Cartilage Free Captain

Tottenham Hotspur’s season was on the line entering the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 fixture with AZ Alkmaar at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In a lost domestic season, Spurs’ chance of salvaging the season and Ange Postecouglou’s job revolved around winning an important fixture against AZ Alkmaar, and the side did just that with a 3-1 victory and advanced on a 3-2 aggregate on Thursday.

A week ago, Spurs looked awful against the high press that AZ brought forth in front of its home fans and escaped with a point at the weekend at home against Bournemouth; Spurs went with the firepower in hopes of securing a quarter-final spot. Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven returned to the Starting XI — the first time since the Chelsea match that both saw the pitch together — Lucas Bergvall sitting in the hole as the No. 6 and Wilson Odobert getting the nod over Brennan Johnson at right wing.

The first 25 minutes of the game saw Spurs recover in big moments. The center-back partnership took chances on big tackles but also pushed the ball forward to get the team in the attacking half of the pitch.

Hunting for the goal to level on aggregate, a lapse in defense from AZ allowed Spurs to jump on the moment. With a poor back pass in defense around the box, Son Heung-min won a deflection off the clearance attempt that allowed Dominic Solanke to collect the loose ball in the AZ box and into an open box. Getting the ball out from underneath him — with many anticipating the striker to take a shot on goal — Solanke laid off a perfect ball for Wilson Odobert at the penalty spot to have the Frenchman blast a weak foot goal for his first goal as a Spurs player.

Leveling the leg in the 27th minute, Spurs looked for that insurance goal before the half as Sonny had multiple chances that were blocked as his patented cut through the box on his right foot was narrowly off from giving Spurs a 2-0 lead into the half

James Maddison had a chance in the last seconds of the half, but his free-kick was headed away by the wall, and his volley take on the ensuing corner was stopped in the box.

With all to play for in the second half, Spurs jumped on the mistake again by AZ. Pedro Porro’s pressure on Mees De Wit — who had just come in for the second half — saw Odobert collect the ball in transition and lead the break. Finding Maddison in the middle and the vice-captain hitting Sonny on the wing, Sonny cut back onto his right foot with two AZ defenders dropping deep in the box for a deflection chance. Seeing it and how wide open Maddison was in the middle of the box, Sonny laid it off, and Maddison collected his first touch and slotted a right-foot shot into the far corner for a 2-0 lead.

AZ leveled the aggregate scoreline minutes after van de Ven was subbed off in the 60th minute. A poor passing decision from Bergvall gave Peer Koopmeiners the loose ball and a hammering strike to the far post.

Feeling gutted that Spurs could choke this game away, the team put the exclamation mark on a tremendous counterattack with Odobert collecting his brace.

Leading yet again and needing 20 minutes to hold on for a quarter-final date with Frankfurt, Spurs endured chances from AZ as one moment seemed to be destined for the back of the net.

Ex-Academy product Troy Parrott was through on goal and had his shot parried away from Gugilemo Vicario. Pushing it to his right, the ball landed at the feet of De Wit, and with Vicario sprawling up and ready in position, Yves Bissouma took no chances as his clearance near the line was sent away for an AZ corner.

In the end, Spurs held on for a 3-2 aggregate victory and reached the quarter-finals of the Europe League for just the second time (eight fully with the UEFA Cup appearances).

Now, is an opportunity for Spurs to put together a good run of fixtures with the momentum of moving on in Europe can position the side to feel good about themselves. Spurs return to Premier League play as they make the short trip to west London to play at Craven Cottage against Fulham.

Do or die. That’s the situation for Tottenham Hotspur as they attempt to salvage the remainder of their season. The other competitions are done and dusted, or an impossible mountain to conquer. In comparison, this tie against AZ Alkmaar should be but a grassy knoll.

Let’s hope there’s not a bullet coming.

The trains keep coming down the tunnel though, with more injuries: January signing Kevin Danso is out with a hamstring injury, which is pretty much par for the course at this stage; but a number of absentees are slowly getting back to match fitness, and maybe, just this once, it’s not a locomotive. Is it enough to overcome the one-goal deficit?

There’s a lot riding on this match; let’s hope the pressure doesn’t get to the squad and we see a return to the high-quality Ange-ball we know and love (and dearly, dearly miss).

COYS!

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

Tottenham Hotspur vs. AZ Alkmaar

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Time: 4:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. UK

TV: Not televised in USA, TNT Sports 3 (UK). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: Paramount+

Match thread rules

The match thread rules are the same as always. To any visitors coming here for the first time, welcome! We’re glad you’re here! Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. While you’re here, though, we have a few rules and regulations:

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Have fun, and COYS!

There is no other way to put it: Tottenham Hotspur must find a way to advance. The Europa League has been the priority for some time now, but Ange Postecoglou is at risk of failing in all four competitions this season — which might signal the end of his tenure. There is no excuse for anything less than a victory over AZ Alkmaar at home this Thursday and to progress to the quarterfinals.

Tottenham enters the second leg in North London as favorites, with one of its healthiest squads in recent memory. Yet, nothing has come easy this season, and last week’s disappointing performance in the Netherlands offers little cause for optimism. Even if Spurs make it through this round, the challenges ahead will only get tougher. But it feels like they — and Postecoglou — need something, anything, positive to regain some hope.

Round of 16 (2nd Leg): Tottenham Hotspur (0) vs. AZ Alkmaar (1)

Date: Thursday, March 13

Time: 4:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm UK

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

TV: Paramount+ (USA), TNT Sports 3 (UK)

Tottenham is fortunate to only be trailing by a single goal heading into the second leg. AZ did not generate much offense (just three shots on target, 39 percent possession, and a mere 1.6 xG), but they took advantage of an unfortunate own goal from Lucas Bergvall. Despite that, the home side always looked more likely to score and earned the result it deserved.

Postecoglou must find a way to create more attacking opportunities. One shot on target in an entire match is a glaring red flag. As troubling is the failure to dominate midfield and apply pressure on AZ’s defense, which is far from impenetrable. While Tottenham has been without a fully-fit No. 9 for much of the season, there are still numerous capable players who can carry the ball into the box and make incisive passes. AZ came into last week’s match having conceded nine goals in their previous three Europa League outings; this is a defense that can be breached.

Though the League Phase tie featured a heavily rotated side, that now makes two contests against this opponent without much to show on the scoreboard. Even though the defense has mostly held up, it is hard to ignore performances against teams like Leicester, Palace, and Ipswich where goals have also been hard to come by. Spurs clearly have an issue scoring against the teams they really should be handling without much difficulty, which is a tough thing to still be saying in March.

Do your job

Tottenham will be without Dejan Kulusevski, arguably their best playmaker, but again, there can be no excuses. Dominic Solanke should be available, and James Maddison must play a key role. Heung-Min Son’s form has been inconsistent, but against Bournemouth, he showed flashes of his former self — enough to suggest he could make a difference this week. And while Bergvall’s own goal was unfortunate, his attacking drive is something few other Spurs players have shown consistently this season.

Ultimately, these players just need to… do their job. Thanks for everyone who has stuck with us the past seven months, and surely you all are sick of hearing the same thing over and over again as well, but what is there even left to say? Spurs have the individual talent and team capability to turn this into a comfortable win, but clearly translating that potential into actual performance has been a struggle.

This is the moment. Tottenham needs to overturn a one-goal deficit against a clearly inferior opponent to keep its hopes alive. The task itself is manageable, but the pressure could not be higher on Postecoglou. Respond, and Spurs move one step closer to glory. Succumb to another Dinamo Zagreb-like catastrophe and this might be the end of the road.

Kia ora! Long time, no see, folks.

And there’s a bit of a reason for that. Some of you may have noticed (or maybe you haven’t!) I haven’t been as... well, let’s say “prolific” with my writing output over the last month or so.

That’s because Matty Flatt (yeah, let’s embrace the spirit of Fitzie) has taken a little bit of a step back from writing duties temporarily as Real Life FC™ gets in the way of the things I really care about: Spurs and you guys (family be damned).

I’ve mentioned before I work in the tech sector, and for the last couple of years have been working across a very large, very expensive, very intense tech project. We are now a month out from go-live, and needless to say, the pressure is high and we are in crunch time.

That means I am working 60+ hour weeks, and any spare time for writing is really spent on mental rest. When you sit down to engage in creative endeavors, you need a clear head - and it’s hard to say my psyche is open to any sort of creative muse right now, nor are the performances we’ve seen from Spurs over the last little while particularly inspiring.

It’s weird though how normalized crunch has become. It started (as far as I know) in the gaming industry, where developers would work all hours to hit deadlines in the delivery of a game... wellbeing be damned. Honestly, it probably existed in other industries as well, but it’s become pervasive across different business spheres.

The funny thing is when it comes to a project of the scale on which I’m working, it feels like no matter how well you prep, plan, and resource, you somewhat inevitably get to a point like this - everything becomes a mad scramble to line up all the different pieces and personnel.

So is it avoidable? What do you think? And have you experienced crunch in your line of work? Discuss in the comments; I sure won’t be, as I’m headed back to work... and hopefully I’ll be back to properly writing for you all (as opposed to rambling here) very soon.

Matty Flatt’s Track of the Day: Once in a Lifetime, by Talking Heads

And now for your links:

Tottenham Hotspur officially announce the freeze of season ticket pricing for next season

Alasdair Gold gives his thoughts on the latest training session in the lead-up to Spurs’ do or die match against AZ Alkmaar

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou confirmed the bad news of Kevin Danso’s injury today in his weekly press conference ahead of Spurs’ match against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League. That bad news includes the revelation that Danso picked up a hamstring injury, adding himself to the list of Spurs players that have also suffered the same fate.

But there is good news — not only is Cuti Romero and Micky van de Ven back (if not full strength), but Ange also confirmed that Ben Davies is back in training and will be available to play tomorrow night in North London.

“Right, OK. I think you covered it all there! Yeah, Kevin got a hamstring injury in the last game so he is out. Ben [Davies] is back in, so that’s the only change from the weekend. Everyone else got through the game no problems.

“[Both Romero and Van de Ven] got through the game well. Obviously Romero no issues and it was great to get Micky back out there and he felt good. Both available.

“Hard to say at the moment [how bad Danso’s injury is]. He felt it right at the end of the game. We will see. We have got the international break which helps us. Kevin looks after himself, he is a pretty good athlete. We will give him every chance to get back. We have to let it settle down before we get clarity on it. He will be pushing for sure.”

Neither Micky nor Cuti were 90 minutes match fit and it’s difficult to believe either of them are now, just three days after the draw against Bournemouth. That said, with both of them back and both Ben Davies and Archie Gray available, it feels reasonable that, with a couple of subs, Spurs can cobble together a functional back line for not only this match, but also this weekend’s Premier League fixture against Fulham.

Tottenham’s promotional photos released today included a couple of Ange on the training pitch watching as Richarlison ran outside on grass, away from the rest of the first team. That implies that Richy still isn’t available for the upcoming two matches, and Postecoglou confirmed that he hopes to have Pombo back after the international break.

“Probably post the international break [Richarlison] should be there or thereabouts depending on his progress It was good to see him back out on the grass. He is working hard to get back in. Hopefully post international break he will be available.”

It goes without saying that tomorrow evening’s game is critical for Tottenham’s Europa League campaign, and Tottenham need at least a two goal lead to ensure progression to the quarterfinals (or a goal and a penalty shootout win). Ange didn’t get drawn into commenting on the must-win situation, but did state that the team is fully focused on producing a much better performance than they showed in the Netherlands last week.

“No, no extra pressure. I guess as I said before, I think we were obviously disappointed with our performance in the first leg and I guess the important thing is we didn’t make tie impossible for us to get back into. It is still very tight. Obviously they have the goal advance, but being at home and if we can play with the intensity and tempo we played at the weekend, I think we’ll have the opportunity to progress. Should we progress then we’ll obviously have another big challenge in the next round but right now the key focus is to put in a really strong performance at home tomorrow night and we’ll go from there.”

Should Spurs get past AZ tomorrow evening, they will face the winner of Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Ajax. Frankfurt have a 2-1 aggregate lead over Ajax after the first leg, with tomorrow’s match taking place in Germany.

Tottenham Hotspur officially released its ticketing scheme for next season, and in what is welcome news to supporters has frozen ticket prices at 2024-25 levels. The announcement was made on Tottenham’s website and social media channels.

Here are the key takeaways on ticketing for the 2025-26 season:

Prices for both season and individual tickets will stay the same as this year’s pricing scheme. This applies to both the Men’s and Women’s teams.

Season ticket renewals for the men’s team go on sale next Tuesday, March 17, with the renewal deadline set for Tues. May 27, 2025. Information was not released on Tottenham Hotspur Women season tickets.

After intense lobbying from the Fan Advisory Board and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST), the club has walked back some of its intended cuts to the Senior Concession Senior Ticket (SCST) allocations, with a commitment to keeping proportional senior tickets available. Priority will be given to ticket holders who have held their senior tickets the longest.

Season ticket holders who give up their tickets to the Ticket Exchange will receive a 1/19th refund on the price of their season ticket package, in order to prevent ticket scalping.

The club is doing away with the Automatic Cup Scheme for ticket holders due to a lack of use.

I don’t usually post articles about ticketing issues or season ticket pricing on this blog, mostly because the majority of our readership is American and hence doesn’t purchase season tickets, but also because the topic of conversation is oftentimes fraught with cultural and economic differences that are unique to the UK and to North London specifically.

That said, I can absolutely get behind the club freezing ticket prices for next season. Spurs fans already pay the highest ticket prices in the Premier League, a fact that rankles some supporters (especially when the team isn’t doing well), and with the club making healthy profits a further increase in pricing wouldn’t go over especially well in that context.

The THST released a statement in the wake of the club’s announcement, with language that is broadly supportive of Tottenham’s decision.

James Maddison has emerged as one of the leaders in this Tottenham Hotspur team this season. Stats show the experienced midfielder has been one of the most exciting and productive senior members of the team, with 10 goals and 7 assists in all competitions, one goal behind Brennan Johnson and Son Heung-Min.

Maddison, Tottenham’s vice captain along with Cristian Romero, is often viewed as a spokesperson for the squad in media appearances. James gave an interview posted today in Sky Sports where he talked about the season so far, the recent come from behind draw against Bournemouth, and Tottenham’s hopeful Europa League campaign ahead of tomorrow’s critical second leg fixture against AZ Alkmaar.

Maddison was asked about Tottenham’s horrific injury crisis earlier in the season and how it impacted the playing squad, and he was clear that of course it was a factor in why Spurs struggled around the turn of the year.

“Well it’s a massive factor, and I don’t want to sound like I’m making loads of excuses, but when you have such a long period of time in the busiest part of the year where you miss (Guglielmo) Vicario, (Cristian) Romero, (Micky) Van de Ven, (Destiny) Udogie, (Dominic) Solanke, Richarlison for long periods, not just one game or two games, it is a defining factor.

“Of course, we’re not naive to not look in the mirror and think that we could have been better here, we could have been better there. Performances in certain games maybe could have been better, but it is a defining factor and it’s been a tough year for setbacks with injuries at this club. It’s just factual.

“Over that Christmas period when the Premier League picks up a little bit and we had the Carabao Cup semi-final, which is two legs and just a lot of games with the new European format as well with eight games in the group. It’s a lot of football and you need your squad for that and we didn’t have that.

“The one blessing that it kind of created was the fact that we got exposure to the young lads and the lads who hadn’t played as much, so the likes of Djed (Spence) got his opportunity and he’s been phenomenal. Lucas (Bergvall) and Archie (Gray) have come in as 18-year-olds and played a lot of football, more than probably what the manager and the club had hoped for their transition into the first team, but that’ll leave them in good stead.

“It’s tough as a senior player. I only missed a couple of weeks, but for the lads like Romero, I know who the type of person he is, and Van de Ven, and Vic (Vicario), like I said, the names I listed, senior players who missed months and it’s tough. Any footballer will tell you it’s so tough because you can’t help, you have to watch on the sideline and it kills you inside.”

Maddison knows the importance of the Europa League in what has been a very disappointing Premier League season. But Spurs do have an opportunity, if a slim one, to progress through, or even win, the Europa League which would send Spurs into Champions League competition next season. Maddison said the team recognizes that opportunity and that will factor in to how the team approaches tomorrow’s game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“Yeah, we know what it means to us, the fans, everyone, we’re all on the same page. The first leg obviously wasn’t good enough, tough conditions on a tough pitch to play the way we want to play, but it’s only 1-0, they’ve got to come to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and if the fans get behind us and have the place rocking like we know they can.”

“I think [the fans] have been brilliant, especially in Europe as well, the midweek ones are tough in the middle of the week because people have lives and jobs and kids, I know all that, it doesn’t go unappreciated and unnoticed. So just more of that, more of what we’ve seen in Europe so far.

“I remember the game we played against them [AZ Alkmaar] in the group stage. We were doing pretty well, I captained the side and the atmosphere was brilliant that night, we won 1-0. We’re going to need more of that and we need to give them something to shout about and the lads are going to be up for it and we’re going to start fast and hopefully we can get the job done.

“The manager always speaks about how it can still be special for us if we win that, and we’re in a good position to do that. Listen, we’ve got work to do in the second leg but we know we’re capable of that and we can turn it around, there’s no one in there doubting the fact that we can do that. But we have to go and do it, talk is one thing, we have to go and win the game and turn over the defeat of the first leg. You win that and you pick up a bit of momentum, you’re in the quarter-final and then it can still be a special season for us. That’s what we’re hoping for and that’s what we’re striving for.”

Tottenham kick off against AZ Alkmaar tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. UK at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs carry a 1-0 aggregate deficit into the second leg, and will need at least a two goal win to assure progression to the quarterfinals of the competition.

Hello, Hoddlers! This is my last day as interim Hoddler in Chief; Matty will take tomorrow and up to the weekend.

Who was your first Tottenham Hotspur love? This is a very personal question and it will vary from person to person based on how long you’ve been a Spurs fan. A lot of players have come and gone over the years, and we all have our favorites, some because they were excellent footballers and some for reasons much more personal or even stupid.

My first season as a nascent Tottenham fan was the 2007-08 season. I started watching Spurs just after Martin Jol was sacked and Juande Ramos took over, which means my first FULL season was the infamous two points from eight matches which saw Ramos sacked and Harry Redknapp brought in to right the ship.

But that 2007-08 season was me finding my feet as a Spurs fan, getting to know the team and the history and the players, and figuring out if this bad team with the funny name was really the right fit for me. Benoit Assou-Ekotto was on that team but barely played, and so I didn’t learn to love him until later on. Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane scored all the goals and that was fun, but while I liked them they weren’t my first Spurs love either.

No, my first Spurs love was Tom Huddlestone. That tall slow guy at the base of the midfield. Huddlestone wasn’t especially mobile. He wasn’t flashy, he didn’t score a lot of goals or provide a lot of assists. But my god, that guy could pass. It was so much fun watching him ping balls from deep to onrushing attackers in Jol (and later Ramos)’s tactics. I remember Jol comparing him to Franz Beckenbauer (I had to look him up too). For me, a baby soccer and Tottenham fan, Tom Huddlestone just exuded cool. I loved him. Still do. He’s now an assistant coach at Birmingham City and my heart wants Big Ange Postecoglou to poach him next season.

So who was the first Tottenham player who really captured your heart? Put your answer in the comments.

Song of the Day: “Gotta Cheer Up” by Cotton Jones

Your Daily Tottenham Links

Jonathan Wilson unpacks fan protests and ownership unrest amongst Premier League fanbases in the Guardian.

The Athletic crew (£) ponders whether Spurs have a better chance to win the Europa League if they sack Ange. (The answer: probably not)

Well, it’s not a win, but it’s also not a loss. Tottenham Hotspur were profligate with their passing and woeful with their finishing, but somehow managed to claw their way back from an 0-2 deficit to earn a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth. Pape Sarr scored a long range banger off the post, and Son Heung-Min converted a rare penalty as Spurs completed the comeback and got a point for their efforts. It looked like they might actually score a winner late but weren’t quite able to get it done. The match also saw the first action for Cuti Romero and Micky van de Ven in defense — they both looked very rusty, but it’s still good to see them back.

A point isn’t a win, but it also isn’t nothing. 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.

Pressure was mounting on Tottenham Hotspur as they returned home to take on a firing Bournemouth side. With players returning from injury, the long-awaited return to form had not quite eventuated as some had expected, with Spurs instead struggling to find cohesion and consistency. It was the largely the same story against the Cherries, but with a different result, as Spurs showed fight to wrestle their way back into a match they seemed out of and secure a point in a match in which they were largely second-best.

There was some rotation from Ange Postecoglou, perhaps as an attempt to find some form, or maybe with a view to Thursday’s Europa League second leg. Captain Son Heung-min was rested, with Wilson Odobert starting in his place; Dominic Solanke shook off a late knock to reclaim his starting berth up top; Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison sat for Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr; Pedro Porro came in for Destiny Udogie; and lastly, Cristian Romero returned to the side following a lengthy injury lay-off.

It was an ignominious return initially from the Argentine, however, as an early giveaway called Guglielmo Vicario into action in a moment that was somewhat of an omen of what was to come, with Spurs often playing architects of their own demise. Giveaways from the Lilywhites were an effective creator for Bournemouth, and that was the case for the opening goal. With Spurs pushing forward in attack, an underhit pass by Pedro Porro was well-read and intercepted by Milos Kerkez, who then pushed forward into space and delivered an inch-perfect cross from the left just over the head of Kevin Danso. Marcus Tavernier, who had lost his man in the shape of Djed Spence, timed his run well and met the ball first time to score the first half’s solitary goal.

Postecoglou was clearly unhappy with the first half performance, making two half-time switches as Bergvall and Son came in for Bissouma and Brennan Johnson. Normal service resumed, however, as a scintillating Bournemouth counter saw Tavernier put the ball in the net a second time, with Spurs’ blushes only spared thanks to a VAR-adjudged offside call.

A pair of rare bright moments for Spurs saw Micky van de Ven replace Romero in another return from injury, and James Maddison enter the fray as Spurs searched for an elusive equalizer. They nearly had one, too, as James Maddison teed up Sarr who hooked his shot from near the penalty spot wide. Instead, it was Bournemouth who added to the scoresheet as clever movement and passing from Justin Kluivert pulled the Spurs defense out of shape and opened up space for Evanilson to sneak in and chip a shot over a despairing Vicario.

Sarr soon made amends for his profligacy, however, as Spurs halved the deficit. The Lilywhites recycled possession after Lucas Bergvall clattered the post, and it made its way to the Senegalese midfielder out on the right. He drove forward before looping an effort from wide over the head of Kepa Arrizabalaga. It was a stunning finish and created a glimmer of hope for Spurs fans.

That glimmer soon became a spark, as Kepa was embarrassed once more. Direct football from Spurs played creator, as James Maddison played a pass forward looking for the run of Son. The South Korean knocked his touch past the Bournemouth keeper, who had rushed off his line and slid in in an attempt to win the ball and instead only succeeded in collecting Son and conceding a penalty. Spurs’ captain stepped up and duly dispatched the spot kick, calmly waiting for Kepa to dive left before passing it into the net the other way.

With neither side able to break the deadlock late on, Tottenham Hotspur finished the match probably the happier of the two sides, fighting back to secure a 2-2 draw.

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