Cartilage Free Captain

Marmoush joins the club initially on a season-long loan but with a £50m purchase obligation; past reports suggested an option that can easily become an obligation with what are reported as “easily obtainable” triggers. The optional fee is lower than perhaps many expected, possibly offset by the £85m transfer fee for Savio, which was higher than expected. All told, City will exchange two players that mostly sit their bench for about £135m. They probably see that as a good deal.

Marmoush joins a Tottenham Hotspur squad that is desperate for goals and for offensive efficacy, something that has been in short supply since the departure of Son Heung-Min. It does beg the question of what Spurs will do with their other two attackers; Richarlison has been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia and a return to Everton, while there have been no rumors about Dominic Solanke, who started yesterday’s win over Charlton in the League Cup and scored Spurs’ second goal.

Marmoush was prolific while at Eintracht Frankfurt, which is what attracted Manchester City and enticed them to sign him a couple of years ago. Since then he’s been more or less nailed to City’s bench, behind some guy named “Erling Haaland.” Naturally his numbers have gone down, but he’s also the kind of player who thrives when given extended minutes, which he should get at Spurs. He’ll most likely play up top at striker, but can also operate as a wide forward, which gives Roberto De Zerbi another tactical arrow in his quiver. He’s a goal poacher, very adept in the press, and a significant threat running in from behind, with a great deal of pace. Spurs are hoping he’ll hit the ground running the way Savio did on Wednesday night, but Spurs still have a bunch of questions and a lot of new pieces that need to gel.

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Friends, sometimes real life and Actual Day Jobs™ get in the way of watching football and that’s what happened to the Carty Free staff today. I know Tottenham Hotspur played today, I know they scored five goals, I know Savio scored on his Spurs debut and a second in the net that was called a Charlton own goal that was given to Ben Davies, bless him. But I was summoned to a meeting at work 15 minutes after kick-off (it’s higher ed, students come back this weekend, not something I could refuse), and while I half-watched it (meaning — glanced at the screen every five minutes or so) I’ll need to see a replay before I can give you any detailed analysis of what happened.

Spurs cruised into the third round of the League Cup and allayed, at least for now, Spurs fans’ worries about whether this new team can put the ball in the ol’ onion bag. Spurs put five past the Addicks — goals from Mikey Moore, Dominic Solanke, Kevin Danso, debutante Savio, and Ben Davies. Charlton pulled a late consolation goal via a nifty header from Lloyd Jones, but this was all Spurs.

Here are some extremely vague and hand-wavey reactions to the bits I saw.

Dustin’s Vague Match Reactions

From the little I saw, it looked like it took Spurs a while to get settled into the flow of the match. That’s not particularly surprising, considering how many first team players are still out and the raw number of moving parts, but it was noticeable in the first half.

The first half midfield looked like it was still an issue. Mateus Fernandes had some nifty passes and seemed to pair better with Rodrigo Bentancur, but it still looks like a midfield that hasn’t figured out what the individual roles are. I assume that comes with time.

Lucas Bergvall again was something of a mess in the little I watched. I’d love to hear others’ opinions, but at the moment I’m starting to wonder if we would’ve been better off taking the £50m from Nottingham Forest.

Mikey Moore looks like he could be a real player, but while he’s bulked up and obviously learned a lot by getting kicked a bunch in Scotland last season, I think he’d do well on loan. He needs repetitions and match minutes, and his game is something I think would really appeal to a mid-table German club like Köln. I expect he goes on loan before the end of the window. Nice goal, though. I can see him turning into a cromulent back-post crasher.

I did not see Savio’s goal or his “goal.” I’m told that he looked good and had a plan on what to do when he had the ball, but he also tired easily. Probably he’s just glad to get out of Pep’s dungeon and into the fresh air and daylight. Get him on the treadmill, stat.

Charlton apparently made 10 changes to the team that beat West Ham last weekend, and many of them were intended to be put in the shop window. They were pretty bad from what I saw, so there are some Bad Team Effects in play here but that was a much more encouraging display from Spurs than vs. Brentford. But this Addicks team was nowhere near Brentford in terms of talent or ability. Spurs will face a much stiffer test against Newcastle this weekend.

I hope Sandro Tonali was just rested.

Put your comments and reflections on the match in the comments! Since I really didn’t see a lot of it, I’ll likely agree with everything you say!

It’s the second round of the League Cup, which shouldn’t affect Tottenham Hotspur… oh, wait, that’s right. Spurs finished 17th last season, so it’s straight into midweek matches!

They host Charlton Athletic, currently third in the Championship after two matches and flying high after dispatching relegated West Ham United on the weekend. Spurs, on the other hand, had a terrible start to the season against Brentford, and Roberto De Zerbi will be hoping this match will be an opportunity for his side to bounce back.

He’ll have reinforcements as well, with new signing Savio (farewell, Savinho; I hardly knew thee) expected to be available for selection after being registered in time to be eligible for the fixture.

Can Spurs go on a cup run this season? Or will it be an all too familiar early exit?

COYS!

Lineups

Live Blog

How to Watch

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Charlton Athletic (EFL Cup)

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Time: 2:45 p.m. ET, 7:45 p.m. UK

TV: Not televised in USA, Sky Sports+ (UK). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: Paramount+

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Saturday was…really bad. Tottenham Hotspur looked as dreadful as ever to open up the year, and supporters will have little patience even if most of the starting XI were not the players who should eventually occupy those spots once the transition from the summer is fully over. There were zero redeeming qualities from that display, and now Spurs must immediately regroup.

Perhaps this is the right opportunity to do so. Thanks to the lack of European competition this season, Tottenham enters the League Cup in the Second Round, a rare occasion. The last time this occurred, Spurs promptly exited at this very point after losing to Fulham in the 2022/23 edition, but repeating that scenario would be disastrous.

Charlton Athletic comes to North London on Wednesday, looking to improve upon last year’s 19th-place finish in the Championship. That did come after five seasons down in League One, and the new campaign has seen two victories in two, with wins over Derby and West Ham (I guess it could always be worse!). It may be the Second Round of the League Cup, but Roberto De Zerbi really needs to win this one.

League Cup Second Round

Date: Wednesday, August 26

Time: 2:45 pm ET, 7:45 pm UK

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

TV: Paramount+ (US), NOW (UK)

Not too many meetings between these clubs since Charlton left the Premier League. The only tie in the past 20 years was in the 2010/11 FA Cup Third Round, with Andros Townsend and Jermain Defoe combining for three second-half goals in a 3-0 win at White Hart Lane. Not Spurs related, but four years ago Charlton did make it to the quarterfinals of this competition.

Optimistically unfazed

As bad as the weekend was, Spurs should still be more than fine on Wednesday. Charlton is a rising side, but does sit in the Championship, which is miles below Tottenham’s quality…jokes aside, there can be no excuses in this sort of fixture. Coming back home will help, and surely De Zerbi gave his squad an earful, while also reminding them that plenty of ups and downs occur over the course of a season.

Cup ties often lead to rotation, though a combination of fitness and integration might make the decisions for the manager. For those who remain in the lineup by default, this is the quintessential bounce-back opportunity after terrible showings against Brentford. De Zerbi handled the adversity well last season, and I would be surprised to see anything short of a professional performance here.

Pessimistically feeling deja vu

If Charlton does pull off the upset, expect it to look similar to Tottenham’s opener. Like the Bees, the visitors will be confident in their press, aiming to make Spurs uncomfortable on the ball and ideally force some turnovers in vulnerable areas for Tyreece Campbell and friends to jump on. Their first two matches featured limited xG yet two goals apiece, meaning there need not be tons of chances for damage to be done.

Of course, opponent and style are almost irrelevant when it comes to drumming up pessimism in North London. Supporters just lived through one of the worst seasons ever and had that continue into the opening matchweek of this campaign. Saturday’s XI looked disjointed and disconnected and now faces a side that has plenty of positivity going for it. Good luck escaping another aggressive press.

Realistically taking a deep breath

This is always the worst scenario: win and very little is gained, lose patience starts evaporating very quickly. Normally the League Cup is the least important of the four competitions, but in a year with only three, it does feel important not to crash out now — especially in a very winnable tie. Add on the disaster against Brentford and suddenly we are right back to win-at-all-cost mode.

I feel ok saying this because I think Spurs understand that too. As bad as things looked to start, plenty of times a midweek contest gets things back on track, and all the elements are there for a rebound, even if not all of the new signings are in place yet. It probably will not be a “fun” contest, as even a lopsided win would be within the realm of expectation, but it sure would be nice to actually get to enjoy something again.

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