Cartilage Free Captain

We don’t know much about Tottenham Hotspur’s first preseason under Roberto De Zerbi apart from a preseason tour to Australia and New Zealand in late July. Spurs will play Auckland FC on July 26 before a friendly against Chelsea in Sydney, Australia on August 1.

But now we know another friendly that’s happening. Tottenham announced today that will play two preseason friendly matches against Bundesliga club Hoffenheim in August at the conclusion of the overseas tour.

The match referenced in the tweet above is open to the public at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and will take place on Saturday, August 15. In addition to the above, Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold is reporting that the teams will play another friendly behind closed doors the following day at Tottenham’s Hotspur Way training center. Gold says this will provide another chance to play a preseason match for the players that didn’t get an opportunity to play in the public game (so -- probably a lot of academy kids and U23s).

There will probably be a couple more warmup games announced over the next couple of weeks -- a two match tour and one home friendly is unlikely to be enough for De Zerbi to get a look at all of the players at his disposal. the World Cup ends on July 19 so that should be enough time for the players at the World Cup to get their post-tournament break before reporting back to Spurs for preseason. This match might be the last one before the start of the season, however. Tottenham open the 2026/27 Premier League with a trip to Brentford a week after the Hoffenheim match on Sat. August 22.

Another day, another missed Hoddle. Well, you’ve come to expect it from me by now, haven’t you? Why do you think I hire someone to write this column? Because there’s no way I can be trusted with it myself.

It’s been overshadowed by the World Cup, but there’s another major sporting event that’s starting this week. The Tour de France starts this Friday, July 4, in Barcelona but will will wind its way through the mountains and valleys of France for three weeks. It’s the most important and most prestigious bicycle race in the world

I’m hardly an expert on the Tour, but I do feel like I have a history with it. When our children were babies, my partner and I would take turns, bleary-eyed, holding our sleeping newborns and watching the Tour, occasionally falling asleep on the couch. The Tour -- back then it was (eek) Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis -- served as the backdrop for early parenthood, and for that reason it’s earned a spot on my watch list ever since. I won’t watch every stage, or even religiously, but I do tend to tune in when I can, and watch the stage highlights.

These days the Tour is dominated by Tadej Pogacar, a prolific Slovenian who has won four of the past six Tours and is expected to win again this year. That’s okay. If nothing else, the Tour will provide a nice change of pace from the relentless soccer of the World Cup. I’m looking forward to it.

Manchester United is back in the chase for Mateus Fernandes.

In the last few hours, there have been new contacts with the player; the Red Devils are willing to improve their contractual offer to convince him to sign.

Manchester United also plans to hold direct talks with West Ham.

Tottenham remains in the race and has pressed hard in recent days, but now United is trying to get ahead.

good morning everyone! your hoddler-in-chief will ONCE AGAIN be away for a portion of next week, which means that ONCE AGAIN you’ll have a substitute hodler-in-chief. we’re hoping to return to regular programming soon and appreciate your patience in the meantime.

The other day I came across some pretty exciting news: Records from Tom Verlaine’s personal record collection will soon be going up for sale. How soon? TODAY!

Tom Verlaine of Television was a pretty cool guy. Not only did he lead one of the best groups to come out of the CBGB-era punk rock scene, he also had a heck of a media collection. I missed out on an opportunity to purchase a book from his personal collection when those went on sale a couple years ago.

I don’t want to miss it this time.

Roughly 4,000 of the Television frontman’s record collection will be going on sale beginning Friday at Discogs and New York store Academy Records.

The collection features deep cuts, jazz and other rare pressings, as well as his copies of Marquee Moon, a record from 13th Floor Elevators and Slints.

The only bad news here is that your hoddler-in-chief will be on the tarmac when this hits the Discogs, but you can guarantee I will be opening my mobile device to the e-commerce store as soon as I land.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Little Johnny Jewel, by Television

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “Tottenham making training ground change to help Roberto De Zerbi and his players”

BBC: “James and Rice miss training in preparation for Panama”

The Telegraph: “Ecuador shock Germany to progress and put Scotland closer to World Cup exit”

The Independent: “What Japan’s blueprint to win the World Cup by 2050 tells us about football’s future”

OK, take this rumor with the (admittedly large) caveat that it’s from the Daily Mail. Craig Hope of the Mail is reporting that Spurs have now had two transfer offers for Sandro Tonali rebuffed by Newcastle United. The kicker? Both bids were the same price -- £75m. Newcastle are said to be demanding £100m to let Tonali go.

Now -- a reminder, this is coming from the Daily Mail. We don’t usually put much stock in Mail rumors and for good reason, but the transfer window is open and sometimes in that regard our standards tend to... relax on that front here at Carty Free Towers.

So -- and hear me out here -- for now let’s take this rumor at face value. It is objectively hilarious that Tottenham apparently submitted a bid, had it rejected, came back by offering the exact same bid and having it rejected again. It reminds me a little of what Daniel Levy used to do, or at least what we would pretend Daniel Levy would do in transfer negotiations before he was shot out of a cannon by the Lewis Kids.

Levy: How about £75m?

Club: No.

Levy: Okay, I understand and respect that. But have you considered... £75m?

Club: Go away.

Now, I’ve said before, and I hold to this opinion, that there is no way on God’s green earth that Sandro Tonali is worth £100m. He’s a good player. He’d be our best midfielder by some distance. But he’s an upgrade on the midfielder profile that we already have multiple of, and despite Roberto De Zerbi really liking him I don’t think the opportunity cost is there to make that kind of an outlay on him.

What this story tells me is that Tottenham doesn’t think that kind of opportunity cost exists either, and that’s a good sign. Perhaps it means that we pivot to other targets (o hai Adam Wharton) and move on from Tonali. That’d be an okay outcome for me as well, since spending £75m on Wharton would be a more impactful signing, in my opinion. But that’s just my opinion.

Again, this is a Daily Mail rumor. But I wonder if this will corroborated by other more trustworthy sources in the coming hours. If it is corroborated, it’s both a strangely positive and also objectively hilarious situation. And ultimately it could result in Spurs failing their way into a midfielder who is a better fit.

The organizational structure at Tottenham Hotspur is, at least from the perspective of an outsider looking in, murky, byzantine, and confusing. We at Carty Free have wished for a clear and transparent organizational flowsheet so that we know who the leaders are, what their roles are, and how the leadership structure is organized. None of that is especially forthcoming.

However, after reading the minutes of the latest Fan Advisory Board meeting from Tuesday, June 16, we have at least a little more clarity on some aspects of the organizational leadership, including the reported search for a Director of Football to replace Fabio Paratici, and the role of new Performance Director Rafi Moersen.

First, CEO Vinai Venkatesham noted that while Tottenham had been (and presumably still are) in the process of searching for a top level Director of Football to replace Fabio Paratici, the club is in no rush to do so, and that any additions to the leadership structure in that area will be completed at an appropriate time. It was noted that a summer transfer window is NOT the appropriate time to make that change.

– from Tottenham Hotspur Fan Advisory Board meeting minutes, June 16, 2026

This is a significant, if potentially overlooked, statement. It suggests that any changes to the structure in the leadership over recruitment and player sales will not take place for a while and certainly not in this current window. We’ve long said here at Carty Free Towers that the best time to make a change regarding Johan Lange’s leadership in this area was September 2, but the second best time to do so is today. This statement from Venkatesham is a clear indication that the fruit basket will not be upset anytime soon, and that Lange will remain with a key role in this area for the foreseeable future.

That’s going to provoke some interesting opinions from people, I’m sure. But at a certain level it makes sense -- this is a critical time for the club as it attempts to refresh the squad after two consecutive 17th place finishes and a relegation scare this past season. We might as fans disagree with Lange’s job performance over the past several seasons, but this is confirmation that the club still retains confidence in Lange and we shouldn’t expect a change in his position for now.

Elsewhere, the minutes also clarified the role that new Program Director Rafi Moersen will play at Spurs. Moersen’s role is, at least in part, tied to player recruitment and for now he is reporting to Sporting Director Johan Lange.

[Moersen] advised that his remit includes recruitment, player transactions, infrastructure, player

care and responsibility for the Women’s Team. He emphasised the importance of player

welfare, relationship-building and improving football outcomes and explained his role in

player trading at his previous Club.

So it appears that Moersen, if not driving the bus, has a very important role in recruitment, one that, should we take an optimistic view, could build upon the work Lange has done over the past couple of windows to the club’s benefit.

The focus on the Women’s team is also important, as Moersen is taking temporary leadership over Tottenham Hotspur Women until a permanent hire (Women’s Growth Director) can be found. There was also acknowledgement that the Women’s team has been neglected, but that the club is now committed to its growth and success.

There’s a lot more good information in the minutes regarding the clubs’ ongoing effort to extract itself from the failures of the past two seasons, and the ongoing refresh at all levels of the club. It’s worth digging into, but the Lange and Moersen bits were the things that stuck out to me upon reading.

good morning everyone! Great news: Fitzie is BACK (for the next two days)

I have two bits of bad news:

You’ll once again have a substitute hoddler-in-chief early next week.

Fitie is currently under the weather

Because I’m under the weather, and also because it’s 9.05pm ET, I don’t have a tonne of energy to write this hoddle. I’m hoping to do a fun music one for you all tomorrow because you deserve it.

Today I’m going to share the Norway rowing celebration at Citi field. Last week I showed you the Tartan Army at Fenway, so it’s only fair we spread the love a little bit.

Here it is:

It’s a pretty good celebration, all things considered. You get a lot of people involved who don’t even have to stand. And, unlike Scotland’s Tartan Army, their team hasn’t yet suffered back-to-back embarrassing defeats. Who knows, they still have to play France.

Regardless, this is a lot of fun. They also took over Times Square.

I still have to update the track of the day playlist.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Row Jimmy, by the Grateful Dead

And now for your links:

BBC: “‘Think we’re going home’ - Clarke & McGinn rue Scotland mistakes”

The Telegraph: “Tartan Army clueless where to go next as Scotland left in limbo”

OK OK so I know I got dragged a bit on this latest World Cup sponsored poll because I didn’t include Djed Spence as a polling option, but in my defense, 1) I had to choose only 5 players due to the limitations of the poll, 2) Djed and England had just kicked off vs. Ghana when I posted that poll and Djed was... fine in England’s first match, and 3) There was an Other field!

Anyway, I’ve got the results right here and I think many of you might be surprised of the results. Remember, this is a poll of Carty Free readers! Like you! Right now! You’re reading Carty Free! (Thanks!)

Napoleon Dynamite asked you all to Vote for Pedro and many of you did! I figured the numbers would be more evenly distributed without a runaway winner, but Pedro getting 34% in a competitive field is still pretty darn good. You know who else has been pretty darned good this World Cup? Pedro Porro. See what I did there?

Micky van de Ven is also having a nice World Cup, as evident by his second place finish at 23%. And I’m just going to assume that all 19% of you who voted “Other” voted for Djed, especially after he snubbed Thomas Partey in the pre-match handshake line and continually put Jordan Ayew in the Spence Pentitentiary. Andy Robertson getting more votes than Cristian Romero is a little wild to me, though.

Considering that there aren’t THAT many Spurs players in North America right now and who those players are, this is a pretty fun and illuminating result!

Whaddya think, gang -- do you agree with your fellow voters? Who are the secret majority Pedro Porro lovers? Out yourselves in the comments.

Today is apparently Goalie Day if you cover Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Fresh on the heels of the club signing Martin Dubravka, and the news that starting keeper Guglielmo Vicario will be sold this summer. Jack Pitt-Brooke at The Athletic is now writing that Spurs are opening talks with Antonin Kinsky on a new extended contract.

This would seemingly confirm the reports that Kinsky is set to take over the #1 jersey from Vicario, who has interest from Italian clubs including Juventus and Lazio. Kinsky is currently 18 months into a five year contract, but a new deal would probably tack on a year to what’s left and also give him a vastly improved salary, commensurate to his status as Spurs’ starting keeper.

This would leave Spurs with a keeper corps of Kinsky, Dubravka, and homegrown/club-trained academy graduate Brandon Austin.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for Kinsky, who was humiliated last spring after slipping twice on the pitch at the Wanda and conceding three early goals to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, before being humiliatingly subbed off by then-interim manager Igor Tudor. When Vicario was out injured after undergoing minor surgery, Kinsky took his redemption opportunity in both hands and put in a string of excellent performances at the end of last season under Roberto De Zerbi. The club clearly now thinks that Kinsky, 23, is ready to make the step up.

Playing a young keeper is always something of a gamble, but it’s a wonderful opportunity as well. Hugo Lloris was 25 when he joined Spurs in 2012 and he turned out to be one of Tottenham’s best keepers of all time. I’m not saying Antonin Kinsky will reach those heights, but considering his age he has the chance to establish himself now as Spurs’ long time #1. If he can do that, I don’t think anyone will be unhappy.

Well, that was fast! Just a couple of hours after multiple outlets reported that a deal had been reached, Tottenham Hotspur has officially announced the signing of keeper Martin Dubrovka on a free transfer. Dubrovka is joining Spurs after a period as keeper at Burnley, and it is expected he will serve as a backup to 21-year-old Czech keeper Antonin Kinsky. The length of his contract was not disclosed in Tottenham’s official announcement, which suggests it might be a short term option.

Dubravka, 38, is a Slovakia international and a very experienced keeper. He is brought in not only to back up Kinsky in the event of injury or performance issues, but also to mentor the young keeper. I can’t think of many better options in that regard. Dubravka is a safe and experienced set of hands if the case arises that he’s needed to fill in for Kinsky.

Should Tottenham get back into Europe next season, it might be prudent to look at the backup keeper position to see if Spurs can get another English homegrown option in place, but for now Dubravka on a free transfer is a pretty ideal acquisition. Sure beats spending £40m on someone like James Trafford who would likely expect to be the starter. It shows a commitment to Kinsky as Spurs’ new #1, but also providing someone behind him to push, mentor, and encourage him as he settles into the job.

Dubravka is Tottenham’s third free agent signing of the summer, following the signings of Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi.