting caught up in the race of it all.

So I’m very happy that I maintained my own pace even when I formed a little group with two other runners, both using me to set the pace, identify puddles and block the wind.

I’d soon find out they failed to maintain their own paces. The first runner dropped off after the 10k mark, the other around the 9-mile mark. I finished the race about 5-15 minutes before them, waiting to congratulate them on a good race and the unspoken connection built over the course of several miles.

Covered in mud and with soaked shoes, I crossed the finish line after achieving my personal best, feeling very happy to be back after an almost-lost year. My goals heading into 2024 were to run at least two half marathons (with an eye on a full marathon).

That didn’t pan out, but we learn along the way. I guess I learned the practice of self-care, knowing when to take a break and when to ramp it up.

I’m not quite sure of my new running goals yet. Maybe there’s time to run another half before the year’s up and, if that goes well, set my focus towards another full in 2025 (because I very much want to beat my personal record).

For now I’ll give myself another few days to enjoy my most recent PB.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Alone, by The Cure

And now for your links

Alasdair Gold’s player ratings from Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Qarabag

The traffic chaos that left Qarabag tardy for Thursday’s fixture

Dan KP: Tottenham mature as Big Ange decision pays off

Jay Harris ($$): Do Spurs have enough depth for both Europa and Premier League?

Generally, it is bad football strategy to go down to 10 men within the first 10 minutes of a game. But Ange Postecoglu’s boys are just built different, and ran out 3-0 winners over Qarabağ anyway in their opening UEFA Europa League match.

Any hopes Spurs fans had for a normal, convincing performance were dashed in the 7th minute by Radu Drăgușin, who picked up a well deserved straight red card before either team had time to settle in.

Drăgușin appeared to think he had plenty of space to let a pass from Mickey van de Ven run past him, but much to his surprise, a wild Juninho appeared. With the Qarabağ attacker bearing down on goal, Drăgușin panicked and made a clumsy challenge as the last defender, leaving the referee no choice but to send him off for denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Tottenham played for a few minutes with a makeshift back three, but big Ange eventually opted to substitute Lucas Bergvall for Destiny Udogie in the 12th minute. Mere seconds later, Spurs went ahead.

Some great pressing from Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke forced a Qarabağ turnover 25 yards from goal. Solanke played Brennan Johnson into the box in the right channel, and Johnson slotted a first-time finish into the bottom corner from 12 yards to give Tottenham an early lead.

Both teams had some half-chances over the next 30 minutes, but Qarabağ missed an enormous one just before halftime. Johnson and Archie Gray failed to track Elvin Jafarquliyev, who got free for a cross down the left flank and squared perfectly for Juninho. The Qarabağ striker missed well wide from 6 yards, on a big chance Opta gave 0.55 xG.

Dejan Kulusevski replaced Johnson at halftime, and quickly made a positive impact with a quality set piece delivery. His 52nd minute corner deflected to the back post — with Ben Davies providing some very useful goalkeeper disruption — and Sarr fired home from close range to put Spurs up 2-0.

Just two minutes later, Yves Bissouma gave away a penalty, kicking Jafarquliyev in the box. But Juninho’s miserable day continued, as he skied his penalty several yards over the crossbar.

That felt like the moment Qarabağ lost their belief that they’d be able to claw back a point, and Spurs were generally the better side from then on, though Guglielmo Vicario did have to make a couple of good saves.

Solanke sealed the result in the 68th minute, tapping in a rebound that was reminiscent of his goal against Brentford on the weekend. Davies started the move with a good long ball behind the defense that Sarr ran onto, before passing to Kulusevski. He found Son, who ripped a shot from the edge of the box that Qarabağ goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski was unable to handle, and Solanke was perfectly positioned to clean up.

Son took a knock on the play, and was immediately substituted for Timo Werner. The sub looked precautionary, but Tottenham will be sweating Son’s status for the Manchester United match this weekend.

In the 85th minute, Mikey Moore got to make his European competition debut, replacing Solanke.

Match reactions

Why, hello again, European football.

It’s been a bit over a year and a half since Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the Champions League by AC Milan; it’s a bit less of a glamorous fixture this time around, with Spurs taking on Qarabag in the Europa League. Hopefully the result will be more glamorous at least!

Expect some rotation; even though Qarabag aren’t to be sneezed at, the Azerbaijani league leaders shouldn’t be too much of a struggle for the English giants of Tottenham. That said, stranger things have happened, and Spurs will need to make sure they turn up to prevent a motivated side securing a shock upset.

COYS!

Lineups

Live Blog

How to Watch

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Qarabag FK

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Time: 3:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. UK

TV: Not televised in USA; TNT Sports 1 (UK). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: Paramount+

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!

Sometimes that is just how football goes. A frustrating derby defeat was followed but an extremely fortunate win, leading to Tottenham Hotspur’s most complete performance of the season. Saturday’s win over Brentford concluded a roller coaster seven-day stretch, and the club does feel to be heading in the right direction now.

In reality, the season is truly just getting started, and Thursday marks the beginning of the team’s Europa League campaign. Spurs have not been in this competition since the 2020/21 iteration, and while they are one of the favorites as always — at least on paper — it does feel a little different this year between Ange Postecoglou’s comments (which now is even tougher with the League Cup draw against City) and the new format. Regardless, the journey begins at home against Qarabag.

Tottenham Hotspur (t-13th, 0pts) vs. Qarabag (t-13th, 0pts)

Date: Thursday, September 26

Time: 3:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm UK

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

TV: Paramount+ (USA), TNT Sports 1 (UK)

Qarabag is no stranger to the Europa League, having played in the Group Stage (now “League Phase”) nine of the past 11 seasons, typically via the Champions League Qualifying Rounds dropdown. The last two years featured Knockout Round appearances in the Conference League, but otherwise the Azerbaijani club has not enjoyed a ton of recent European success.

Of course, these two teams have met not too long ago. Tottenham won both 2015/16 Group Stage contests: 3-1 behind a Heung-Min Son brace and a late Erik Lamela goal, and a 0-1 road winner from Harry Kane. Spurs would win that Europa League group but end up being knocked out by Dortmund in the Round of 16.

Embrace the format

As a reminder, the new League Phase differs significantly from the previous format. Each club will play eight matches against eight different opponents, two from each pot. Qarabag was one of the two Pot 3 matchups for Spurs and certainly is not too intimidating, especially at home. Still, these are three points that Tottenham needs to grab, with the top eight teams getting a bye in the Knockout Round.

Truthfully, I do not have much to say about Qarabag — Azerbaijani competition seems irrelevant and a 0-5 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League qualification is unsurprising. Opta rates this team around the Leeds United/Leicester City/Ipswich Town range, for what is is worth. Really, this will come down to how well Tottenham turns possession into production; even though Saturday featured less of the ball, look for the home side to be in control for much of this one.

Complete culture

Supporters know that many times these matches against lower sides can be trickier than expected, but this roster is much deeper than that of four years ago when Jose Mourinho led his outfit into the Europa League. The visitors are no strangers to this competition, but have not really logged great results against top opponents, and Tottenham has no reason to do anything but dominate.

Expect Ange Postecoglou to rotate plenty like he did against Coventry in the League Cup last week. That lineup looked completely lost, but Spurs escaped with the win after players like Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski were subbed on. For Tottenham to make some noise in Europe (and honestly domestically as well), it cannot just be 11 players who can carry out the mission this year. I think after Saturday’s comprehensive performance against Brentford, this team will not repeat the midweek dud from last week.

Cheers, fitzie’s crying.

It wasn’t enough for Shohei Ohtani to break my heart this offseason. He had to single-handedly eliminate me from my fantasy baseball playoffs.

Ohtani made the move from the Anaheim Angels to the big-brother Los Angeles Dodgers after a few history-making years adjacent to the 57 Freeway. Although I should note that was for Ohtani, less for the Angels who didn’t make the playoffs once during his time with the team.

(And let’s just put aside the whole Mike Trout thing too, please).

I had to put up with a lot this season. He joined the Dodgers to serious fanfare, got engaged and has a dog. Then he puts up a season we’ve never seen before: 50 home runs and 50 steals.

The day he accomplished that: 19 September against the Miami Marlins.

Ohtani went 6 for 6, with 4 runs, 3 home runs, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. It just wasn’t fair.

Until that day I was winning in the semifinals of my fantasy baseball league (now in its fifth season). And then Ohtani played. My season over.

I thought I was going all the way this year too. But Ohtani ruined it. He ruined it. He left the Angels for the Dodgers, might win a World Series there, and eliminated me from my baseball league. He ruined baseball this year for me an I will never forgive him.

This hoddle was written while fitzie was lounging on his Shohei Ohtani pillow.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Rosa Pastel, by Belanova

And now for your links:

Dan KP: Tottenham to trigger Son contract extension

Ange Postecoglou says football schedule reaching a ‘dangerous level’

Tottenham Hotspur barely survived their third round League Cup tie at Coventry City, and now they face another City that wear sky blue in the fourth round — Manchester City. Spurs drew the four time defending Premier League title holders at home in the FA Cup fourth round, quite possibly the worst opponent they could’ve drawn at this stage in the competition.

Shit.

Before we get into the specifics of this particular tie, here’s the full fourth round draw. Arsenal, predictably, drew the easiest team left in the competition, Preston North End.

Brentford vs. Sheffield Wednesday

Southampton vs. Stoke City

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City

Winner of AFC Wimbledon/Newcastle United vs. Chelsea

Manchester United vs. Leicester City

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Liverpool

Preston North End vs. Arsenal

Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace

The fourth round of the League Cup will take place the week of October 28, which means the City fixture falls in between Tottenham’s match against Crystal Palace at home and an away trip to Aston Villa. City, meanwhile, have Southampton at home and Bournemouth away in the same stretch, meaning they’re probably more likely to field a stronger team in the cup and rotate against two pretty bad Premier League opponents. But it’s also Pep, and who knows what that guy will actually do.

EDIT: Well, I guess we know what Pep’s going to do, unless he’s lying here.

The good news is Spurs have recently been Pep and City’s bogey team, the last two meetings excepted. Honestly it’d be pretty funny if Big Ange can find a way to magic Spurs past City and into the fifth round, but it’s still a tall order.

Oh well. Set ‘em up so we can knock ‘em down. Let’s go. No fear. COYS.

It’s clearly Son Heung-Min News Wednesday, and frankly I’m okay with that because who doesn’t love Sonny? (Answer: probably still Everton fans, but y’know.) Anyway, for our third piece on Son today, there’s actually breaking news: Tottenham Hotspur are expected to trigger a clause in Sonny’s contract to extend him for a further year, through the 2025-26 season.

This news is courtesy of the Evening Standard and Dan Kilpatrick, which broke the news today. Sonny had brought up the topic of his contract in that same press conference that we’ve already dedicated two pieces to, and basically said he’s not worried about it right now.

“We haven’t talked (about) anything yet. It was very clear for me, I’m very focused for this season. At this age, every second is like a goal. Especially this season, we are in a lot of competitions, it feels like I’m taking even more care about this.

“I’m just fully focused on this situation and this year. I just want to win something that everybody in this club and these players and all around deserves. That’s what I’m working for.

“In the future, you never know what’s going to happen. But I will make sure I give everything for this club. It’s almost ten years that I give everything. We’ll see what happens. I still have a contract with the club which is the main important thing. I just want to give everything while I have my contract.”

There was a time where Daniel Levy loved his one year contract extension triggers, and we’ve seen this come up a number of times over the years. In truth, it’s not a bad outcome. Son is 32 and turns 33 in July, and no matter how good a player is, with the exception of a few genetic freaks like Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, this is about the time when they start leaving top clubs and think about a quiet retirement in a smaller league.

Extending Sonny by another year gives a cushion for Spurs and Son to think hard about the future and what Son wants to do at the end of his career. Maybe that’s reupping with Spurs and retiring with Tottenham, or maybe it’s returning home and playing in the K-League for a couple seasons, or moving to America for a short stint in the MLS League for Aging Soccer Superstars. All fine and decent options. And it would also give Spurs a chance to (potentially) send off their club captain and legend with all the pomp and admiration he deserves.

Not saying that’s going to happen, but it COULD. And now Spurs have at least one more year with Son to figure all of that stuff out. It’s a good move.

Two articles about Son Heung-Min’s press conference ahead of the Qarabag match? Yep. I thought about just doing one long one, but this particular issue deserves its own article, because it’s important.

We all know what Rodrigo Bentancur said in an online video this past summer where he racially abused Son Heung-Min as a “joke,” implying that all South Koreans look the same to him. We also know that he realized his mistake and apologized to Sonny, that Sonny has forgiven him, and that an FA tribunal could still potentially suspend Bentancur for as many as 12 matches for racial discrimination.

What we haven’t really heard yet is a definitive statement from Sonny. Until now. And because this is Son, it’s a statement that is both loving and forgiving towards a teammate he calls his brother.

“At the moment, there’s a process from the FA, that’s why I can’t say much about it. But I love Rodrigo, I love him. I love him. We have a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined.

“He apologized straight afterwards when we [were on] holiday. I was at home, I didn’t even realize what was going on. He just sent me a long message, and you could feel it was coming from his heart. When we came back to the training ground for preseason, he was really sorry and he almost cried.

“He apologized in public and personally as well. It felt like he felt was really sorry. We’re all human, we make mistakes, we learn from it. I love Rodrigo, I love him, I love him. He knows he made a mistake but I have no problem at all. We move on as a teammate, as a friend, as a brother. We move on together. We just have to wait what the FA says in the process, I can’t say much. But one thing is I love Rodrigo. So there is nothing more to say.”

I’m of two minds about this statement. The first is just admiration and love for Son Heung-Min, who has endured more than his share of racist abuse from fans and others throughout his career. It must have felt shocking to have something like this come from a teammate and friend. But to forgive so unequivocally is both difficult to do in some situations and also a profoundly human expression, and to hear this incredible statement from Son just feels exactly like something he’d say. It’s expressly clear that he loves Rodrigo Bentacur like a brother, and while forgiveness doesn’t always come easy (even with family!) in this case it sounds like it didn’t take much prompting for Sonny to listen to Bentancur’s apology, forgive him, and move on.

But then there’s the other side of this coin. We’ve talked on here before about how so often the burden of choice between forgiveness or retribution is invariably placed upon the the victims of discrimination. Son in particular has been tasked with carrying the burden of systemic racism against Asian footballers I don’t know how many times. I also don’t know if Sonny feels that way in this case; that’s not a question I can answer and I would never ask it of him.

Here’s what I posted in an earlier article on this issue:

It’s a tricky and incredibly nuanced issue. It’s possible for someone, anyone really, to “do a racism.” That doesn’t always mean the perpetrator is “a racist,” but even careless or accidental racist statements or actions deserve to be called out and consequences levied for what has been said or done.

What is clear is that Sonny has said numerous times over his career in interviews that he has been the victim of systemic and pervasive racism against Asians and others who look like him. Just last year Son was the target of racist abuse from a Crystal Palace supporter, and there has been more than one incident of racist abuse directed at him in matches against West Ham. Back in 2019, in an interview Son admitted that he’s been the target of racist abuse a few times since coming to England, and that the best way to deal with it is just not to react.

I stand by this. I’m both incredibly proud to hear additional context from Son about the issue, about the sincerity of Bentancur’s personal apology to him, and that Son has been so forgiving to his teammate and friend. I also remain angry that Son was placed in this situation to begin with where he once again must shoulder the burden of racist abuse directed at him and be the arbiter of how the situation should be handled.

Does that make sense? I don’t know. I’m a privileged white dude who has never once experienced this kind of discrimination in my life; I’m probably the worst possible person to speak on this issue. But it’s so nuanced that I feel I can hold in my heart both gratitude to Sonny for offering forgiveness, as well as anger that our society is still at a place where that choice is forced upon him.