Cartilage Free Captain

Hello, Hoddlers. I asked Fitzie to take a day off from Hoddling today because it’s about time I’ve given a personal update.

One week from tomorrow on October 29, I’ll celebrate 10 years as managing editor of Cartilage Free Captain. I can hardly believe it either. I agreed to take over for Kim expecting that I’d be in charge for a couple of years before gracefully bowing out and becoming Editor Emeritus, passing the torch to a newer, younger generation of Spurs bloggers. I never in my wildest dreams expected that I’d still be going at it a decade later, older, (assumedly) wiser, and battle-tested with the comment moderation scars to prove it. Nor did I expect that a decade would go by and Spurs STILL haven’t won a trophy.

It’s wild.

But while that milestone is significant, it’s not why I’m writing today.

Many of you know that since February I’ve been experiencing some health issues. At first I made a concerted effort to keep it off the blog — Carty Free isn’t about me and never has been — but people know, and I’ve made references to it in the comments here and there.

So let’s just put it out there — this past February, as a “gentleman of a certain age,” I had my first ever colonoscopy. It revealed something big, that couldn’t be removed by conventional means. To make a very long story short, in May I had a preventative colon resection surgery, and the pathology eventually came back as a surprise stage IV colon cancer with metastatic spread to my liver. Over the past few months I’ve been undergoing chemotherapy to stop the cancer from spreading anywhere else while my oncologists and I have been talking about options.

One of those options happens tomorrow. On Tuesday I will undergo my second major surgery in five months to remove the section of my liver that has the two cancerous lesions. Depending on the kind of surgery I end up having (laparoscopic vs. open) if it’s successful I could either spend a couple of days in the hospital or up to a week, with several additional weeks recuperating at home.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that my last scan did not show any spread beyond the liver, with the lesions responding to chemo. So this surgery I’m about to have has the potential, with a few more post-recovery rounds of chemotherapy, to be curative.

In many ways I’m very lucky, and am in good hands with doctors I trust completely. The past nine months have been among the most challenging and difficult of my life, and unlike many I have a positive prognosis and a path towards a full recovery. But it’s still major surgery with all the risks and complications that go along with it. If you want more details, I have a Caring Bridge blog where I’ve been writing about my cancer journey — it’s very different writing to blogging about Tottenham Hotspur, but it’s still me and will give you all the publicly-available info that I’m willing to share with friends, family, and others.

What does this mean for the blog? Well, it’s in good hands. Matty, Sebastian, Kim and the staff will keep things going in my absence, however long that is before I feel recovered enough to type coherently about Spurs — maybe a week? Maybe longer. I’ll probably miss a few matches. Like in May, that will probably mean a couple of games without Community Player Ratings articles or a few features that you’ve come to expect from the site. But the lights won’t go dark, even if I do for a little while.

I want to be clear — I’m okay. I’m positive about where I’m at right now and the path forward. I remain incredibly optimistic about this procedure, my prognosis, and my odds of recovery. The only advice I have for all of you is this: get your preventative maintenance done, whatever that may be. Colonoscopies aren’t fun, but colon cancer is so much worse. If your doctor tells you to get one, have it done. If you identify as male, check your testicles. If you identify as female, stay up to date with your breast exams. Follow your doctor’s advice, do your preventative maintenance, and for God’s sake don’t put any of it off. They caught my cancer on my very first colonoscopy, one I had put off for a year. Had I not done it this time at the urging of my wife, my prognosis might have been significantly worse. If reading this article means one person catches potential cancer before it develops, then all of the crap I’ve gone through the past nine months will have been worth it.

This blog and its community means more to me than any of you will ever know. Thanks for reading, and I can’t wait until I’m back typing garbage Tottenham takes and player ratings themes that make everyone yell at me.

COYS.

Dustin’s track of the day: The Foggy Dew, by Ye Vagabonds

Tottenham Hotspur Men had a great London Derby on Saturday. Tottenham Hotspur Women have a London Derby of their own... but it’s going to be a much bigger challenge. Spurs head to Kingsmeadow to face undefeated and five time reigning WSL champions Chelsea today under the lights on the back of a two match losing streak and an injury crisis.

I’ve been surprised by Spurs in the past, but this one could get ugly. Chelsea are (again) hella good and well managed, and Spurs are still trying to find their feet after two losses and a draw in their last three league matches. Maite Oroz is currently out injured for the next few weeks, and there are questions over the fitness of Haley Raso and Amanda Nilden. However, we might get to actually see Ella Morris in action; she hasn’t made her club debut yet after signing this summer due to a preseason injury.

Either way it’s going to be a long, long day in South London if Spurs can’t firm up their defense. That said, they’ve beaten Manchester City and Arsenal in past years... maybe they’ll give us a surprise today!

This is another match that’s televised in the UK, so the match will be streamed on ESPN+ and NOT on YouTube.

How to Watch

Chelsea Women vs. Tottenham Hotspur Women

Sunday, October 20, 2024

Kingsmeadow, Kingston-upon-Thames, London, UK

If you’re a Tottenham Hotspur fan (and you are! Hi!) you’ll be forgiven if you went into today’s London Derby against West Ham feeling a bit nervous. After all, this is a proper London Derby, WHU’s “cup final,” and they always step up their game against Spurs.

Not this time! Mohamed Kudus scored a blinder in the first half to put the Hammers up in the first half, but Spurs roared back — equalizing in the first half through Dejan Kulusevski, and then going on a three goal tear in seven minutes with an own goal on Alphonse Areola sandwiched between goals from Yves Bissouma and Son Heung-Min. Kudus then picked up a (utterly deserved) red card for kicking Micky van de Ven, slapping him in the face, and then also hitting Pape Sarr before VAR intervened and sent him off.

Tottenham won comfortably 4-1, putting any concerns about the Brighton second half to rest. It was fun! I enjoyed it. I hope you did too.

It’s time to rate the players.

Rate the players from 1⁄2 to 5 stars. If the player doesn’t deserve a rating due to minutes played, DO NOT RANK. I will round the stars up/down to the nearest half-star for the player ratings later this week.

Tottenham Hotspur often struggle against West Ham United, and when the away side scored the opening goal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs fans could have been forgiven for letting a familiar feeling of dread take root; but that dread soon gave way to delight as Spurs put West Ham to the sword in a dominant second 45.

Both sides were able to name arguably their strongest XIs, with the returns of both Son Heung-min and Richarlison a massive boost for Spurs, as Son went straight back into the starting lineup. There was also a return to the XI for Yves Bissouma, coming in for Rodrigo Bentancur, and while there were fears that Lucas Bergvall and Brennan Johnson could have picked up knocks on international duty, both claimed places in the squad.

Spurs looked bright from the off, with a couple of half-chances: an excellent pass from Pedro Porro into the West Ham 18-yard box almost laid an opportunity on a platter for Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson volleyed a shot past the post, and a Son curler went narrowly wide; but the best early chance fell to West Ham, as Jarrod Bowen cut a pass across the box to Mohammed Kudus, whose shot was well struck but too close to Guglielmo Vicario. It was almost a carbon copy of that moment though that saw West Ham open the scoring. Bowen shrugged off some extremely shoddy defending by Destiny Udogie and played the ball across the goalmouth to an unmarked Kudus who slotted home.

It began to look like it could be a frustrating afternoon for Spurs as West Ham dropped deep, and the chances just wouldn’t go in. Brennan Johnson had a headed chance from right in front of goal go off his shoulder and wide when it seemed easier to score, and Porro hit a shot from range that Alphonse Areola did well to save after it took a wicked deflection. The Hammers goalkeeper didn’t cover himself in glory, however, as Spurs soon equalized. A break from deep in Tottenham territory found the feet of Dejan Kulusevski, and the Swede cut inside on his left and unleashed a shot towards the near post. Areola should have done better, getting a glove on the effort, but instead it rattled off his fingertips and on to both posts, before nestling into the back of the net.

Spurs started to turn the screws from there, and one moment in particular with some gorgeous interplay from Spurs including a backheel from Dejan Kulusevski could have resulted in what would have been up there among the best goals of the season. Pedro Porro, however, was unable to quite get his volley on target, and both sides went into the break with a goal each.

Ange Postecoglou made an intriguing halftime substitution. It was one that seemed defensive on the face of things, an odd choice with scores tied, as James Maddison made way for Pape Matar Sarr. The removal of one of their creative presences didn’t seem to hamper Spurs though, as it wasn’t long until the Lilywhites went into the lead. Son played a neat pass into Destiny Udogie, who had made an underlapping run into the West Ham box. Udogie cooly controlled the pass, swiveled, and laid the ball off to an incoming Yves Bissouma, who swept his shot home first time.

Tottenham went immediately back on the attack. Kulusevski attacked the box in acres of space, before playing in Son, who had made a clever run in behind the Swede. Son’s left-footed effort was reasonably weak, but Areola couldn’t hold it, spilling the ball straight into the path of Jean-Clair Todibo who was tracking back in defense. It rebounded off the center back, Areola once more, and then into the goal, doubling Spurs’ lead in the space of minutes.

It took only minutes more for Spurs to add another as the Lilywhites began to put West Ham to the sword. A fantastic raking pass from deep found Son in open pasture. With little support close to him, the South Korean opted to take on his man, showing quick feet to force Todibo off balance. He created enough space for a shot and fired it low past Areola who once more should have done better. In an instant, the score had gone from 1-1 to 4-1.

West Ham grew more and more frustrated, and that soon boiled over as Kudus kicked Micky van de Ven while on the ground. The Dutchman reacted, shoving the West Ham winger, who lashed out in kind, striking the center back in the face, before doing the same to Pape Matar Sarr while a shoving match erupted between both teams. The referee bizarrely awarded both van de Ven and Kudus with yellow cards, before intervention by VAR resulted in a red card for the Ghanaian.

The scoreline could have been even more one-sided. Spurs nearly added a fifth as Son latched onto a deflected pass and left the right upright shaking, and Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson both had good chances to add to the lead. West Ham were able to save themselves though from any further embarrassment, even while down to 10 men, and the match finished 4-1.

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Ange Postecoglou talked a lot in his press conference ahead of tomorrow’s match vs. West Ham, but buried in between a bunch of weird questions about Thomas Tuchel, the England job, and the importance of English managers at top level football jobs was one important one about Djed Spence that should be highlighted.

We know Spence’s story — he was signed under Antonio Conte and dismissed by the same as a “club signing,” had some (understandable) issues with attitude in the wake of that dismissal, was sent out on loan including overseas, and was expected to be sold or loaned again this summer. But Djed made an improbable comeback during Tottenham’s preseason, earning minutes with some impressive performances and working his way back into the first team and Postecoglou’s plans

Just this week, Djed signed a new contract that extends his stay at the club by one year to the summer of 2028, and likely also includes a healthy bump in weekly salary. Postecoglou was asked about Spence’s journey back into Tottenham’s first team plans, and Big Ange gave an encouraging response.

“I said a couple of days ago and consistently say, most of a players future is in their own hands. They’re as much in control as anyone else. I think sometimes footballers forget that. With Djed, it could have been easy for to go out on loan again. But when he came into preseason, he was determined to make a career for himself here at Tottenham rather than wait to be loaned out.

“He did everything right in training, his attitude was great. He’s a good footballer, I think the way we play suits him and he’s knuckled down to that. And he’s earned himself a spot on the roster in our squad.

“The rest is up to him again. Because it’s an easy decision for me to make when I see that. Like I said, sometimes footballers think their fate is in other peoples’ hands. For the most part, it’s in their own. If they’re doing well and doing everything right, the future tends to take care of itself, whether that’s where you currently are or you move on. And Djed’s certainly done that.”

Now, that doesn’t answer every question about Djed Spence. Specifically, Postecoglou didn’t address Djed’s bizarre omission from the Europa League squad in favor of a third keeper in Fraser Forster. That remains a somewhat baffling decision, as the Europa League feels like the competition in which Spence would be the most likely to get significant minutes.

But even taking into account Tottenham’s difficulties in assembling a full Europa squad due to the lack of homegrown/club trained players, it’s still a positive outcome for Djed. That club-trained deficiency will resolve itself within a year or so thanks to the young players Spurs have signed in recent transfer windows, and there’s still a chance that Spence could be added to the Europa roster in January if Tottenham qualify past the group round of the competition.

This is the most we’ve heard from Postecoglou on Djed, and it’s encouraging to hear. It should also give some positive encouragement to other players, younger or older, on the fringes of Spurs’ squad — under Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur is a meritocracy and with the right amount of work and attitude, anything is possible.

Tottenham Hotspur are set to host West Ham in a London Derby tomorrow at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and head coach Ange Postecoglou took to the microphone in his first pre-match press conference in two weeks. Big Ange gave a positive update on his team’s injury status, reiterating that Lucas Bergvall’s injury was minor and he’s available for selection, Richarlison is back and looking fitter than ever, and Son Heung-Min has fully recovered and is in line to start against the Hammers in the early Saturday kickoff.

Some of the players had farther to travel during this international break than others — Cuti Romero only recently returned from South America after playing for Argentina on Wednesday, but while Postecoglou admitted that travel can be a drain, all of his internationals are ready to go tomorrow.

“[Romero’s] okay. We’ve got everyone back and the last one was Cristian, Pape and Biss. They are all good and reported well. We’ve got the early kick-off, so that’s a quick turnaround but we trained this morning and they were all fine. Lucas Bergvall picked up a small knock but he trained as well so he has no problem. In terms of the internationals, everyone is available.

“I think Cuti has been and again probably reflective of our season, he’s had some good moments for us and some disappointing moments for him, which I know he hasn’t been happy about himself, but it is tough. We’ve spoken about the schedules and it is funny how the guys who didn’t have international commitments, not that there were many of them, they look really refreshed and ready to go. Not just for us but in football in general.

“The amount of travel and amount of games, because he always play Cuti does, we have to bare that in mind and it’s something the players need to learn to cope with the best they can, but he’s still really important for us. He’s an outstanding defender, a great leader in our group and still contributing.

Postecoglou also gave an update on two of Spurs’ injured forwards — Son Heung-Min and Richarlison. Sonny had missed a couple of matches due to injury and did not report for international duty with South Korea, while Richarlison has been nursing a calf injury since the first week of the season. Big Ange noted that Richy’s been mostly recovered for a bit now and the international break was about getting him “lean” and match fit for tomorrow’s match.

“Sonny is good. He’s worked hard these two weeks. He was obviously very disappointed to miss playing for his national team, but I think it’s been good for him these two weeks. He’s worked really hard, had a good solid training week and yeah he can’t wait to get back out there. He’s good to go.

“We’ve taken our time with [Richarlison] but it hasn’t been just about him recuperating and recovering from the injury. We’ve tried to use it to build his fitness base up so when he comes back and to be fair to him, he’s worked awfully hard. He has trimmed down, he looks really lean now and has worked really hard.

“We’ve tried to use it almost as a pre-season for him on an individual basis to not just get him to recover from his injury because he probably recovered from his injury a couple of weeks ago, but we’ve used the last couple of weeks to get his fitness base up and him into good physical condition so we don’t have to keep going through this cycle of him coming back and breaking down.

“Like I said, to be fair to him he’s worked really hard and he’s looked really good. He’s had a good week of training and he has missed playing. He is a real infectious guy as well so good to have him back with the group.”

One of the bigger news stories over the international break was assistant coach Ryan Mason investigating, and ultimately mutually refusing, the head coaching position at Anderlecht in Belgium. Postecoglou reiterated his stance about how he loves developing young coaches and preparing them for head coaching roles, and assured those in attendance that Mason remains fully engaged and committed to Tottenham.

“It wasn’t too much in it. I have always worked on the premise that part of my role is also developing coaches and it is something I take great pride in. Ryan is obviously someone who sees himself as one day taking that opportunity.

“It is a really important decision for the guys. It’s not like we want them to leave and certainly with Ryan he is doing a great job for us here. At the same time, if it’s something they want to explore then I think it is important they do that because it confirms one thing or another for them in their head about where they are currently at. Whether it is the right job for them.

“To be fair to Ryan, he was pretty straightforward with it. I said to him I didn’t want it drawn out, taking any time and he didn’t. He is really happy where he is now and committed to us.”

Tottenham vs. West Ham is rarely straightforward — it’s a London derby, and despite any perceived gap in performance or ability, it’s very often an important one on the calendar with a positive end result rarely assured. Postecoglou acknowledged the difficulty of the fixture, noting that West Ham defeated Spurs in this same fixture last season.

“I was made very aware of [the importance of this rivalry] last year. I know what it means. An important game. Last year we played really well but didn’t win at home. Tale of that part of our season a little bit. Challenging game. They have some fantastic players in the team and a new manager. They are doing things a little bit differently.

“We saw last game what a threat they can be going forward. A good challenge for us. But the emphasis has to be on us reproducing the form we’ve shown in recent times and more importantly sticking to principles of our game.

“[Under Julen Lopetegui] it is a different approach but most of the personnel is still there from when you look at last year and the line ups they’ve had the last two or three weeks. That emphasis from last year. They are a big side, a physical side with real speed on the wings.

“There isn’t a style that suits us or doesn’t suit us. When we play well we can play well against most systems and styles as we’ve shown. And if we don’t stick to our principles we can struggle against anybody. More important for us is how we approach things.”

Tottenham vs. West Ham is in the early Saturday match slot, with kick-off at 7:30 a.m. ET and 12:30 p.m. BST. The match is televised on USA Network in the States and TNT Sports 1 in the UK.

It had the makings of a sixth straight victory for Tottenham Hotspur, leading 2-0 at halftime with everything finally clicking under Ange Postecoglou. Then…the wheels fell off at the Amex as Brighton surged into the lead, and suddenly everyone is questioning if this style of play is actually viable for Postecoglou and Spurs as defensive lapses continue to plague this team.

In general, I think it is much too reactionary to let this one match — one half, really — overwhelm the narrative, but I recognize that tempers will not be calmed if things go poorly against everyone’s favorite West Ham United this weekend. A Tottenham win would still make it three in the past four in the league, and that would feel like much more of a trend than the collapse at Brighton.

Tottenham Hotspur (t-9th, 10pts) vs. West Ham United (t-12th, 8pts)

Date: Saturday, October 19

Time: 10:00 am ET, 3:00 pm UK

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

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

New manager, same results for West Ham so far. Julen Lopetegui’s side sits 12th in the table on the young season, losing to Villa, City, and Chelsea (and Liverpool in the League Cup) while getting results against non-top clubs. Near-zero goal difference and xGD figures tell most of the story, with Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek, and the potentially departing Lucas Paqueta each finding the net twice apiece.

Tottenham continues to struggle in West Ham’s cup final, having won just twice in the past eight league contests. Spurs fell 1-2 in North London last December despite an early Cristian Romero goal, and the sides drew in the reverse fixture after another early goal, this time from Brennan Johnson. They did win the two home fixtures before last season, though, and getting this one feels like a necessity.

Playing with fire

Much has been written about Postecoglou’s style (stubbornness?) in the past week, but the numbers still show that Tottenham has only conceded eight through seven league matches on 8.0 xGA, so while there continue to be some questionable moments, it is not as if this defense is ready to completely implode. Yes, there are a few too many dangerous chances allowed, but again it feels like outings such as at the Amex have been the anomaly this season.

I do think it is fair to question if Romero and Destiny Udogie are going to be a liability at some point, however. Just on the eye test, neither looks completely stable, and many of the goals allowed this season can be traced back to these two. The high line and aggressive approach requires all four defenders to be in sync and engaged, and when there is an issue it often comes from one of these two. West Ham is not the most intimidating attacking outfit but does have the ability to punish mistakes, so a clean showing from the back line is essential on Saturday.

Defrosting

Even without the desire (need?) to quickly move past the Brighton loss, the international window came at a tough time for some on-fire Spurs attackers. Brennan Johnson scored in each of the six matches heading into the break, though did continue his form by scoring with Wales. Meanwhile, Dominic Solanke scored three times in September and earned himself an England call-up, assisting Jude Bellingham against Greece.

The bright spot is Heung-min Son could be back for the weekend after missing the past couple weeks. While the captain has looked a little off, he does have four goal involvements and is an obvious upgrade over Timo Werner. With how well Johnson and Solanke have been playing lately, this front three could be lethal; even if Son is not quite 100 percent, his return to this particular lineup is extremely enticing and should yield some goals against a nothing-special West Ham defense. Johnson’s opener last spring was a simple tap-in; it is not too hard to imagine an encore on Saturday.

good morning!

Not gonna lie, guys. I’m pretty darn tired tonight. So tired, in fact, that I couldn’t even be bothered to spend five minutes looking for a better image than this basic looking pizza.

There was a bit of scheduling hoopla for me this week, which meant I had nothing in my refrigerator to cook tonight. And, since I had an appointment at 6:30pm and unable to think of starting cooking supper til after, I ordered a pizza for pickup.

There were three choices:

The place nearest me. The most expensive and I always feel awful afterwards.

The place second-nearest me. The pizza isn’t great, slightly less expensive.

The place furthest from me. My favourite pizza here in DC, but it’ll take the longest to get to me, I’ll have to drive and it’ll be the most expensive.

I chose Option 2.

It turned out exactly how I thought it’d be. It was alright. Not great. But hey, it’s pizza right? $24 for a single pie though is still kinda ridiculous.

This pizza had mozzarella, parmesean, spicy salami, sausage and basil. It just wasn’t great. Like a solid 2.5/5.

But hey, it’s pizza.

And that’s the good news. I had pizza tonight. The bad news is this does little to help me for dinner Friday night. What’ll I have? Idk. Probably not pizza.

So here’s your pizza post. Share your favourite pizza toppings if you want. Or don’t. Maybe celebrate the return of Tottenham football. Because, finally, we have Spurs footy back. These international breaks are stupid.

You know what isn’t stupid? Pizza.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Champagne Supernova, by Middle Kids

And now for your links:

Dan KP: Big Ange ready to ‘explode’ but Spurs not his toughest job

Gregg Berhalter on life after being sacked by the USMNT

After two weeks of Brighton-induced navel gazing, Tottenham Hotspur are back and ready to play football again, this time in a London derby against West Ham on Saturday. The good news is that almost everyone came back from the international break either healthy or with minor concerns that shouldn’t be too much of an issue, and virtually the entire team is available for selection.

The bad news... well, actually there really isn’t any! Here’s Ange with the team update.

The biggest takeaway is that both Son Heung-Min and Richarlison are available for selection, though Ange did seem to hedge a bit on Richy. My guess is he’ll be on the bench on Saturday and will be gently eased back into action, which makes sense. Sounds like Sonny’s raring to go, which is great — Spurs actually got him to skip an international break with Korea, which is a rare feat considering Sonny is Korea’s captain and the most famous sports personality in his home country.

And there’s even good news on Wilson Odobert — Ange states that he’s ready to return to training starting next week, which puts him on track to return to the team by the end of October, right in line with what the medical staff said after his initial injury.

So it’s a Good News Thursday! Let’s celebrate.