Cartilage Free Captain

The whole point of hanging on through last spring, then experiencing a summer transfer window like never before, was to head into the new season with fresh optimism and excitement. Sure, nothing was expected to be perfect right away, but the bar was so low that pretty much anything was going to be an improvement over the past two domestic campaigns.

Well…I guess “pretty much anything” does not include a 0-2-3 start with 80 percent of the matches ending without a single Tottenham Hotspur goal. The most recent contest did finally feature a pair of goals (after the verdict was essentially decided), but Spurs then had three weeks to sit on yet another defeat. To say patience is wearing thin even this early is an understatement.

Misery loves company, though, and Manchester United is experiencing plenty of its own misery. A lone win over Ipswich is about the only positive to grasp, with just two points coming from the other four matches. Both sides could really use victory coming out of the break, but surely both fanbases are expecting the worst. Welcome back!

Match Details

Date: Saturday, October 10

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

Location: Old Trafford, Manchester

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

Optimistically refreshed

The international break was not halting any momentum, so the only way to interpret the reset is beneficially, right? The biggest storyline is obviously the lack of scoring, but theoretically just about all of the attacking options should be available, including Mohammad Kudus and James Maddison to go along with Dominic Solanke and still-fairly-new Savio and Omar Marmoush.

United is about average in goals conceded thus far, though has played well in its own penalty area, while often controlling the majority of the possession. For the visitors, the test will be figuring out the spacing and making those incisive passes in the box which continue to really elude this team. Perhaps some transition play either by breaking the press or forcing turnovers could make the chances come a little easier.

Ultimately, it feels like at some point the goals will just have to come. There is too much talent in the attacking band to consistently end scoreless, and there are wingers in place who will look to take on defenders and drive the channels. This is not the easiest fixture by any means, but does feel like the sort of opposition that actually could yield some good opportunities for those willing to be aggressive.

Pessimistically remembering where we are

The most likely outcome from all of this is that Spurs still struggle to score, while the defense makes a few too many more mistakes than necessary. Bruno Fernandes is a real pest, and time after time the midfield has been sliced apart too easily, allowing for a high quality look on net. Add in poor spacing from the fullbacks, especially as possession turns over, and good attackers will feast every time.

Of course, United has also been shut out twice and scored just once in its last two league matches before the break. There is certainly a world where this contest gets chopped up by both midfields, though that puts the impetus on which frontline wants to be the difference. For United, the strategy seems pretty clear on both ends of the pitch when the ball gets to the final third.

No team has taken more shots in the league than United this season, though almost everyone is more accurate with their shooting. Meanwhile, the defense is allowing the second-fewest shots, but over 43 percent of them are on target. Owning the shot volume on both ends has not really worked out yet for Michael Carrick, but it is not like Spurs have a magical formula either.

Realistically appreciative for the break

The new extended international window looked ridiculous upon announcement, but turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It feels like ages ago since vibes were remotely positive around this club, and that three-week hiatus at least allowed things to settle down temporarily (and focus on City instead!). The first five matchweeks were tough, but it does now feel like a bit of a blank canvas.

Desperation will not be enough to claim three points Saturday, as United is equally unhappy with its own start. However, the fact that this match is away might be the benefit Tottenham needs, with the supporters angsty with the opposition instead, and opportunities to counterattack instead of dictating play potentially the spark this squad needs. Fool me thirty seven thousand times, shame on me, I guess.

”I’m going back to school.

”During my recovery, I’ve been trying to use my time in the best way possible. Football is still my main focus, but I also want to keep learning and improving away from the pitch. I’m happy to share that I’ve been accepted onto the Crossover Into Business Program at Harvard Business School. It’s an online program where professional athletes learn more about business alongside HBS MBA students.

”I’ve always been interested in more than just football. I want to understand the business side of the game better, learn from people in different industries and keep developing as a person.

”Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent time on both the East Coast and West Coast in the U.S., meeting new people and seeing different ways of working. It’s given me a lot of new ideas. It also makes this experience extra special because of Professor Anita Elberse. We first met during my time at FC Barcelona, and later again at Paris Saint-Germain. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, so it was great to see her again and visit Harvard while I was in Boston.

“Getting back on the pitch is still my number one priority. At the same time, I want to use this period to keep learning and invest in myself beyond football. Looking forward to getting started.”

Apart from, y’know, last weekend, it’s been a pretty fantastic start to the WSL season by Tottenham Hotspur Women. That was reflected by a number of September WSL monthly award nominations, including Victoria Pelova and Signe Gaupset for Player of the Month, and Kirsty Hanson for Goal of the Month.

However, only one person actually won the award — Spurs manager Martin Ho, who took home the award for September WSL Manager of the Month.

Spurs were unbeaten in the month of September, with wins over West Ham, big wins over Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, and a hard-fought draw away at Liverpool. The award is well earned and justified, and it should be noted that the lopsided London City result happened in the month of October. Ho is getting a reputation as a very, very solid head coach who is doing excellent things with Spurs since his arrival last summer.

Despite the London City loss, Spurs are still fourth in the WSL table, five points behind league leading Manchester City and two points behind London City. They are, notably, also five points ahead of Arsenal, who are currently sitting tenth in the table. Mind the effing gap.

The WSL is paused for an international break which makes the London City result a little brutal to sit with for two weeks. Tottenham Women return on October 18 with another tricky fixture — away to Chelsea.

It’s been a year and a half since the injury to Dejan Kulusevski’s knee against Crystal Palace in May 2025, during which Kulusevski has yet to play a minute of competitive football. That streak may be coming to a close very soon. In a powerful profile piece about his injury and recovery in the Daily Mail, it was revealed that Kulusevski played in a 11v11 training ground match during the international break between Roberto De Zerbi’s remaining senior side players (including Deki) and a team comprised of U18 and U21 players. This is the closest signal yet that Deki could be in line for an emotional return to Spurs’ first team squad very soon.

Deki’s injury didn’t seem that significant at first, with then-manager Ange Postecoglou infamously referring to it as “just a knock” in the post-match press conference, but it was later revealed that instead of doing his ACL, Kulusevski had instead fractured his patella, a complicated and pernicious injury with a significant recovery time. His extended recovery meant that he not only completely missed the entire tenure of Thomas Frank, but also witnessed the significant turnover in the playing squad, the summer World Cup, as well as the dismissal of Daniel Levy and a significant sea change in the operations of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. There were suggestions, including from me on this very website, that Deki might never play football again and could be forced to retire.

I very rarely recommend that anyone actually read the Mail (and this particular article is unfortunately behind a paywall), but the piece is a lovely profile of Kulusevski, his recovery and the mental toughness it took to endure more than 500 days without football as he focused on rehabilitation. The past 17 months have provided glimpses of hope and a few setbacks along the way even after the surgery to repair his fractured kneecap, but leans into his resiliency as he tries to make one of the more improbable comebacks in recent years.

The Mail doesn’t even try to guess when we might actually see Deki back on the bench or getting minutes for Spurs. It notes, correctly, that Spurs have been extremely cautious with Kulusevski, bringing him along gradually as his knee (and the rest of his body) makes a slow return to the stresses of top level football. So while playing in a full, ostensibly somewhat competitive training match is a huge milestone in his recovery and sign post for his return, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll see him on the bench this Saturday when Spurs visit Old Trafford.

But it is the most positive update we’ve gotten about Deki in a hot minute, and now it feels like it’s a foregone conclusion that Kulusevski WILL return to Spurs in the near future. He won’t be at full strength and it very likely will be for mop-up minutes at the end of an upcoming match as he works his way to full fitness, but barring another frustrating setback, it will happen, and hopefully soon. And when it does he’ll have the whole of the Tottenham Hotspur fan base in his corner.

I love international football.

Look, at the moment when it comes to football there’s a real Sophie’s Choice: punish yourself by experiencing all that Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (doesn’t) have to offer; or satisfy your appetite for endless football by sitting through meaningless international fixtures.

Like any Spurs fan, I’m as masochistic as they come, and at least the latter gives us an opportunity to escape the wonderment at what new depths Spurs have discovered this week.

You know, until injuries hit. Thanks, Netherlands.

Speaking of which, the Dutch made the most out of Micky van de Ven’s rare run of fitness, with Spurs’ captain playing 90 minutes in all of their remaining three Nations League fixtures, with the Oranje picking up two wins against Serbia and a draw against Greece. Van de Ven picked up an injury in that last match, while Jan Paul van Hecke missed the second Serbia fixture and the Greece match after picking up an injury in training and returning to North London. Thankfully, neither are expected to be out for long, with both chances to be available for Manchester United on the weekend.

It was a busy window as well for Spurs’ other international defenders. Ben Davies and Andy Robertson both started all of Wales’ and Scotland’s fixtures, respectively, with both going the distance in three of the four. After Scotland drew against Slovenia, they fell to a heavy loss against Switzerland, before bouncing back against Macedonia then losing their reverse fixture against Slovenia. Wales also suffered two losses, both against Denmark, but Davies led the Dragons via a commanding performance at the back to perhaps a surprise 2-1 win against Erling Haaland’s Norway, helped also by a red card to Torbjorn Heggem just after half-time.

Spurs’ two European midfield representatives also had their fitness tested, each starting three of four of their sides’ matches. For Lucas Bergvall, those minutes were probably welcomed, as Sweden won two of the three remaining matches in the break against Romania and Poland with Bergvall impressive in both, as well as playing Bosnia & Herzegovina to a stalemate; no mean feat when taking on two countries at once, of course. Sandro Tonali helped Italy turn around their tough start to the international break, following up their loss to Belgium with two wins against Turkey and a well-fought draw against France.

It was a quieter international break for Spurs’ goalkeepers, however, with Antonin Kinsky and Martin Dubravka starting one match each. Dubravka emerged victorious as despite their inferior potassium, Slovakia toppled Kazakhstan 2-1, while Kinsky was thrown in the deep end against world champions Spain, with a less successful appearance than his club teammate. Kinsky was tested on numerous occasions as Czechia lost 3-1, with the Spurs custodian picking up a caution after protesting to the referee following Spain’s late third goal, a goal for which Kinsky was partially at fault as he was slow to come off his line as Spain broke and instead of closing down the shot, deflected the ball into the path of goalscorer Mikel Merino.

In Europe, though, another instance of the Nations League has kicked off. Two of Spurs’ goalkeepers in the form of Antonin Kinsky and Martin Dubravka were unused substitutes for Czechia and Slovakia, respectively, as the Czechs fell to Croatia and Slovakia beat Moldova. Spurs’ Dutch defenders Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke both went the distance for Netherlands, drawing 1-1 with Germany, while Ben Davies did the same with Wales as he was reunited with ex-teammate Joao Palhinha in a loss to Portugal. Rounding out Spurs’ defensive representatives was Andy Robertson, who played the full 90 in a nil-all draw to Slovenia.

Heading away from Europe, Omar Marmoush was involved in two further matches following Egypt’s draw against Angola. He appeared to put his finishing struggles behind him, scoring two in a dominant 0-5 win over South Sudan, but followed that up by missing a big chance as Egypt went down in a shock result to South Africa. To round things out, Rodrigo Bentancur started both of Uruguay’s remaining friendlies as they dominated both South Korea and India, with a nice nostalgic Spurs moment in the former as Spurs legend Son Heung-min scored a late free kick to spare the Koreans some blushes.

Oh, also Mathys Tel scored five goals in four appearances for France U21’s, but ain’t nobody got time to write on age-grade internationals.

Here’s hoping the injuries picked up are not lasting and the big minutes played don’t result in too much exhaustion for Spurs’ squad.

I love international football.

Spurs International Appearances:

Antonin Kinsky (unused sub x2; 90 mins, yellow card; unused sub): Czechia 1-2 Croatia; Czechia 0-2 England; Spain 3-1 England; England 3-0 Czechia - UEFA Nations League

Martin Dubravka (unused sub; 90 mins; unused sub x2): Slovakia 2-0 Moldova; Slovakia 2-1 Kazakhstan; Faroe Islands 1-1 Slovakia; Moldova 0-4 Slovakia - UEFA Nations League

Micky van de Ven (90 mins x4) & Jan Paul van Hecke (90 mins x2; not in squad x2): Netherlands 1-1 Germany; Serbia 1-2 Netherlands; Greece 2-2 Netherlands; Netherlands 2-1 Serbia - UEFA Nations League

Ben Davies (90 mins x3; 83 mins): Portugal 1-0 Wales; Denmark 2-0 Wales; Wales 2-1 Norway; Wales 0-1 Denmark - UEFA Nations League

Andy Robertson (90 mins, clean sheet; 90 mins; 90 mins, clean sheet; 90 mins): Slovenia 0-0 Scotland; Scotland 0-3 Switzerland; North Macedonia 0-2 Scotland; Scotland 1-2 Slovenia - UEFA Nations League

Lucas Bergvall (90 mins x2; 14 mins, sub; 90 mins): Sweden 2-1 Romania; Sweden 3-1 Poland; Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-1 Sweden; Romania 0-1 Sweden - UEFA Nations League

Sandro Tonali (90 mins x2; 62 mins; 20 mins, sub): Italy 0-2 Belgium; Turkey 1-4 Italy; France 1-1 Italy; Italy 3-1 Turkey - UEFA Nations League

Rodrigo Bentancur (79 mins, yellow card; 90 mins; 63 mins): Japan 3-1 Uruguay; South Korea 1-4 Uruguay; India 1-6 Uruguay - Friendlies

Omar Marmoush (50 mins, sub; 87 mins, 2 goals; 69 mins): Egypt 0-0 Angola; South Sudan 0-5 Egypt; Egypt 0-1 South Africa - AFCON Qualification x2; Friendly

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If you’re clued into Tottenham Hotspur social media you’ve probably seen a few reports emerging today about Luca Williams-Barnett, the 18-year-old Spurs attacking midfielder who is considered one of the jewels of the academy. Those reports, which emerged from our good buddy and German journalist-slash-troll Florian Plettenberg, said that Williams-Barnett is getting interest and even inquiries from Bayern Munich, Dortmund, and Premier League clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City (lol) and Manchester United. It’s led to something of a collective freak-out from Spurs fans online (which honestly is kinda par for the course these days).

Whoa! Sounds scary, right? But look at the passive voice in Plettenberg’s tweet, and the way he subtly makes inferences without actually saying anything. Oh wow, there are foreign clubs that are showing interest in one of the brightest stars in England? That’s incredible, nothing like this has ever happened in the history of football before! And a “move?” That couldn’t possibly be a loan to get him professional experience in January, right?

Now I know that Tottenham hasn’t exactly given Spurs fans a whole lot of reasons to be optimistic lately, and Spurs haven’t exactly given a lot of reasons to believe that they’re actually working on a pathway between the academy and the first team, especially under Roberto De Zerbi. That said, this whole thing feels like a big ol’ nothingburger, especially with this report from S-n journalist Tom Barclay, who says Tottenham are actually in talks with Luca for a new contract.

OK, I know it’s the S-n, but Tom Barclay is actually a pretty good journo despite writing for one of the worst rags in the UK. I clicked that link so you don’t have to, and the gist is that Spurs obviously like him a lot, are being extremely cautious with how they are bringing him along, and want to tie him down to a new deal. The article doesn’t say this, but new contracts for young players are also frequently tied to developmental loans, and that’s what I’d expect would happen in this case too.

As for Plettenberg, he’s a real journalist with real sources, but he’s also an S-tier troll as we saw during the whole Kane saga, and a lot of his scoops are filtered through a pro-Bayern/Germany lens. There isn’t very much in that tweet that leads me to be worried. There’s a chance that Luca’s agent is doing some nudging, but leaking that there’s Dortmund interest doesn’t mean any of that interest is reciprocated. This happens ALL THE TIME in football. And let’s not forget that he’s only one year into his first professional contract, which he signed on October 2, 2025.

So my advice to you — and this is general advice when dealing with any Tottenham Hotspur rumor right now, good or bad — is to relax. Williams-Barnett is not Luka Vuskovic (their situations are actually quite different), he’s 18 without any real first team football under his belt, and there’s a strong argument that throwing him in the deep end would be detrimental to his development. A German journo-troll saying other teams are showing interest is not a signal that Spurs are going to sell him, nor is it an indication that Spurs are going to screw up his development.

“The scientists provided genetic evidence that what was once thought to be one widely dispersed species is actually four separate species of gentoo penguin. One of these was previously unrecognized because, except for slight differences in size and vocalization, it looks like every other gentoo: a white underside and black back, which are optimal for escaping predation while enabling prey capture in an ocean environment. Yet it is clearly genetically different — what scientists refer to as a cryptic species.

“The researchers also concluded that three previously recognized subspecies of gentoo penguins are genetically distinct and should be elevated to full-fledged species status.”

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If you were paying close attention to Tottenham Hotspur’s players on international break, you probably took note of Spurs’ Dutch central defenders’ status. It was reported last week that Jan Paul van Hecke had withdrawn himself from international duty with the Netherlands after sustaining a foot injury, opting to return to Tottenham for rehabilitation rather than play the final two international matches. In addition, there were reports that his Netherlands and Spurs teammate Micky van de Ven had also picked up a hand injury after having a player land on it during the 2-1 win over Serbia.

That’s scary, and raised the spectre of neither of Spurs’ starting central defenders being available for Tottenham’s next match, a critical game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday. Thankfully, however, a Dutch journalist is now giving us some good news. According to Joost Blaauwhof, neither injury is as bad as initially feared, and there’s a chance that one or both of Van der Ven and Van Hecke could be available to play against United.

That’s good news. While Spurs have two capable backups in Marcos Senesi and Tosin Adarabioyo, considering Spurs are winless in the league through five games and at are currently sitting 20th in the table, going into a critical away match without your starting central defense isn’t ideal. We don’t know yet the final status of either player and will probably need to wait for Roberto De Zerbi’s press conference ahead of the match, it’s still a bit of a relief.

Van Hecke, in particular, was thought to be out for the next 2-3 matches after a player stepped on his toe; it was described as “painful” but considering the recovery time it’s probably not turf toe, which can be pernicious and slow to heal. Van de Ven’s injury to his hand was unlikely to keep him out of action for long, since footballers famously do not use their hands while playing soccer. And anyway, we all remember Son Heung-Min playing several matches while nursing a literal broken arm in a cast. From the sound of things, Van Hecke’s injury would be more likely to keep him out of the United match than Van de Ven’s, but again we’ll need to wait for De Zerbi to know.

Anyway, after two weeks of practically full radio silence on the status of the men’s team, it’s nice to have a little good news on a Monday.