Cartilage Free Captain

“[The injured players] are good, most of them. Pape trained today. He’s ready, available. Lucas trained today. Ready, available. Kolo Muani, yes. Trained today. Available, of course has a mask [he] needs to play with.

“And Dom [Solanke] is not ready yet. I think he also had an article recently where he spoke about it. So we are very, as I said, the same. Very aware that when we put him out there, we want to be absolutely sure, as sure as we can be, that no setback going forward. So I’m comfortable he will soon be ready, but I will not put a timeframe on it.”

“Radu, very happy. He has probably been in that for a couple of weeks now. Full training, full in, everything. With the team, played his first 45 minutes in nine months, something like that, last Wednesday, I think it was. Very happy with that. Trained fully today.

“Now he’s definitely getting very close to being able to be selected. Now it’s just a matter of performance and probably just a few more game minutes to be fully available. Kota and Ben both trained with the team today, so that’s also positive.

“[Archie Gray] trained with the team as well. Now I need to make difficult decisions!”

“Yeah this is the real one. Super excited. Of course before I stepped into the club I knew about the North London derby. But it’s when you’re in it, you sense it and feel that this is important. You feel it from the fans, you feel it from the staff members, the players, the people that have been working here for years. This is the big one.

“I always say the next game is the most important game. I always have that. But I’m very, very, very aware there’s two games in a year that’s even more important and this is the first of them. We’re ready, we’re up for it, we’re looking forward to it and we’ll do everything we can to win.

“The interesting thing is that probably both Mikel [Arteta] and I would like a little bit more of a controlled game, but it will probably end up absolutely madhouse. Very, very enjoyable to watch for the outside people or fans. I expect a difficult game of course, but a game that can go anywhere.

“Everything can happen in that game. In games like that everything also evens out a little bit more because it’s so competitive. The atmosphere in the stadium, it doesn’t matter if we play away or home, is intense. We’re just really looking forward to it. I know we’ll be ready and we’re looking forward to it.”

“It’s a big challenge. I think we hold the record for the fewest goals conceded from set-pieces. That’s not a bad stat either, but there’s no doubt that one of the battles we need to win in this game is a set-piece battle. Can we win that battle? Then we’re halfway there. They’re strong, we’re strong. That will be a battle in itself.

“Then there’s a lot of other battles. The high pressure, the defending, the building up and all that, but the set-pieces will be a battle.”

“It’s been very difficult. At first, I didn’t think I would be out for too long but we didn’t really understand the extent of the injury. I was trying to get back as quickly as I could but it didn’t happen, so I had to have surgery. Since then, I have been working to get back.

“I’m not putting a timeline on it because I’ve been telling everyone ‘I’m going to be back soon’ for the last few months. I’m taking it day by day but hopefully I won’t be much longer.”

“I haven’t had the chance to work with (Frank) too much but he is a great man manager. All the players are loving having him around. He speaks with us all and has meetings every day. Even with the coaching staff he has brought in, everyone gets on so well. It’s a great environment.

“We have had a good start to the season. When a few of us come back (from injury) and strengthen the squad, hopefully we can do some big things.”

“Another reason why I have been so frustrated is because it is a World Cup year and everyone wants to show why they should be going. There have been three international breaks this season and I have not been available for any of them. It’s been difficult but it is part of football.”

The start to the Thomas Frank era at Tottenham Hotspur is still far too young to fully assess, but the next month and a half should start to bring some clarity. On one end is a respectable position in the Premier League (5th) and Champions League (10th) tables, while the other perspective paints a picture of boring football that is starting to impact the results.

For Arsenal, the vibes are only positive. After finishing second-best three seasons and a row, it feels like this must be the year if Mikel Arteta is ever going to get over the hump. Should someone get in the way of that achievement — yet again, lol — it is not going to be Spurs. But maybe, as in the 2023/24 trip to the Emirates, Tottenham can at least provide some help for the cause.

Match Details

Date: Sunday, November 23

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

Location: Emirates Stadium, London

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

Table: Arsenal (1st, 26 pts), Spurs (t-5th, 18 pts)

Spurs are winless in the last six North London Derbies, not having won since the 3-0 conquest in May 2022 that help them jump Arsenal into fourth place. Since then it has been five losses, including single-goal defeats in each of the fixtures last season, and that aforementioned 2-2 draw in September 2023. While no title race comes down to a match from the previous fall, Arsenal did end two points back of City that season; maybe history will repeat itself if Tottenham can get a result this weekend.

Three Big Questions

Whose injuries matter more? While Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero have been shockingly healthy, Frank has been hurt significantly by the extended absences of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, unsuccessfully attempting to find anything resembling their creativity on the ball. However, Tottenham is not the only side missing key pieces, with Gabriel picking up a knock on international duty and names like Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard all of questionable fitness.

Arsenal has more depth, and Arteta is not exactly transparent with injuries, but even if a couple regulars are unable to play a full 90, Spurs will take it. It does feel good that the visitors will have their first-choice backline available, especially if the Arsenal attack is limited. But even if Mohammed Kudus returns, with Dominic Solanke, Randal Kolo Muani, and Lucas Bergvall still likely sidelined, Tottenham is going to have a tough time on the other end, having to potentially resort to third-choices at multiple positions.

Are set pieces too obvious of a storyline? While Arsenal sits atop the table, these rivals have scored a similar number of goals. The difference is in defense, where Tottenham’s (very reasonable) 10 goals allowed is still double that of Arsenal’s five. These numbers are probably hiding the truth, though, as Spurs are actually terrible in xGD (-4.2), 17th in the league, and are vastly outperforming their xG.

Meanwhile, Arsenal continues to feast on set pieces, having scored from 10 of them already this season. Frank has improved set-piece defending in a big way, with the defense only allowing two such goals thus far, but the equalizer from United right before the break is sure to linger in every supporter’s mind. Each Arsenal free kick is going to be high stress, and allowing the home side to score in its desired fashion would be beyond frustrating.

How much will the transfer window be felt? The key to an upset will be moments of individual brilliance that allow the Tottenham attack to cut through a very disciplined backline. It would be great to have Morgan Gibbs-White — or Eberechi Eze — but alas, Frank must hope that options like Kudus and Xavi Simons can do enough to free up a shot for their buddies or take on the burden themselves.

Unfortunately, aside from set pieces, this feels like the big narrative. Arsenal strengthened across the board when it arguably did not even need to, bringing in players like Eze, Martin Zubimendi, and Cristhian Mosquera, who provide critical depth that Spurs lack. Meanwhile, Frank is continuing to throw darts with his front four, hoping to find the lucky combination that finally unlocks the attack. If there ever was a time for the newcomers to justify the transfer strategy, this would be it.

Tottenham Hotspur football returns from the international break with a bang: It’s the North London Derby.

You know what that means - it’s time to revisit one of the greatest goals:

There aren’t many more players I’ve enjoyed watching in the last 10 or so years than Erik Lamela. He was quite one footed, but man what a foot!

It’s hard to believe this was almost five years ago. And I freaking love Sergio Reguilon’s reaction to it.

No one will remember the outcome of that match, but we’ll never forget the rabona or the Puskas that Erik Lamela won for it.

But now we’ve got the North London Derby again on Sunday. The good news is at least we’ll be able to enjoy our Saturdays. The bad news is we’ll all be nervous wrecks on Sunday.

What are you doing to prepare for this weekend’s game? Share share share in the comments.

Fitzie’s track of the day: We Used To Be Friends, by The Dandy Warhols

And now for your links:

Jay Harris: “Dominic Solanke interview: ‘When a few of us come back from injury, Spurs can do big things’”

Football London: “Graham Potter issues Dejan Kulusevski injury update as Tottenham return date predicted”

Matt Law: “Ian Wright: Jude Bellingham is outspoken and black, and that frightens his critics”

Independent: “Wales to host Bosnia and Herzegovina in World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final”

How about some good news ahead of Sunday’s North London Derby? Randal Kolo Muani, who had his jaw broken after he had the temerity to put his head in the way of Harry Maguire’s elbow, could still play against Arsenal.

Our good buddy Matt Law, writing for the Telegraph, says that Spurs received word that Kolo Muani’s injury does not need surgery, and that he’s been fitted with a special mask that could — could — allow him to play in the NLD at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Of course, that should immediately remind readers of Harry Kane, who broke his nose playing against Crystal Palace a decade ago and went on to wear a clear mask in the NLD. And you all remember what happened then!

More recently, Son Heung-Min played in a black mask for a few games in 2022 after he fractured his eye socket against Marseille.

Now, we don’t know whether Randy Kilo Miami will duplicate Kane’s feat (good ol’ Harry sure did love a NLD goal, and that was one of his all-time best), look as good in a mask as Sonny (who would look good in a burlap sack to be fair), or even if he’ll actually play. I’m sure playing with a broken jaw is uncomfortable. He has, however, had a couple of weeks for it to heal a bit, and we also know Frank won’t take chances with his players. If RKM ends up playing on Sunday, it’s because Frank and the medical team have signed off on it.

If he can’t go, then it’ll be down to Richarlison and Mathys Tel to lead the line in what will be the biggest match of Spurs’ season thus far… at least until next Wednesday’s trip to Paris to play PSG in the Champions League.

If everyone agreed that the dust had settled after Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven appeared to “snub” Thomas Frank after Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 home loss to Chelsea a few weeks ago, apparently no one bothered to tell Thomas Tuchel. As published in The Athletic, the England manager apparently took it upon himself to have a chat with Spence about the incident, despite both Tottenham and Frank considering the matter closed.

Spence and Van de Ven were caught by cameras walking past Frank after the disastrous performance and loss to Chelsea. Frank was apparently trying to get both players to acknowledge the home fans, who were in the process of vociferously booing their own players after what they perceived to be an exceptionally poor performance and in a London derby. Spence and Van de Ven both walked right past Frank and down the tunnel.

This naturally blew up in the English media. Frank minimized the incident, saying both players came to him unprompted after the match to apologize and clarifying that they were both frustrated with the result and their individual performances, and that there was no disrespect intended. Frank seemed happy to let everything go. All’s good, move on, right?

Apparently not if you’re Thomas Tuchel. In comments given to the media in a press conference (reported in The Athletic [£]) ahead of Sunday’s match between England and Albania, Tuchel said that he also spoke to Spence, whom he called up to the England squad, about what happened after the Chelsea game, and reminded him of his responsibilities as a national team player.

Tuchel, 52, has kept faith with Spence, and said on Saturday evening that he did not consider not calling him up for this month’s camp. But Tuchel revealed that he has spoken to Spence about the incident.

“I didn’t like it,” Tuchel said, ahead of Sunday afternoon’s final World Cup qualifier away in Albania. “Because the players know they are not only national players when they are ten days in camp. They are always national players, and the standard of behaviour is always important.”

— The Athletic

So, I really don’t know how I feel about this. On the one hand, I understand Tuchel’s position as manager of England — you are representing an entire nation, and in his mind the honor that goes with playing for England means players holding themselves to certain standards of behavior. Playing for England is not the same thing as playing for Tottenham Hotspur.

But that edge cuts both ways. The basic facts are that a) Djed Spence was NOT playing for England at the time of the incident, b) the situation was clearly blown out of proportion to what actually took place, and c) the incident had already been resolved to the satisfaction of Thomas Frank and Tottenham Hotspur. I get that Tuchel wants to hold his own national team players to a high standard, but I don’t see much point of rehashing an already settled discourse, nor do I see much of a point to publicly disclosing this conversation with Spence to the media when the situation was already resolved.

I haven’t bothered to go back and look for examples, but I don’t think I’d have to look very hard to find times where England players were involved in disciplinary actions with their club teams that did not filter into the England camp. Sure, you can argue that different England managers would have different ways of dealing with these situations and Tuchel clearly favors stringent codes of conduct, but why bring it up publicly? I can’t help but wonder if this is a long-tail effect of Spence having a reputation earlier in his career of being “surly,” something that hasn’t been an issue for a few seasons now. I also can’t help but wonder — if the same situation had happened to, say, John Stones or Elliot Anderson, would we have had the same outcome? Would Tuchel have talked about it in a press conference? For the manager of England to have a discussion with a young national team player about behavioral standards at his club team is, I suppose, fine. But to talk about it in front of the press comes across as vaguely threatening to Spence’s future England prospects in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable.

Thomas Tuchel doesn’t have to like what Spence allegedly did or the way it was handled by Spurs and Frank. But it WAS handled, and to the satisfaction of everyone except, apparently, Thomas Tuchel. If he wanted to insert himself into the situation that’s his right as England manager. If he wants to have the highest of standards for his England players, that’s also fine. It would’ve been better if he hadn’t talked about it publicly, though, and at bare minimum I certainly hope Tuchel stays consistent with how he handles future infractions by his players.

I hate international football.

Seriously, how have we had three breaks before Christmas? And that’s with AFCON coming early next year. In some ways, it is nice for Tottenham Hotspur to have a bit of a break before what will be an intense North London Derby this weekend; but at the same time, it’s rough preparing for a match like that with a chunk of your squad injured, and another squad halfway around the world playing football a few days out. And what’s the deal with airline food? At least the majority of these matches weren’t completely pointless, with World Cup places on the line.

Thankfully, a number of Spurs’ internationals were rested in the second round of matches through the break. Pedro Porro wasn’t called upon as Spain drew 2-all with Turkey; Djed Spence finished off a quiet break with a bench role as England defeated Albania 2-0; Richarlison was left on the pine as Brazil and Tunisia finished one apiece; and a Ronaldo-less Portugal saw no need for Joao Palhinha either as they cruised past Armenia 9-1. Gennaro Gattuso may have regretted his decision to bench Guglielmo Vicario though following his clean sheet against Moldova, with Gianluigi Donnarumma having a bit of a shocker in goal as Italy went down 1-4 to Norway.

Micky van de Ven’s hamstrings also got a break, as he was rested in the Netherlands’ match against Lithuania, but Xavi Simons made the most of a rare start for the Dutch, scoring a well-taken goal as they secured a comfortable 4-0 win. Cristian Romero and Pape Matar Sarr were the other two internationals not to make an appearance: Sarr missing from the Senegal squad following the knock he picked up against Brazil (everybody PANIC!!!) while Cuti’s Argentina only had the one friendly match during the break due to an absolute shermozzle with sponsors leading to the postponement of their planned match against Australia.

Xavi Simons wasn’t the only Spurs representative to be amongst the goals: Brennan Johnson played a starring role as Wales demolished North Macedonia 7-1 in what was a must-win match for The Dragons’ World Cup aspirations. Johnson scored an absolute screamer cutting in from the left, after picking up an assist as he put the ball on a plate for David Brooks to finish. Rodrigo Bentancur also had a match of note for Uruguay against USA… but for all the wrong reasons. He was shown a straight red card for an ugly, studs-up challenge, cutting his match short as La Celeste slumped to a 1-5 loss. Lastly, Kevin Danso had a challenging match of his own: having to shoulder the burden of taking on two countries at once as Austria drew 1-1 against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Special mention to ex-Spur Troy Parrott who was once again the hero for Ireland, scoring a hat-trick to make it five goals over the international break. This old man yelling at clouds can at least feel some semblance of something when thinking about Party Parrott!

I still hate international football.

Spurs International Appearances:

Pedro Porro (45 mins, clean sheet; unused sub): Georgia 0-4 Spain; Spain 2-2 Turkey - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Djed Spence (unused sub x2): England 2-0 Serbia; Albania 0-2 England - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Richarlison (unused sub x2): Brazil 2-0 Senegal; Brazil 1-1 Tunisia - Friendlies

Joao Palhinha (unused sub x2): Ireland 2-0 Portugal; Portugal 9-1 Armenia - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Guglielmo Vicario (90 mins, clean sheet; unused sub): Moldova 0-2 Italy; Italy 1-4 Norway - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Micky van de Ven (90 mins; unused sub) & Xavi Simons (unused sub; 78 mins, goal): Poland 1-1 Netherlands; Netherlands 4-0 Lithuania - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Cristian Romero (90 mins, clean sheet): Angola 0-2 Argentina - Friendly

Pape Matar Sarr (49 mins; absent from squad): Brazil 2-0 Senegal; Kenya 0-8 Senegal - Friendlies

Brennan Johnson (7 mins, sub; 90 mins, goal, assist): Liechtenstein 0-1 Wales; Wales 7-1 North Macedonia - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Rodrigo Bentancur (90 mins; 64 mins, yellow card, red card): Mexico 0-0 Uruguay; USA 5-1 Uruguay - Friendlies

Kevin Danso (90 mins, assist, clean sheet; 90 mins): Cyprus 0-2 Austria; Austria 1-1 Bosnia & Herzegovina - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Two series of Taskmaster have come and gone since we did a comprehensive ranking of each season. And now that we’re at a nice round number, I think it’s a good opportunity to go back through the rankings.

This edition features the inclusion of Series 19 and 20, two very strong seasons in my opinion. But are they good enough to crack the top five? Have no fear - this edition will be spoiler-free (for at least those two series).

Now, I’m not going to post an entry for every single Taskmaster series. I’m too tired for that. Plus, I’ve done it before. Not a whole lot has changed for me since I did this back in May. So if you want a more comprehensive review of the Taskmaster rankings, check this one out. Otherwise, entries for the updated rankings will show the newer seasons and notable movements in the standings:

Series 10: Always a touch watch, and it’s not this series’ fault. Taskmaster was trying a new thing during Covid. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work.

Series 8: This one gets a small bump up from my May rankings. Still, I dislike the Iaian Sterlin-Lou Saunders dynamic just as much as I did then. But there were some fun tasks. Paul Sinha and Joe Thomas are highlights.

Series 17: This one gets a big step down (minus 5 spots). Less because of my dislike for this one, but more because of how much I enjoyed others. Nick Mohammed was delightful.

Series 20: The latest Taskmaster series makes it just outside Fitzie’s Top 10. This was an incredible series, although it took a while to grow on me. There’s nothing I disliked, there were just other series I liked more. But it was the most competitive series ever.

Series 2: This one is still so good. The more I watch it the more I appreciate how kind Richard Osman is.

Series 19: One of the two new series to be aired since my May rankings. The cast got along great and Jason Mantzoukas was a particular joy to watch. I would also say this went down as one of the most chaotic series ever.

Series 1: The more I watch Series 1, the more I like it. From Tim Key’s reindeer skull, to Romesh Ranganathan’s tree wizard, to Frank Skinner’s push-ups and Roisin Conaughty’s fears of riding a horse, this series set the theme for how this show would be defined. A great shame it was less than 10 episodes.

Series 12: The best of the Covid-era seasons. Morgana Robinson won, but it was Victoria Coren Mitchell who stole my heart. And Alan Davies’ final task that took my breath away.

Series 16: The first series I ever watched. I’m glad it’s one of their best. Sam Campbell and Julian Clary were hilarious, and Susan Wokoma, Sue Campbell and Lucy Beaumont all had great moments too.

Series 5: But nothing will ever surpass the supremacy of series five. Just look at the cast: Aisling Bea, Bob Mortimer, Mark Watson, Nish Kumar and Sally Phillips. There’s not a single moment where I don’t laugh myself silly, even after many rewatches. The pinnacle of Taskmaster.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Let The Day Begin, by The Call

And now for your links:

BBC: “‘Scotland cash in almost 30 years of glorious failure as dreams come true’”

The National ($$): “Scotland 4 Denmark 2 - Instant reaction to the burning issues”

Good morning and welcome to another edition of A Look at the Lower Leagues, where hoddle headquarters takes a look at the goings-on across the other tiers in the English football pyramid. I think now’s a perfect time to do a short round-up with the international break having come and gone.

Let’s take a quick look.

League One:

One year after being a game away from the Championship, Leyton Orient are in a relegation. The East London club came back from a goal down to defeat Exeter City this weekend, putting them five points clear of the drop zone.

Meanwhile, it’s getting very crowded at the top - and very confusing too. It’s the time of year when there are too many clubs not playing the same number of matches, so it’s hard to gauge who’s got the inside track. I’m still thinking it’s Cardiff City, even if they dropped their last two games.

Luton Town are also steadily climbing back up the table after a disastrous start to the season.

Top six:

Stockport County (28 Pts, +5 GD, 18 MP)

Lincoln City (28 Pts, +5 GD, 16 MP)

Bradford (27 Pts, +6 GD, 15 MP)

Bolton (26 Pts, +8 GD, 15 MP)

Cardiff (26 Pts, +8 GD, 14 MP)

Stevenage (26 Pts, +7 GD, 13 MP)

Bottom four:

Blackpool (15 Pts, -8 GD, 16 MP)

Port Vale (14 Pts, -8GD, 16 MP)

Peterborough (13 Pts, -7 GD, 14 MP)

Plymouth Argyle (13 Pts, -10 GD, 15 MP)

League Two:

Well, I wish I’ve been paying more attention to this one because I have no idea how Swindon Town got to the top of the table, but here they are. And it’s pretty exciting. I “managed” Swindon Town for a couple seasons during Fifa a long time ago and - I don’t mean to brag - but I got them from League Two to League One. Could the same happen this year?

Top seven:

Swindon Town (30 Pts, +6 GD)

Walsall (29 Pts, +6 GD)

MK Dons (28 Pts, +14 GD)

Notts (28 Pts, +11 GD)

Bromley (27 Pts, +6 GD)

Chesterfield (27 Pts, +4 GD)

Gillingham (26 Pts, +6 GD)

Bottom two:

Cheltenham (14 Pts, -17 GD)

Newport county (11 Pts, -12 GD)

National League:

We have another competitive race in the National League. Of course, only the top club gets the automatic spot. That’s currently Forest Green. But they’re only one point ahead of Rochdale, who have two games in hand.

Top one:

Forest Green (41 Pts, +17 GD, 19 MP)Others in the mix: Rochdale, Carlisle, York, Boreham Wood

Fitzie’s track of the day: The Ballad of the Kingsmen, by Todd Snider

And now for your links:

BBC: “Bournemouth’s Semenyo has £65m January release clause”

The Guardian: “Scotland approach one-game World Cup shootout with excitement and focus”

ESPN: “Pochettino prepares U.S. to ‘suffer’ against ‘hero’ Bielsa”

Tottenham Hotspur fans held their collective breaths this weekend after news had emerged that midfielder Pape Matar Sarr was withdrawn due to injury minutes into the second half of Senegal’s 2-0 international friendly loss to Brazil on November 15. Sarr reportedly took a heavy hit and then walked off the pitch in some discomfort, leading to speculation that he could be set for a period on the sidelines. Considering Spurs are already without Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall withdrew from Sweden’s squad due to complications from his recent concussion, and the continued absence of Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Yves Bissouma, and Mohammed Kudus, you’d be forgiven if fans were ready to throw up their hands and find some other sport to pay attention to for a while.

The good news, however, is that Sarr seems to be okay. Senegal manager Pape Thiaw gave a brief update, as reported by Football.London, that suggested that Sarr’s knock is just that — a knock, and that he was withdrawn out of an abundance of caution.

The same probably can’t be said for the OTHER player injured in that Brazil-Senegal friendly. Arsenal defender Gabriel was also subbed out with an adductor injury, and it looks like he could be out for a longer spell. Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged the injury, but implied the severity of it might not be known for a while yet.

“Bad? I don’t know, he had a problem with his adductor, the medical staff have to check tomorrow. We are really sorry for this, really disappointed. When players have an injury, I hope they can recover well and soon.”

The BBC confirms that Gabriel will miss Brazil’s friendly against Tunisia later this week, which puts him firmly in the “questionable” category for this weekend’s North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium. Also on Arsenal’s injury list: Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Fernando de Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Victor Gyokeres, and Noni Madueke. By my count that’s seven injured players, significantly fewer than the 13 players currently out for Spurs, so don’t let the Gooners in your life give you any crap.

The North London Derby is this Sunday, with kick-off at 11:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. GMT.