Cartilage Free Captain

good morning!

I’ve never felt so conflicted about Tottenham in my life. This must be how many of you felt about City-Spurs last season.

What am I to do? Root against Harry Winks? Tottenham legend Harry Winks? The Harry Winks whom fitzie has spent YEARS (literal years!!!) defending against the world?

And yet here I find myself, rooting against Harry Winks.

I think I’ve found out a good compromise. I will root for individual brilliance from Harry Winks, whilst simultaneously rooting for a 5-0 Spurs win.

Sorted. Done.

Because Tottenham Hotspur football is BACK!!!

It’s so lame we had to wait the entire weekend and then some to watch our beloved boys in lillywhite (and Harry Winks, let’s not forget him) play meaningful football again.

So share where you’ll be watching from. I’m particularly interested in you West Coast American fans. A 12pm Monday kickoff? Time your lunch breaks well.

As for me, I’ll be trying to figure out which kit to wear. Do I wear my tried-and-tested Kyle Walker shirt, the 2018-19 Winks third kit, last year’s Sonny away kit? I’m torn! Maybe I’ll switch out every thirty minutes.

Regardless where you’ll be following from or what you’ll be wearing (hopefully some clothing, but let’s not get too personal please), Tottenham Hotspur football is BACK !!

Fitzie’s track of the day: Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are, by Thelonious Monk

And now for your links:

Dan KP: Ange Postecoglou on why Dominic Solanke will be a star for Spurs

Jack P-B ($$) says this is the biggest season of James Maddison’s career

Antonio Conte’s Napoli lose 0-3 to Hellas Verona in Serie A opener

The transfer exodus continues at Tottenham Hotspur, as does the speed of the movement. This time it’s the Ornacle himself, David Ornstein of The Athletic, who has the latest on Oliver Skipp’s situation:

Well, that was quick. There’d been rumors around a possible move by Monday’s opponent, Leicester City, for midfielder Oliver Skipp, but nothing concrete; however, that smoke has now very quickly materialized into something much more solid.

One of Spurs’ academy graduates, Skippy was once described by Jose Mourinho as a future Tottenham captain. In recent years, though, things haven’t gone to plan for the all-action midfielder: after struggling for playing time under Antonio Conte, he did initially look to be a key part of Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham revolution, before he quickly saw his minutes dwindle as Pape Matar Sarr usurped him in the pecking order. By the end of last season, he was struggling to see the pitch at all.

Let’s be real: though Skipp has played with effort and passion, his ability isn’t up to scratch in terms of what Spurs need. His ability on the ball as well as his pace can be lacking, and those are both attributes Ange values hugely, and arguably are traits needed for a side challenging up near the top end of the table. With that in mind, Leicester is probably a good destination for Skipp; somewhere we he can really cement his place in a squad looking to push for Premier League survival and more. Premier League starter, albeit for a bottom half club, is still an admirable standard to achieve!

I’m sure more details will filter through as to the details of the deal; my thinking is it’ll be somewhere in the £20 million region. Expect this to go quickly now - as Ornstein mentions in his piece, the medical has been booked and other sources have said Skipp has said his goodbyes to his teammates.

Farewell, Skippy - it wasn’t to be at Spurs, but I’m sure you will give your all for Leicester.

The Djedaissance continues. Earlier in the week, Ange Postecoglou had said that fullback Djed Spence, once a “club signing” ignored by Antonio Conte and certain to leave the club one way or another, is now back with Tottenham’s first team and part of his plans after a solid preseason that earned him a seat on the team’s trip to Asia. Today, in embargoed comments to the press, Big Ange doubled down — Djed, back from a successful loan last season at Genoa in Italy, is a first team player, he’s training well, his attitude is good, and he will get opportunities to play football for Tottenham Hotspur.

“It’s one of those things that when you start pre-season, we had quite a few guys who were out on loan last year. Part of me is saying, OK, we need to keep evolving this squad. The guys go out on loan for a reason.

“Have they come back [and now] are they a better fit, are they part of what we’re doing? With Djed, I had an open mind. I certainly think the kind of characteristics he has would fit into our football. It’s then more about, OK, well he obviously didn’t fit last year, will he fit this year?

“He’s had a good pre-season. He’s trained really well. He seems to have fit into the group really well.”

Djed is a rare redemption story in a Tottenham team that hasn’t had very many of them lately. It’s a welcome surprise — not only does Spence fill a position of need as a utility fullback who can play on both sides of the pitch, but he’s homegrown (if not club-trained), and most importantly, he’s already here.

Most of Djed’s minutes in preseason have come playing on the left side of defense, which is not his natural position — he was signed as a right back. He’s shown a little discomfort at times in Spurs’ preseason friendlies on the left, but he’s equally shown the ability to get forward with the ball and with glimpses of real quality. Postecoglou said that ability to play on the left is valuable to the team, even if it’s not his preferred side.

“I don’t think left-back is his obvious position, I think he’s more of a right full-back, but the fact that he can play out on the left, again gives us some good options into the season where with European football we’re going to have more challenges. It was quite obvious last year that whenever we had disruptions in terms of injuries or suspensions, our performance dropped a fair bit. We’re trying to narrow that gap.

“Hopefully having Djed as part of our squad allows us to do that. He’s training well, he’s available for Monday and I’ll make those decisions at the weekend.”

Spence’s professional career has been dogged by allegations of a poor attitude, whether it was beefing with his manager Neil Warnock while at Middlesbrough (and petty sniping on loan at Nottingham Forest), feeling affronted by Antonio Conte’s “club signing” comments, and having his loan terminated at Leeds by Daniel Farke, it sometimes felt like Spence couldn’t get out of his own way. And it’s true, at times his former manager had him Djed to rights with regards to his attitude, especially when he felt cornered or disrespected.

That doesn’t seem to be the case here. Postecoglou confirmed that he and Spurs’ staff have had no issues with Spence since his return this summer, and no suggestions of any clashes with Tottenham’s staff. Ange gives all the credit for that to Djed, and it’s not a Djedi mind trick.

“You would know about it if it was [a problem]. He wouldn’t be part of it if it was. But that’s probably something that, whether that was right or wrong, as a person and as a player, Djed has taken responsibility for that and not allowed that to be part of the conversation this pre-season.

“For me and all the coaches, we’ve had absolutely zero issues with his attitude. He’s trained really well, he’s fit into the group really well. That’s on him. He’s the one who hasn’t allowed it to become an issue.”

Will that translate to a start for Spence on Monday at Leicester? Unlikely. So long as Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie are healthy, they’ll always be first choice. But it does sound like Djed will be given opportunities to push both of them for minutes, and that’s exactly what Ange Postecoglou wants from the players on his bench.

Good for him.

We won’t belabor this — earlier this week Matty wrote that Tottenham Hotspur utility player Jamie Donley was close to securing a season-long loan to Leyton Orient in League One. We won’t belabor it — Jamie’s closed the deal and is heading to the Mighty O’s in England’s third tier, and has also signed a new contract through 2029!

Spurs have a long and friendly history with Leyton Orient — Harry Kane famously had his first loan there and it’s where he got his first taste of first team football; he later sponsored the front of their kits for a couple of years. There’s also the Justin Edinburgh connection — the former Spurs defender and Orient manager passed away a few years ago, and the clubs have routinely collaborated on charities and friendlies in Justin’s name.

So as stated, this is a pretty awesome place for Jamie to end up — he should get a good opportunity to play first team football there and at a place not too far from Spurs, and accessible for Spurs fans who want to go watch him. And Spurs have also tied down another of their academy talents to a long term contract — five years is a fantastic outcome, because there’s every chance Donley could be an important player for Spurs in future.

It’s great. I hope he crushes it. Good luck, Jamie!

Who doesn’t love a good kit number post? Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke is no longer Spurs’ newest signing (Hi, Wilson Odobert!) but we now know what number he’ll be wearing on the pitch — it’s No. 19!

So in truth Dominic’s options were pretty limited since Spurs have a ton of players with established numbers. I kinda wondered if he would snaffle up Bryan Gil’s #11 shirt and formalize himself as Erik Lamela’s spiritual successor, or take Emerson Royal’s now vacant #12 but instead he goes with an outside-the-box pick of #19, last worn by (sob) Ryan Sessegnon. Solanke wore #9 at Bournemouth, and #29 at Liverpool, but both numbers are currently taken by Richarlison and Pape Sarr respectively, so maybe 19 is just the closest thing he could pick to his old numbers. Or he just likes shirts with a 9 on it, who knows.

That shirt number has been on a journey, though. Before Sessegnon, its most prominent owner was the GOAT Mousa Dembele from 2013-2018, as well as Sebastian Bassong, Adel Tarrabt, Andy Reid, and Chris Armstrong.

At any rate, you can now order your Solanke kits with confidence from the Tottenham Hotspur team shop! Rejoice!

There’s transfer sagas, like the Emerson Royals to AC Milans, or the Harry Kanes to Bayern Munichs; and then there’s an absolute TRANSFER BOMBA like this. With essentially zero leaks or reporting beforehand, Spurs today announced the signing of Burnley winger Wilson Odobert:

Talk about out of the blue! Or the claret and blue, anyway.

This one was so under the radar that I didn’t even have it listed on my Bat Country spreadsheet I use to track rumors and names; Johan Lange obviously likes to move stealthily where possible. The announcement of the signing is funny as well, with a distinct lack of the usual media associated with such a signing. My theory here is that the announcement was rushed in time to get Odobert registered in time for the match against Leicester, but maybe the Spurs Twitter admin just decided to have a sick day today?

More reporting is leaking out as to the details of the deal, but it sounds like it’s a £25 million fee, with £5m of add-ons and a 10% sell-on clause for Burnley. It may sound steep, but honestly it’s the going rate now for talented youth, and Odobert IS talented, with senior minutes at Troyes in Ligue 1, before claiming 3 goals and 2 assists in 25 starts for Burnley in the Premier League last season. That’s honestly pretty impressive for a guy who was 18 when the season started.

Odobert plays mostly on the left but has also spent time on the right and in the middle, as well as up front. And you want dribbles? Odobert will give you dribbles. He loves to take a man on, with great take-on and carry numbers, which is arguably what is missing from Ange Postecoglou’s squad. This is a signing, though, made at least partially on potential - make no mistake, Odobert is NOT the finished product and this is a signing that may not work out.

That’s not to say though that there isn’t a lot to like here. My thinking is when efforts to sign Pedro Neto fell through Lange reviewed the state of the elite winger market and didn’t exactly like what he saw. When you have young wingers like Desire Doue fetching around £50 million, things are just going a bit silly - so Lange instead went for a longer term gamble, betting on youth to provide an option that could reap huge rewards in coming years.

Welcome to the club Wilson - we’re excited to see what you can do!

Welcome back to the final installment in our mini-series looking back at Tottenham Hotspur’s exciting preseason campaign. So far, we’ve looked at the winners and the losers over the last few days: those who have taken their chances and those who have spurned them.

This last piece is an interesting one. It’s a dig into some of the players for which there are some rather large question marks. For some of these we may see an answer almost immediately as the season kicks off; for others, they may remain an unsolved quandary as time goes by.

These could be players who may have performed well, but in unusual circumstances; or players who have struggled but with indications as to a deeper cause. Let’s discuss the Tottenham Hotspur footballers who are the biggest puzzles for Ange Postecoglou to solve with the launch of the 24/25 Premier League right around the corner.

James Maddison

Maddison could have been swapped with Pape Matar Sarr in the other piece, and I mentally wrestled where to put them. I ended up categorizing Maddison here, because we know just how good a player a fit and firing James Maddison can be. He was a vital part of Spurs’ early season run last season, and if he can get back to that level Spurs will be hard to beat.

That’s the question, though: is that level still achievable for Maddison? He was poor after his return from his midseason injury, though one might hope that he was still suffering the after-effects; but then he was poor in preseason, putting in some muddled performances after a full offseason with no international involvement. Was he saving himself for the season proper? Surely Ange wouldn’t tolerate that. Maybe he’s nervous about his body?

I don’t know, but this Tottenham team needs him fit and firing - and hopefully that will start against Leicester.

Djed Spence

Djed Spence found himself in the doghouse last season, where rumors abounded of a poor attitude as he was quickly sent off on loan to Serie A. You have to hand it to him though - he apparently front-footed these issues this preseason, seeking out time with Ange Postecoglou to clear the air and affirm his commitment to playing for Tottenham Hotspur. One question, however, still remains: is he good enough?

It seems he’s been good enough to play his way back into Ange’s plans at least; some bright performances against weak opposition showed off some of the physical tools at Djed’s disposal. Unfortunately, his shortcomings were then put on display against a tougher opponent, with his poor touch and lack of defensive awareness causing him all sorts of problems in the latter friendlies.

Was this a reflection of him playing out of position against a stronger opponent? Or could we see the same struggles on the right? One thing’s for sure: he won’t have it all his way as Pedro Porro’s backup with Archie Gray breathing down his neck... which, speaking of:

Archie Gray

A hugely talented youngster, Gray was perhaps the most impressive performer across the first few preseason fixtures, where he was deployed in the center back position. He then transitioned into midfield, and things got much tougher for him. He often struggled to find space to receive the ball, and often gave away possession under pressure. In fact, I would argue that he and Sarr were the two main reasons Tottenham were almost unable to get out of their half in the first match against Bayern - but it wasn’t just the Bundesliga giants, as Gray struggled in the same way against the K-League All Stars.

He then offset all of this by subbing on in the second half at right back in the second match against the Germans, where he looked fantastic! Which then begs the question - how is he going to develop, and where will he get minutes this season? Spurs paid a pretty steep price for the youngster, with a view to him being a future option at the #6 - but is he ready now? Because he may be hard-pressed to get minutes on the right, with Pedro Porro and Djed Spence (as mentioned above) potentially ahead of him in the pecking order. He has a lot of talent, but the Premier League is a step up.

Dejan Kulusevski

Arguably the top performer of preseason. So why is he listed here, rather than the first piece, I hear you ask? Well, Deki spent nearly the entirety of his preseason at striker... where Spurs just made a £65 million signing, and where Spurs also have the likes of Richarlison, Son, and Will Lankshear (I know, I know) at their disposal to fill any additional minutes Solanke can’t.

And this is the thing with Deki: he doesn’t really have a true position in Ange-ball. He doesn’t have the speed or trickery to really fulfil the right wing position, though he does have significant value there against teams more like to pressure Spurs. Some like him in the #10 position, and while he can often do good work when receiving the ball in those attacking areas, he struggles much more than a natural midfielder to find the space to get himself on the ball in the first place, leading him to often go missing from games when he starts in midfield.

Honestly, I thought he’d potentially made the backup striker position his own with Solanke linked and Richarlison potentially leaving; but that’s no longer happening. So, will Dejan Kulusevski be able to reclaim a starting role somewhere, or will he be used more as a kind of “Mr Fix-It” through the season?

If last summer’s theme was turning the page, this summer was about writing the next chapter. The setting, tone, and main characters are known, but now begins the quest to actually build on this story. 2023/24 was filled with highs and lows, but it mostly felt like exposition: moving away from Harry Kane, introducing a new style of play, new faces throughout the starting XI. The expectations are more firmly in focus heading into 2024/25, even if not every twist is yet revealed.

Ange Postecoglou won over his players — and the supporters — quite quickly last year, and Tottenham Hotspur is certainly his club now. Though no one is expecting a Premier League title, forward progress is a requirement and a top-four battle is certainly within view heading into this new season. Growth is not linear, and while a substantial leap up the table is unlikely, there is a world where this club makes some serious waves. Either way, it all gets started Monday night in Leicester.

Leicester City (prev: EFL 1st) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (prev: 5th)

Date: Monday, August 19

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

Location: King Power Stadium, Leicester

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

Leicester City spent its one-year absence from the Premier League as well as it could have, winning the Championship, as it did during the club’s last stay in the second division. The Foxes will really have to fight to stay afloat this season though, with or without a points deduction. With Enzo Maresca leaving for Chelsea, the sale of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and modest incoming transfers, it is difficult to see this season going too well.

There have been plenty of wild matches between these two clubs in recent memory, and the prior two battles are no exception. Heung-Min Son’s substitute hat trick in a 6-2 win in September 2022 was mostly a false dawn, but it still featured some quintessential bangers from the now captain. Meanwhile, a 4-1 defeat in the reverse fixture against a future relegation side was representative of the Antonio Conte fallout...but hey, at least James Maddison scored in both contests?

Starting from the bottom

Steve Cooper comes to Leicester with plenty of work in front of him. Realistically, there is only so much that can be done with limited quality across the roster, but that just puts an even greater emphasis on the tactics. Expect the Foxes to sit back and attempt to make life difficult for the Spurs attack. Low blocks have been a challenge for Tottenham, and this is the home side’s best route for a result.

When Leicester does successfully defend, the plan will be to hit back on a counter. The biggest incoming transfer is Bobby De Cordova-Reid, who scored six goals for Fulham last year. He and Abdul Fatawu, who joins Leicester full time after a loan stint last year, will be the ones responsible for carrying the attack when possible. Tottenham’s defense was imperfect last season, but look for a more disciplined effort to start the new year.

Going madd

Dominic Solanke’s arrival gives Postecoglou an ostensible two-deep across the front three, but question remains about the No. 10 depth. Much seemingly falls on the shoulders of James Maddison, who struggled to replicate his early season successes following injury trouble. Fittingly, the new campaign starts in his old home, and how he looks out the gate will say a lot about Tottenham’s prospects for the season.

The center of Tottenham Hotspur’s defense got a little more solid this week with the addition of Australian international Clare Hunt, who has joined from Paris Saint-Germain.

Emma Sanders previously reported at the BBC that Hunt cost Spurs’ a transfer fee, but didn’t specify how big it was.

Spurs have clearly made it a priority this offseason to improve on the back line. Hunt’s signing follows left back Amanda Nilden making her loan move permanent and right back Ella Morris arriving from Southampton.

Hunt’s recent club stints make it difficult to evaluate her stats. Her FBRef page looks like every PSG (or Lyon) defender ever: Lots of green bars in the passing and attacking categories, lots of red ones in the ball-winning categories. D1F is ridiculously top-heavy; her team had a ton of the ball and she wasn’t under pressure a lot.

Her time at Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia is kind of the opposite of that. WSW were a bottom-half team and the A-League is quite transitional, so Hunt’s tackle and interception volume there is high.

If you’re much more used to thinking about whether or not transfers make sense in men’s football, what I’m about to say might sound completely ridiculous, but I promise it’s true. The best data set we have to evaluate Hunt’s fit for Spurs is probably the 2023 World Cup. She was on an Australia team that was good, but nowhere near the best at the tournament, and played a decent sample of 749 minutes.

According to StatsBomb, Hunt had 4.08 aerial wins per 90 and won 83% of her aerial challenges at the World Cup, a percentage in line with her PSG numbers. She wasn’t a high-volume tackler, but won 86% of the ones she went into.

Those aerial numbers suggest Hunt could be a big set piece threat, but that hasn’t been the case so far for Australia or PSG. She hasn’t scored for either, and hasn’t won a ton of headers on set pieces either. Maybe Spurs can figure out how to get more out of her in that area.

Hunt completed a really low 29% of her long balls on an Australia team that didn’t have Sam Kerr fit and was trying out various false 9s, but a very good 68% of her long balls on a PSG team that physically dominates most opponents, so I’d call the data on that skill extremely incomplete and inconclusive. She’s also played both left and right center back, and I believe her passing skill with her left foot is above average but not elite for a right-footer.

I don’t have access to any Olympics numbers, but Australia was uhh... bad. As a whole, the team was simply Not Good. We’re just gonna move on from that.

Overall, Hunt’s resume and statistical profile look like a solid fit for Tottenham, and she should improve the team’s defense.

Now can we sign a midfielder or two? Just a crumb of midfielder, please?

Hey, who’s this new writer, some of you may be asking. Well, I guess we didn’t do a new writer intro because I’m... kind of not? I founded this site in 2010, and fully handed the reigns over to Dustin in 2014. I contributed to the site sparingly after that until I left my job at Vox Media in 2020. I worked at NWSL club Angel City FC for a couple years, and now I’m back to writing.

god morning!

We’ll have your hoddle coming up in just a moment, but first Hoddle Headquarters would like to pay a brief tribute to Barbora Votikova.

Tottenham announced the transfer of former Hoddle Hero to SK Slavia Prague earlier this week. We should not remember the Votikova’s heroics to help secure Tottenham Women’s first ever North London Derby win this past season.

Nor should we ever discount what a genuinely good person she is. The world’s a much better and more interesting place because of her.

Now, onto the hoddle.

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Premier League football is BACK !!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it? I sure as heck can’t. It’s going to be weird waking up on Saturday morning to watch Rebecca Lowe wax poetic about Ipswich Town’s rise to the promised land.

But first, a Friday night matchup between Manchester United and Fulham.

That’ll be the first of many appetizers before the most important game of the week: Tottenham vs Leicester City. Which we all have to wait until Monday for. Us American viewers are most displeased.

Still, there are lots of exciting football matches going on. West Ham-Villa, City-Chelsea, Forest-Bournemouth, Brentford-Palace.

It’s all football, baby!

Or, will you slum it up with Fitzie in the EFL Championship?

Anyone up for Coventry-Oxford United? Plymouth-Luton Town? Or how about Sheffield United-QPR? Honestly, all exciting.

It’s all football baby!

Whatever you watch, so long as it’s got a round ball it can’t be a bad choice (for you baseball purists out there). Because the Premier League is BACK!

Fitzie’s track of the day: Call Me, by The Last Dinner Party

And now for your links:

Dan KP on what Tottenham’s first Starting XI of the season (!!!) could look like

David Ornstein ($$): Mauricio Pochettino agrees to become USMNT head coach

Textor granted exclusivity in Everton takeover bid