Cartilage Free Captain

When the season kicked off, there would have been hope that Tottenham Hotspur could make a decent fist of things in the cup competitions, with a reasonably deep squad and limited fixture congestion with no European football. Those hopes were dashed with regards to the EFL Cup as Spurs visited one of their graveyards in the form of Anfield, as they went down 3-1 to Liverpool in an exciting and hard-fought match.

There was heavy rotation from both sides, with both Roberto De Zerbi and Andoni Iraola already conscious of the potential for injury to players; De Zerbi especially so given Spurs’ recent history. De Zerbi made eight changes to his XI from the goalless draw against Everton, while Iraola made ten following Liverpool’s matching scoreline against Fulham.

The volume of changes briefly appeared to manifest as a lack of cohesion and quality for both sides, with neither initially able to string multiple passes together, but Spurs were the side to adjust earliest. They were soon on the front foot, culminating in a massive early chance for Lucas Bergvall. Conor Gallagher played a well-placed through ball to the path of Destiny Udogie down the left, whose square ball found the late run of the Swede, who had ghosted in towards the penalty spot. A goal looked guaranteed but for the outstretched leg of Giorgi Mamardashvili, who somehow pulled off a save despite diving the wrong way.

Liverpool soon had a chance of their own, as Rio Ngumoha fed a pass through to Lewis Koumas, who ran off the back of Marcos Senesi. His attempt was saved by Martin Dubravka, but Ngumoha was soon involved again as Liverpool opened the scoring. Ngumoha dribbled at Udogie, with a piece of bad luck as the Italian stuck a foot in to make a tackle causing the ball to squirt out in Alexis Mac Allister’s direction. The Argentine struck it first time from the top of the box and Dubravka was left stranded as the ball sailed into the top right corner.

Further chances followed for both sides: Mohammed Kudus could have done better with an Udogie square ball, skying his attempt, while MacAllister could have doubled the lead after Spurs gave the ball away in their own half and Koumas cut the ball after receiving the ball from James McConnell. Despite the numerous chances, though, there remained a solitary goal in the cup tie with Liverpool taking their lead into the half.

It didn’t take long for Liverpool to increase their lead in the second stanza with the simplest of goals. The ball found its way to Cody Gakpo on Liverpool’s left, and he took one touch to create the smallest amount of space between him and Archie Gray before striking the ball firmly into the side netting with Dubravka once more unable to do much about the goal.

Changes for both sides followed as Spurs kept pushing for a goal. A mazy run by Omar Marmoush should have resulted in more, as the ball fell to Kudus who shot with Mamardashvili saving, but with nobody on hand to knock home the rebound. Marmoush should have done better with a chance of his own when fed by Bergvall, but took an extra touch and went down under contact. On replay, it could have potentially been a penalty, but instead once more Spurs walked away from a dangerous attack with nothing.

That soon changed though as Spurs opened their account with a goal from Gallagher. It was an excellent delivery by Mateus Fernandes on a corner kick, with the ball dipping over the outstretched arms of Mamardashvili, who had been smartly blocked off by Senesi. It was a simple headed finish by Gallagher, with Spurs back in the match with the score at 2-1.

Spurs were heavily on the front foot, but Liverpool still had chances of their own, with one coming thanks to a poor Tosin Adarabioyo giveaway just outside his own penalty area. The ball came to substitute Dominik Szoboszlai who wasted the chance, shooting straight at Dubravka. Spurs continued to be similarly profligate: A deflected Marmoush shot looked like it would sneak in, but Mamardashvili reacted brilliantly to palm the ball over; and Savio beat Milos Kerkez easily before dragging a shot wide.

It momentarily looked like Spurs could find the equalizer, but all their effort was for naught as Szoboszlai struck a killer blow with a sumptuous strike. The ball bounced out to the Hungarian around 30 yards out, as he volleyed a rocket of a strike into the top corner and secure the 3-1 result for Liverpool.

Reactions

Hey, Spurs scored a goal, and against a Premier League opponent!

Look, the result is disappointing, but there are a lot of positives to take from this in what was probably Spurs’ best performance of the season.

Would it even be reasonable to say that Spurs got #football’d? xG was 1.53 to 2.34 to Spurs, with Spurs creating three big chances to Liverpool’s two, but the ball just wouldn’t go in the net for the Lilywhites, while Liverpool were just lethal with some unbelievable finishes.

Lucas Bergvall had probably one of his best performances of the season, and part of that was being paired with Bentancur in the first half and Fernandes after the Uruguayan was subbed off. He looked a million times more comfortable as the more dynamic role in the double pivot, as opposed to when he’s played alongside Sandro Tonali with that matchup just not really working.

Another who has looked to have taken a step up this season is Archie Gray. He’s not a right back, and it’s hard to blame him too much for Gakpo’s goal, but the pseudo-inverted role he played in this match suited him well, with some excellent runs and good passing into space. He’s getting better and better.

That was a nasty piece of contact from Cody Gakpo on Rodrigo Bentancur early in the second half. It was clearly unintentional, but one of those follow-throughs that VAR might have been tempted to look at, if VAR had been available, similar to Marmoush going down; was he clipped without a touch on the ball?

I’m not sure it’s going to work for Mathys Tel at Spurs. The guy is fast, and strikes the ball well… but every time possession comes out to the young Frenchman play just completely stops. He has very little awareness of his teammates or the defense, and that sort of game intelligence isn’t something that just appears out of nowhere. I really want it to work for him, but it’s getting harder to say it will.

Fernandes HAS to play in central midfield. He was fantastic after coming on, and Spurs went up another level thanks in large part to his passing. In fact, all of Spurs’ best performances so far this season have been with him in the double pivot.

Look, it’s disappointing, but it’s just one of those games. Regardless of the result, it was a strong performance and De Zerbi will be hoping the team can build on that against a struggling Aston Villa side this weekend.

COYS.

We haven’t heard hide nor hair about Yves Bissouma since he left the club this summer at the conclusion of his Tottenham Hotspur contract. Now we know. According to Fabrizio Romano (siiiiigh), Bissouma has agreed to join Eredivisie powerhouse Ajax on a free transfer.

Honestly, this is a pretty good get for Ajax. We know what Bissouma’s strengths are, and those strengths should play very well in a high tempo, lower impact league like the Eredivisie. I’m assuming that Yves will operate as a midfield destroyer, running around breaking up play and making safe passes, and he’ll be pretty darn good at that in the Netherlands.

Happy for Bissouma, even as I was pretty okay seeing the back of him when he left this past summer. A lot needed to change at Spurs, especially in the midfield, and it became clear midway through last season that Tottenham had no interest in offering him a contract extension. It would’ve been nice if we could’ve sold him last January for a transfer fee, but I’ve been saying for at least two years now that we needed to move on one or both of Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur. Based on the season so far, I think Spurs made the right choice.

The goals are still not coming for Tottenham Hotspur, with four straight matches to enter the year without finding the back of the net — and with few true missed opportunities within them. Unfortunately, this is not exactly a new feeling, but the thought (or at least hope) was that refreshing Roberto De Zerbi’s front line would finally solve the team’s glaring weakness; so far, no dice.

Tucked between these four goalless Premier League outings is one small encouragement. It took 40 minutes to warm up, but Spurs did log five goals against Charlton near the beginning the season. Obviously, this was not the country’s toughest opponent, but that League Cup tie was the best showing so far, so perhaps a return to that competition can reignite the spark.

Tuesday’s trip to Anfield is a much different animal than the last round, but it is unlikely that Liverpool features its best options, with the Champions League underway and a lot to prove after a poor season in the league last year. With no Europe, it would be nice to stay alive in this cup, though that feels like the less likely outcome for the visitors.

League Cup Third Round

Date: Tuesday, September 15

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

Location: Anfield, Liverpool

TV: Paramount+ (US), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)

Matches against Liverpool rarely go well, regardless of competition. These sides met in the League Cup Semis two seasons ago, with Lucas Bergvall’s goal in the first leg completely eviscerated by four Liverpool tallies at Anfield. The result was more encouraging last year, however, with Richarlison’s late road equalizer earning Tottenham a key point in the fight for survival.

Optimistically embracing rotation

Though Spurs are likely to rotate as well, the dropoff between best XI and Tuesday’s starters is probably felt more dramatically by the home side. Of course, none of De Zerbi’s rotational options are immense goal threats themselves, but there is a clear need to infuse some new energy right now, and this fixture actually comes at a time that might be helpful.

Liverpool cannot care much about this affair, and maybe that ends up bringing a little chaos. The Reds will be still looking to aggressively press, and this is a chance for some eager Tottenham attackers to take advantage of vacant spaces if (when?) Spurs can get the ball up the pitch. I would not expect a ton of goals, but I bet there will be some decent opportunities at least.

Pessimistically sighing

Even with last season’s miraculous draw, going to Anfield is never going to bring many positive feelings. Liverpool may also be off to a somewhat slow start, but it is still more encouraging than Tottenham’s, and the talent gap always feels apparent in these meetings, even if rotation lies ahead. The home side should test the Spurs defense much more than the past two weeks; a third straight clean sheet feels quite unlikely.

The midfield is what draws the attention, as transition play will probably dictate the result. Even possession itself is a bit of a question mark, as the losses to start the year showed Tottenham really struggling to have any sort of sustained build-up play. Liverpool is going to aggressively cause discomfort with Spurs on the ball and this could easily be a frustrating 90 minutes.

Realistically being real

Minor improvements are fine, but still it is fairly unexciting to keep just waiting for things to magically get better. For De Zerbi, it feels like such a battle to unlock the right combination of attackers that will finally get this front line to where it needs to be. Rotation likely does not help that cause on Tuesday, but perhaps the nature of a midweek, early round cup tie is what helps provide some needed freedom.

Liverpool is not looking like a top side on the continent, though that does not offer Spurs supporters a ton of comfort. Exiting the competition at Anfield is not a failure, and by no means is Tuesday anything close to a must win. Until we see Tottenham able to score, let alone win, it is hard to realistically expect too much at this point in the season.

I did not watch Tottenham Hotspur’s scoreless draw against Everton live on Saturday. That’s because I drove about three hours to Holly, Michigan to attend the Michigan Renaissance Festival with my family — my first ever RenFest. The Holly festival isn’t the biggest in the country, but it’s still pretty frickin’ big — there were thousands of fantasy and Renaissance fans crammed into a sprawling site set in a wooded area in a small town north of Detroit.

I’ve never been to one of these and I had no idea what to expect, and I had a great time! Before you ask, yes I did dress up, as a modern Tottenham fan complete with 2025/26 home kit. I can safely say that I was the only person at the Michigan Renaissance Festival wearing a Tottenham jersey, and sadly despite thousands of attendees there I only got one solitary “COME ON YOU SPURS!” as I was walking back out to the parking lot. Sad! American soccer culture is a guy in a Tottenham shirt sadly walking around the Renaissance festival.

But I had a good time. You have to kind of swallow your “this is hokey” sensor and just swallow the thing whole, and once you realize that no matter what you do you’ll never be as cringe as that drunk guy wearing the gnomish pirate outfit speaking in Middle English, you find yourself having a pretty fun experience.

The cell towers were hammered there (as were most of the overweight beardos wearing leather armor) so I had a hard time checking the score, but I did end up watching the match later on.

Here are my Tottenham player ratings for the Everton match, to the theme of Things I Saw at the Michigan Renaissance Festival.

God. Elves. So many elves. Everywhere you look — pointed ears, on all body types — thin and lithe, standard, large. Everyone wants to be an elf, apparently. It’s like they never actually read Tolkien — elves are assholes. But they have cool ears, I guess? And there were some truly outstanding elvish costumes on some incredibly gorgeous people of both genders. Can’t get away from those fuckin’ elves, man. They’re ubiquitous.

No Tottenham players in this category.

Ok I almost mentioned this in the five star category, but I felt this merited special mention — I swear I saw from across the jousting field a dude wearing a Liverpool away kit and elf ears… and that’s it. No other costume accoutrements — just an elvish Liverpool fan. I felt like I was having a stroke.

Jan Paul van Hecke (Community - 3.5): One of his best performances thus far. Tidy at the back and his passing from deep was at times sublime.

Micky van de Ven (Community - 3.5): Didn’t get forward as much in this one but let very little past him on the left side.

Rodrigo Bentancur (Community - 3.5): Pretty good match as a midfield destroyer. A couple of horrible passes, but made up for it by breaking up a lot of play. This is the first time I’ve felt like he’s really gotten his legs back since his injury.

One of the cooler things I saw at the fest were one of the periodic jousting shows, featuring actual knights (okay, Guys in Armor™), real horses, and actual tilts against live opponents. The lances were obviously designed to shatter upon impact and nobody ended up on the ground, but they were going for it. There were also tilts with rings, both stationary and airborne. It was a warm day and the knights were clearly cooking in their armor, but they gave it their best for the crowd, which was really into it. I went to the jousting and it was very nice, I enjoyed it

Archie Gray (Community - 3.5): Not a perfect display but this was probably Archie’s best performance at right back for Spurs. Good interplay with Savio, and had some wonderful overlapping and box-crashing runs from deep positions.

Andy Robertson (Community - 3.0): Quite dynamic on the left flank with some extremely promising balls in from the flank, though none of them came off. Defended well.

I know blacksmithing is having something of a moment culturally right now, but I was able to sit in the shade for a while and watch some real blacksmiths hammer out a basic knife right in front of me and it was cool watching them work. The fantasy aspect of it was ruined by the obviously modern and gas-powered forges (no bellows and wood fires here) but the smiths, one of which was a woman, were talkative, attentive, and obviously skilled at their craft.

Antonin Kinsky (Community - 3.0): Made a couple of nice stops, but flapped at one corner and had a hospital ball pass that he was lucky didn’t result in a goal. He’d be higher up this list if not for that.

Sandro Tonali (Community - 3.0): I’m really trying not to define him by his transfer fee (it’s hard). Broke up a lot of play and had some admittedly outstanding passes from deep, none better than his ball to an onrushing Archie Gray. But I’m still expecting more.

Sávio (Community - 3.0): Had some truly exciting runs into the box and wasn’t afraid to take on his man, but his final ball was pretty bad. Still, so long as he gets into those positions good things will eventually happen.

Lucas Bergvall (Community - 3.0): Did well overall and had what was probably Spurs’ best chance at a goal.

Roberto de Zerbi (Community - 2.5): Again you can see the structure of what he wants his team to do, and the team is improving with every match. 39 touches in the opposition box with no goals however is concerning, and I wonder if he needs a tactical shake-up to get the team firing.

People come to Renaissance festivals to dress up like fantasy creatures and have a good time among other fellow nerds. They also, apparently, want to drink alcohol while dressing up as fantasy creatures and having a good time among other nerds. There were a lot of people at this festival, and I swear at least half of them were lined up to buy alcohol at any one of probably 15 different “taverns” throughout the area. I’m sober now but even if not you couldn’t pay me to wait in line for 45 minutes for an overpriced glass of warm ale or cheap rosé. I guess I’m just built different.

Mateus Fernandes (Community - 2.5): It’s pretty obvious he’s not a natural 10, and his first touch in and around the box was at times atrocious. Faded out of the match in the second half.

Omar Marmoush (Community - 2.5): I like his work rate. I like how he drops deep to press and make defensive plays. I would like it more if he would put the ball in the back of the net.

Mathys Tel (Community - 2.5): Brought on as a difference maker and didn’t really make much of a difference.

Mohammed Kudus (Community - 2.5): A couple of decent dribbles but not much of an overall impact.

I’m not sure what would compel someone to spend an hour at a Renaissance festival waiting to order and consume a giant turkey leg, but apparently that was the thing people wanted to do. As long as the booze lines were, the turkey leg line was even longer, stretching what looked like about 200 yards or longer. I’m not here to yuck people’s yum, but Thanksgiving is only two months away, I’ll just wait, thanks.

Dominic Solanke (Community - 2.0): I honestly forgot he was out there for a good part of the match. Extremely rusty. Had a couple of good moments of hold-up play but was otherwise a non-factor.

James Maddison (Community - 2.5): Ineffective in a brief cameo. Starting to wonder when.. or even if… we’ll ever get the old Madders back.

Renaissance Festivals are fun examples of group cosplaying, but their main goal is to get you to spend lots of money, from everything to horn flagons to handmade blown-glass dragons, to leather and chain-mail armor, plenty of period clothing, and LITERAL SWORDS. I went into close to a hundred little shops at the festival and ended up buying nothing because either it didn’t speak to me, it was obviously cheap/chintzy, and/or it was outrageously expensive. I had a great time at the festival, but didn’t see the purpose of bringing a wooden short sword home with me, sorry.

No Tottenham Hotspur players were as bad as the cheap pottery dragon mugs or random wooden ocarinas for sale there.

Tom Carroll Memorial Non-Rating

Good morning everyone and welcome to this season’s first Trending Up / Trending Down, where we at hoddle headquarters look at what around Tottenham Hotspur is Trending up, and what is Trending down.

Trending Up:

Jon Paul van Hecke and Sandro Tonali: I was a little sceptical with both of these incomings, but I feel they’re beginning to settle in nicely. I really have enjoyed seeing Tonali’s vision in trying to get the ball up the pitch (if only he had a little help on the other end), while van Hecke looked pretty comfortable during Everton on Saturday.

Trending Down:

Richarlison: Where on earth will Richarlison go? Literally. His potential move to Vasco da Gama fell through a few days ago, leaving the Brazilian forward with one fewer option. He isn’t part of Tottenham’s squad and the transfer window is shut. It’s a frustrating and unfair saga for someone who’s always given his all for the club. Hoping it gets resolved soon.

Goal-scoring threats: Zero goals scored in four games (or eight haves - whichever sounds better to you) in Premier League play. It’s the first time Spurs have failed to score in their first four PL games in the club’s history. These aren’t the kind of records you want to set, especially when spending nearly 400m on transfer incomings this window.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Reliquia, by ROSALIA

And nor for your links:

The Independent: “Andy Robertson’s Anfield return highlights Liverpool’s big left-back problem”

The Athletic ($$): “Spurs’ dribbling dismay, how Hull maul and the death of the outswinging corner – Premier League data notebook”

Alasdair Gold: “De Zerbi hails ‘incredible’ Tottenham player he needed his assistant to identify for him”

“I said last press conference. I know what happened in the last 45 days. It’s not right if I explained. It’s not my behaviour, the relationship. The problem is between the player and the club. I stay within the club. It’s coach and club together. At the start of this season I spoke to [Richarlison] many times to convince him to stay and he didn’t want to. I can’t go every day to pray for him to stay.”

”The team selection is not difficult because I am lucky to have these players. I am convinced of the qualities of the players. It is difficult because there are many good players but not for the other (suggested) problems.

“I think Lucas Bergvall is not other players. Mathys Tel also. And then we have to analyse the other players. Maybe the players that didn’t play enough. I am lucky because in central defence I have JP van Hecke and Micky van de Ven, top centre backs, but also Ben Davies, Marcos Senesi, Tosin are not less than van Hecke and Van de Ven.”

”I would like to play with the same attitude as in the Premier League. The attitude and spirit the same.

”I don’t know (on) Luca (Williams-Barnett). Many players need to play. Maybe not 90 minutes but 30 minutes. It is a real game. It is important.”

”With a complete the squad, we started working 10 days before the Everton game. I think we are working well. In the first 25 minutes, we had the chance to score two goals. At the end, maybe we lost a bit of confidence because we didn’t score.

“For sure, we have to improve. For sure I have big confidence in my players. They are very good players. We have to improve, yes. We can say the coach has the responsibility if we don’t score. Yes, I accept. No problem. We didn’t win any game so far. Yes we have to improve. We are sorry. We are disappointed for that. But I think also we have other positive things. Like I said, we didn’t score goals (but) we didn’t suffer nothing in both game, in the last two games. And from the things we have to improve. But nothing change in my project, in my idea. I’m sorry for the result, yes. For the goal we didn’t score, yes.“

I’d love to tell you something about this match, but I spent the day among elves, knights, saucy wenches, and other various cosplayers today at RenFest and didn’t see a single minute of the match. All I know is the score — another scoreless draw, another match in which Spurs didn’t score. But critically, still not a loss! No takes from me until I have a chance to watch a replay.

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.

If you’re on mobile or found this via AMP and the survey isn’t appearing below, here’s a direct link.

In yet another performance without a goal, Tottenham Hotspur battled to secure their first win of the season but ultimately failed as Everton held Spurs to a goalless draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

There were four changes made to the XI from the Nottingham Forest draw. Two of those were injury enforced, as both fullbacks in the shape of Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie were missing from the squad, replaced by Andy Robertson and Archie Gray. The other two were more tactical in nature, as Mateus Fernandes came in for Conor Gallagher at the #10 and Mathys Tel was dropped for Dominic Solanke, with Omar Marmoush shifting to the left to accommodate.

Yet another half went by with Spurs failing to score, but not for want of trying. The Lilywhites were dominant from the opening whistle, piling the pressure of the Everton defense as the Toffees struggled to even get out of their half. Despite this, clear-cut scoring opportunities were still lacking, as Jan Paul van Hecke had the best chance of the half, peeling off the Everton backline to meet a Robertson free kick only to shank his shot over the bar from close range.

Mateus Fernandes also found himself in shooting positions on two occasions, with space to open the scoring if he shot quickly, but both times took too many touches as the Everton defenders recovered. The flurry of early chances appeared to stoke Everton into life as they began to look more comfortable on the ball, enjoying a late spell of possession but never really threatening in a goalless first half.

Things continued to even up initially in the second half, with Everton starting to threaten on a more regular basis. Tyrique George, who had the beating of Gray on several occasions, created space for a cross into a threatening area as Thierno Barry rose high to meet the ball, with Antonin Kinsky scrambling to stop Barry’s headed effort. Kinsky was to the fore not long after as well, passing the ball straight to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as the Spurs keeper looked to play out from the back. Dewsbury-Hall immediately looked to shoot but Kinsky did well to make himself big and block the attempt.

A number of changes were made by both sides, before Dewsbury-Hall picked up the first caution of the match, scything down Sandro Tonali from behind in an awful tackle. Spurs had more of the possession, but Everton continued to knock on the door, this time via ex-Spurs winger Brennan Johnson who was found at the top of the box by Dewsbury-Hall, the Welshman surprisingly unable to direct his shot on target.

Spurs continued to push for the elusive goal. James Maddison made a late appearance in an effort to generate more creativity in the final third, and Savio and Tonali both had half-chances blocked by the Everton defense. Spurs’ final chance came by way of Lucas Bergvall, with the Swede looking to celebrate a new contract with a goal. His low strike from distance looked to be heading towards the bottom corner, but a big palm from Jordan Pickford ensured the points were shared.

Reactions

I’m starting to feel like Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore screaming at his golf ball to get in the hole. Maybe Spurs should try doing that with the matchball before kick-off and they might have better luck?

Some records for you: that’s the first goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the first time in Spurs’ history they have gone four matches without scoring a goal. Not great, Bob!

That said, the opening 15 minutes were probably the best 15 minutes I’ve seen from Spurs in some time. More of that please.

Both players played well, but there’s just not enough forward impetus in a Rodrigo Bentancur-Sandro Tonali double pivot. What do we need to do to see Mateus Fernandes play a deeper role?

I’m very, very glad Brennan Johnson didn’t Brennan us. He had the big chance mentioned in the report above when Dewsbury-Hall found him with a square ball, and there was another moment in the second half where Brennan made one of his runs towards the back post where George had multiple opportunities to play the Welshman in but instead went himself.

Dominic Solanke… I just don’t see it. He’s offering just so little to the attack right now, but Spurs don’t really have any other options (outside of Marmoush). The decision not to register Richarlison just feels bizarre, and we could have used his chaos today.

On that, it was curious seeing Mathys Tel get a chance at striker today, though it didn’t go too well. Once he shifted up front, Spurs did seem to struggle with the lack of a focal point, and the already-limited cohesion seemed to drop off even more.

Despite some of Spurs’ high-quality play in possession, the fact they only created 0.64 xG (vs Everton’s 1.17) is telling as to how dysfunctional the attack is right now. Sure, players need time to gel, but there’s a real inability to turn possession into chances.

It doesn’t get any easier from here as Spurs head to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the League Cup in midweek.

COYS.

Roberto De Zerbi posted a quick team update video on Tottenham Hotspur’s social media accounts, and if you’re a Spurs fan you’re probably not going to like it. In addition to the injury to Misha Murdryk, De Zerbi also cast doubts on the fitness of both of Spurs starting fullbacks, saying both Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie are doubts for tomorrows match against Everton with muscle weakness.

So there are two ways to look at this news. You can throw your hands up in despair in the context of the past two seasons of recurring injuries and rage, rage against the dying of the light. OR — you can look at the context of De Zerbi’s comments, in which he notes that Pedro Porro is coming off of the back of a very long summer in which he won the World Cup, and Udogie is coming off of a year in which he battled significant injuries. Both have a lot of miles on the tires, and both are being treated cautiously.

Tottenham replaced their medical staff last season, and also appointed a new Head of Performance in Dan Lewindon. All reports are that Lewindon is changing the way the medical staff addresses and prevents injuries through changes in workouts and training methods, and that there’s now a much greater tendency towards bringing players along slowly and not taking undue risks when players report small problems. There’s also been reports that suggests De Zerbi can be frustrated by the recommendations of the medical staff in these issues, but understands the issues behind it and is broadly supportive.

For Everton, that probably means we’ll see Andy Robertson at left back and Archie Gray at right back, but who knows — De Zerbi isn’t immune to the odd tactical surprise (he played Porro as a right winger in a recent match and, for example, Micky van de Ven can play on the left), and there’s cover at both positions. That’s why they’re there.

Honestly, I’d rather Porro and Udogie sit out the odd match if the medical staff is playing it safe than bitch about it when they are out for 4-6 weeks.

Mason Melia isn’t the Championship striker currently making eyes widen and tongues wagging — that’d be league scoring leader Will “BIG WILLY LANKS” Lankshear, whom Spurs sold to Middlesbrough for good money this summer (with a sell-on and matching clause) and who has 7 goals in 7 matches. But the 18-year-old Irish international striker is pegged as a massive future talent, which is why Spurs sent him out on loan to Championship debutants Lincoln City Imps this summer.

Melia’s tenure with Lincoln City got off to a slow start — he has played just 18 Championship minutes this season as he adjusted from youth football to life in the second division of English football, coming off the bench twice in the league but starting Lincoln’s second round win over Blackpool in the EFL Cup. But now it appears that acclimation has hit a bump in the road — according to Aladair Gold of Football.London, Melia will now miss the next 4-6 weeks due to a thigh injury he picked up in training.

It’s a bummer, because sitting out will obviously hinder his development at a crucial time in his loan, potentially preventing him from working his way into the club’s plans. At this time there doesn’t appear to be any talk about terminating his loan, as with the upcoming international break he won’t miss too many games for Lincoln. But it’s a shame, since the only way we’ll find out if he’s Championship level as a teenager is for him to play Championship matches.

Hopefully he heals up soon and is back on the pitch ahead of schedule.