Cartilage Free Captain

Archie Gray has made a mark at Tottenham Hotspur since joining on a £40 million arrival this summer from Leeds. In doing so, the 18-year-old defenseman was named by the London Football Awards as the Young Player of the Year on Thursday.

A Leeds academy product, Gray made his senior debut in the 2023 season for the club and made an instant impact as he played all 52 games for Leeds as the club reached the Championship playoff final before losing to Southampton.

Garnering interest from Premier League clubs such as Brentford, Gray was about to join the Bees before being swayed to join Tottenham and the project under Ange Postecoglou.

Playing all over the backline this season for an injury-riddled defense, Gray has quickly become a player that the fans admire and the manager praises as he learns on the spot.

In a report that’s sure to annoy every Spurs fan (albeit for different reasons) aside from those living in Korea and the surrounding area, Sami Mokbel has a paywalled report in the Daily Mail that hints that Spurs are planning yet another preseason tour to the Asia this coming summer.

Mokbel says that Spurs are in the final planning stages for the preseason tour, which would be the fifth consecutive tour to Asia. Spurs haven’t traveled outside of the Asia region (apart from Australia) since 2018. The report states that a match in South Korea, where Son Heung-Min is insanely popular, is likely and that discussions have also taken place about a match in Hong Kong. While nothing is finalized, there have also been talks about a preseason “friendly” North London Derby match against Arsenal somewhere on the Asian subcontinent.

Why will this annoy Tottenham fans? Well, for different reasons. English fans don’t like preseason tours in general because it’s another symptom of the globalization of the sport over the past 20 years, and because it adds additional strain on the players at a time when they should be preparing for a grueling season. English fans just want their clubs to stay home. Non-Asian international fans won’t like this because Spurs seemingly ALWAYS go to Asia, in part due to Sonny but also because the club has deep marketing ties to Asian companies, most notably shirt sponsor AIA. Put it another way: Spurs have been to the United States in preseason twice: in 2014, when they visited Chicago in addition to other cities in USA and Canada; and three years later when they traveled to Nashville for the International Champions Cup (ICC). To my knowledge they’ve never traveled anywhere but USA, Asia, or Australia since I’ve been a fan.

While it’s nice and cool that Asian soccer fans get a chance to see Sonny and their preferred football club in person, it’s been 7 years since they’ve gone anywhere BUT Asia (they didn’t do preseason tours in 2020 & 2021 due to COVID restrictions). It’s also especially weird that Spurs have spent all this time and money fostering connections to the NFL and don’t capitalize on it by sending the soccer to the States. Meanwhile, Manchester United, Bournemouth, Everton and West Ham ARE likely to head to the States as part of the Premier League Summer Series, with games taking place in Chicago, Atlanta, and New Jersey.

Yesterday’s loss against Manchester City was disappointing, but it means now is as good time as any to look towards the future. What does the future bring? March!

Tottenham Hotspur men’s squad

It feels pretty strange that there are only four matches this month. But perhaps none are more important than the two against AZ as Spurs resume Europa League competition. With only 11 games remaining in the Premier League, the Europa is becoming the likeliest mode of entry into the Champions League next year.

That’s still a long ways away. What’s most important is the first leg against AZ. Other than that there are two important PL fixtures against Fulham and Bournemouth that could help narrow the gap between Spurs and those in the European slots.

Tottenham Hotspur men’s schedule: at AZ (6 March; Europa League), Bournemouth (9 March), AZ (13 March; Europa), at Fulham (16 March)

Tottenham Hotspur women’s squad

It isn’t often the women’s squad has as many matches as the men in a month, but here we are. Up first is City. Not great. And Spurs are currently on a three-game winless streak. Also not great.

But there are three huge opportunities after that to pick up some points against Brighton, West Ham and Leicester. Tottenham are currently smack in the middle of the table. A win against fifth-placed Brighton would definitely help that.

Tottenham Hotspur women’s schedule: Man City (2 March), Brighton (16 March), at West Ham (23 March), at Leicester (30 March)

Fitzie’s track of the day: Beautiful World, by Devo

And now for your links:

Dan KP: “Wilson Odobert shows signs of promise as Spurs left to ponder missed opportunity”

The Athletic: “Doku and Haaland deliver, but were there reasons for Spurs to be optimistic?”

Tottenham worked hard and tried their best but despite their efforts they couldn’t complete the treble against Manchester City in their midweek Premier League fixture. Erling Haaland tapped in a first half goal and while Spurs roared back and dominated the second 45 minutes, they couldn’t convert any of their numerous big chances. The final score was Tottenham 0-1 City, but despite the loss it was a pretty good overall performance.

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.

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Tottenham Hotspur Match Reports

Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Manchester City: Spurs fall in hard-fought match

It’s not a footballing, but it sure felt like one.

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Tottenham Hotspur have found life at home difficult in this Premier League campaign, and while they fought valiantly against defending league champions Manchester City, they weren’t able to summon up enough offense to put the ball in the back of the net today. Despite a dominating second half and numerous big chances, Spurs fell behind to an Erling Haaland tap-in goal in the first half and couldn’t find the back of the net. Haaland had a second ball in the net deep into injury time, but was called back by VAR for a handball. Tottenham had numerous good chances to complete the treble against City, but instead fell at home with the final score 1-0.

It was a good performance against a very good team, but another one goal loss on the season. Here are my match reactions.

Match Reactions

This was a weird game. City could’ve legitimately been up 3-0 in the first half, but considering Spurs’ dominance in the second half it almost feels like Tottenham got football’d in this one.

Spurs have broken Pep so thoroughly that it looked for a while like Guardiola started the match playing a 4-4-2. This comment should have that meme of the guy sitting in a chair made out of his own brain.

City’s early goal was annoying in that not only did Spurs not mark Haaland well right in front of goal, but it came off of a Brennan Johnson deflection. Ugly-ass lucky goal, but probably one that should’ve been prevented.

The first half was mostly Tottenham having a bunch of the ball but in inconsequential positions and them not able to get the ball to the attackers in dangerous areas. Meanwhile, Doku was terrorizing Pedro Porro on the right and City were able to get numerous chances on target.

Vicario had a solid half, including one save made at full stretch. He barely had to do anything in the second half.

I’m all for rotation (and even better, the OPTION of rotation) but I’m not sure this starting lineup was the right one against City, even one in bad form. Brennan Johnson is not great against pressing teams, and Odobert and Tel showed flashes of ability but not enough to make a difference.

Every time we play City I always forget how much Pep instructs his players to tactically foul and how much it annoys me when they get away with it. City got away with so much violence in this match. How Spurs ended up with three yellows and City none is beyond my ken.

This might have been Lucas Bergvall’s best match with Spurs to date. Still a little bit of youthful folly (to steal a Severance phrase) but his carrying into space is just so good right now.

QUAD SUB! QUAD SUB! QUAD SUB! That was fun! And while Spurs had been doing well to get back into the match, I agreed with every one of the four subs.

Haaland’s second goal that was waved off was a bit confusing, but apparently the call on the field was a handball on Haaland and VAR couldn’t find conclusive evidence that it was NOT a handball, so the call on the field stood: no goal.

I think Djed Spence is better than Destiny Udogie right now, and Archie Gray had one of his best matches in a Spurs shirt today.

I really feel like Spurs deserved an equalizer in this one, but there’s not much to be upset about in this one. Tottenham played well, rested their players, and look much improved from the dire days of December and January. I’m still high on this team bouncing back and ending up with a respectable league finish.

No game this weekend, so Spurs’ next match is next week in the Europa League at AZ.

After a tough away win at Ipswich Town, Tottenham Hotspur return home to a much easier task: taking on Manchester City.

I speak largely in jest, of course, but the truth is that Spurs have a quite unusually good record against the Citizens over the last few years. To add to that history, Spurs are in fact five wins from five fixtures against Manchester clubs this season. They will be buoyed as well by the recent uptick in form, as well as the continued returns of absentees to the matchday squads.

City are well above Spurs on the table, but in some ways may be more disappointed with their season thus far. The Sky Blues are in a bit of a strange limbo, not doing terribly in the league but with most of the major trophies now out of reach as they struggle through a period of rebuild (sound familiar?). They have suffered some heavy defeats in recent weeks, and are searching desperately for a statement victory to right the ship.

Let’s sink it instead.

COYS!

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Time: 2:30 p.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. UK

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

Streaming: Peacock

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:

Absolutely no links to illegal streams. They’re bad and they get us in trouble. Violators will be warned or banned.

We have rules against “relentless negativity.” Nobody likes a Negative Nancy. Don’t knee-jerk and post outlandish or hurtful things just because you’re frustrated.

Along those lines, outright abuse of players or match officials is also not allowed. It’s fine to say “wow, that was a really bad call,” but it’s NOT okay to direct copious amounts of abuse in the direction of said official over a call you did not like.

Treat other people in the match thread the way you would want someone else to treat your grandmother. Be nice. This is a community of fans, not an un-moderated message board.

NO SPIDERS!

Finally, while we don’t have a rule against profanity, please try and keep the naughty words in check. Also, language that is sexist, racist, transphobic, or homophobic in nature will be swiftly deleted and you will be immediately banned. This is an open, supportive community.

Have fun, and COYS!

Those on Team Europa League still probably view the Premier League as a lost cause, but I will admit it is intriguing to see Tottenham Hotspur now within 10 points of sixth place. While it would take a lot of clubs slipping for Spurs to sneak into the European spots — and the simplest path to Europe next year is just winning the Europa League — the window is cracked back open.

An actual run in the league would require stealing some points, though I am not sure beating Manchester City would even be close to a heist. Though the reigning champions are betting favorites and the superior squad on paper, they are struggling (relative to expectations) just as much as Spurs this year and are playing for very little themselves. Tottenham always shows up for this fixture, and the chance is there to make it four straight in the league.

Tottenham Hotspur (13th, 33pts) vs. Manchester City (t-5th, 44pts)

Date: Wednesday, February 26

Time: 2:30 pm ET, 7:30 pm UK

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

TV: Peacock (US), TNT Sports 3 (UK)

February has not been kind to City. Wins over Leyton Orient (in the FA Cup) and Newcastle are the only bright spots, with Real Madrid knocking them out of the Champions League and Arsenal and Liverpool both claiming three points against them domestically. This is a lost season; it was bound to happen at some point, but still is shocking to witness after four consecutive Premier League titles.

Tottenham has continued to play its role as City’s boogeyman, winning 2-1 in the League Cup this October thanks to Timo Werner (lol) and Pape Sarr goals in North London. A month later, it was a slaughter at the Etihad, with James Maddison (twice), Pedro Porro, and Brennan Johnson all getting in on the fun in what was one of the few highlights this season.

Measuring heart

It is bizarre to watch City fall off so sharply. The attack is still the third-highest in the league — just one goal behind Spurs — but the defense is midtable, which is an uncommon sight. Injuries have played a major role (sounds familiar!), with John Stones and Manuel Akanji both sidelined for a while, though Ruben Dias looks set to feature. The midfield, however, is perhaps the bigger issue, with Rodri out most of the year and Kevin De Bruyne clearly in decline.

On the other side, things are surprisingly looking up in North London. Djed Spence and Kevin Danso have injected life into the defense, while recent returners such as Maddison, Johnson, and Guglielmo Vicario are making this look like an actually solid squad. Add in the fact that City-killer Heung-Min Son had his best outing in weeks against Ipswich, and there is no debate as to which team is in better form heading into this showdown. It is hard to quantify these things, and form has hardly seemed to matter in past fixtures, but I like where Tottenham is heading into this showdown.

Balance

That being said, Ange Postecoglou needs to keep the big picture in mind. Whether by design or timing, it seems notable that the manager is prepared to hold back his first-choice center backs, and his two true No. 9s, against City, saving them for next week’s winnable — but critical — Round of 16 tie against AZ Alkmaar.

As much as Postecoglou would love to field his best XI on Wednesday, the reality is that beating Alkmaar is a much bigger priority than getting one over on City right now. Perhaps lessons have been learned from rushing players back too soon, but this feels like an acknowledgement of what matters most down the stretch. Beating Pep Guardiola is always satisfying, but it cannot come at the expense of the Europa League.

Welcome to another Track of the Day - Queen Edition, where your hoddler-in-chief features songs from the greatest band of all time. In previous editions we examined the roots of Queen with My Fairy King, Brian May’s deepcut Long Away and Freddie Mercury’s triumphant final act in The Show Must Go On.

Before we get to the main business, here’s a bonus track:

Fitzie’s track of the day, part one: Jailhouse Rock, by Queen

I discovered Queen when I was an angsty teenager in high school. No one else I knew liked them. I listened to Killer Queen and I was hooked. Then, of course, Bohemian Rhapsody. But other songs filled my brainwaves during those years too: Save Me, Flash Gordon, Brighton Rock, It’s a Hard Life, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Somebody to Love, The Prophet’s Song, Innuendo, Now I’m Here.

I think all these songs were on the Greatest Hits CD boxset I was gifted during my second year in high school.

The song that floored me, though, was Seven Seas of Rhye.

This single followed their first single Keep Yourself Alive, which failed to deliver on the charts. But, wow, what a song this is.

There are some songs that scream “Queen” and this is it. The lyrics bound in the mystic world built by Mercury, a glorious piano riff that is soon joined by a hard rock sound heavily inspired by Led Zeppelin.

It also displays Queen not quite at their peak, but close to it. And I feel these lyrics represent the band better than most of what else they wrote:

Begone with you short and shady senators

Give out the good, leave out the bad evil cries

I challenge the mighty titan and his troubadours

And with a smile

I’ll take you to the seven seas of Rhye

It feels so “Freddie Mercury” to challenge something as mighty as a titan. And yet he and Queen did, rising far above whatever a titan could possibly attain.

I listened to this song countless times (like I listened to all Queen songs). I even remember it playing on the CD player while I was driving my date (both of us wearing purple)

in my purple vehicle to homecoming in my final year of high school.

It wasn’t fashionable to listen to Queen back then. I still don’t know if it is now. Adam Lambert certainly helped revive it. But when I claim that Queen are the greatest band of all time, you won’t hear me put forth Another One Bites the Dust as my example. I’ll probably put Seven Seas of Rhye there (or March of the Black Queen or Bohemian Rhapsody).

Fitzie’s track of the day, part two: Seven Seas of Rhye, by Queen

And now for your links:

Jack P-B ($$): “Are Spurs set for another ticket price hike? ‘Very soon, I won’t be able to come here any more’”

Dan KP: “Ange Postecoglou dismisses record against Man City and makes title claim”

BBC: “Mourinho v Turkish football - what is going on?”

During Tottenham Hotspur’s massive injury crisis at the start of 2025, I regularly posted that there weren’t any shortcuts to end the problem, and that “the only way out is through”. Today, Ange Postecoglou got back to posting is regular injury update videos on social media, and he expressed some very, very good news — Spurs are almost “through” the crisis.

In today’s video, Postecoglou said that four of Spurs’ remaining injured players — Cuti Romero, Micky van de Ven, Richarlison, and Dominic Solanke — have targeted returns to the squad within “7-10 days” which would put them in contention for Spurs’ Europa League first leg against AZ Alkmaar.

We’ve already seen what a few players back from injury combined with a non-insane fixture schedule can do to this Tottenham team — they’re on a three game winning streak in the Premier League and face tomorrow’s home fixture against Manchester City with something akin to actual optimism. There have also been posts on Spurs’ social media channels showing Cuti Romero back training with the full first team, which suggests that while he might not be ready vs. Manchester City, barring another setback a return vs. AZ feels reasonable.

Romero, Van de Ven, Richarlison and Solanke collectively represent a LOT of firepower for Spurs, and even if it takes them a while to get back up to speed it’s exciting to think about what Tottenham Hotspur can do in the back half of the season. The good vibes are back.

After 13 months, I can finally say I have finished reading Pessoa: A Biography by Richard Zenith, the 900-plus page book dedicated to quite possibly Portugal’s greatest writer.

The last hundred or so pages were read in a flash. As he reached the final years of his life, Pessoa was thrust into the sociopolitical elements of Portuguese society and Antonio Salazar. The book, as Pessoa’s life, reaches its end before the beginning of the Second World War.

The conclusion is a rich pay-off to the thousands of words that came before it. I spent many hours reading the history of Portugal, South Africa, American and British writers, Alestair Crowley, occultism, the study of modernism and naval adventures. All of these shaped Pessoa’s world.

And Pessoa would shape the world that he would depart, a world in which he chose to live as non-famously as possible. Who was this great poet that no one heard of?

I’ve already picked up one book of poetry (Verlaine), because of how it shaped Pessoa. And now I am in search of another, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, written by the illustrious Jose Saramago who was in no doubt inspired by Pessoa.

In all my readings I cannot find a writer whose style was more labrynthine or expansive. And yet his final written words could not be more laconic: “I know not what tomorrow will bring.”

I closed my book wanting to dive immediately back into The Book of Disquiet. Or should I read Saramago?

I instead turn to my shelf of neglected books and pick up M Train by Patti Smith, which she described as a “road map” to her life. It feels like a natural book to follow Pessoa. I’ve read Smith before (Just Kids) and understand how heavily inspired she was by poets who came before her (particularly the Romantic poets like Rimbaud and Verlaine).

And so I am currently devouring this book which name drops Frida Kahlo, Sylvia Plath, Haruki Murakami - too many notable figures to count.

And, of course, she listed The Book of Disquiet as one of her all-time favourite books. He was apparently given a mention in her book Year of the Monkey, in which she recounted visiting Pessoa’s personal library in Lisbon.

The above video is Patti Smith reading Salutation to Walt Whitman by Alvaro de Campos, a Pessoa heteronym heavily inspired by the American transcendentalist. Few writers were credited as inspiring Pessoa so much as Whitman, whose style and personality was so anti-Pessoan.

Unlike Pessoa, Whitman was full of life and expression. And we see this in Campos, whose life and work was far different from that of the withdrawn Pessoa.

Whitman, Rimbaud Verlaine, Shakespeare, Byron and Wilde. All significant influences on the works of Portugal’s greatest writer.

Rimbaud, Verlaine, Wilde, Camus and Genet. All significant influences on one of America’s most alluring song-writers.

As I chart the road map to Patti Smith’s life, I find myself at the strangest of intersections in which we both encountered Pessoa, Campos, Caeiro, Reis, Soares, Mora and Guedes.

Fitzie’s track of the day: The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face, by Roberta Flack

And now for your links:

Jack P-B ($$): “Tottenham can still salvage this season - here are three compelling reasons why”

Football London: “Yang Min-hyeok sub decision explained, Alfie Dorrington loan frustration and Luka Vuskovic goal”