Cartilage Free Captain

Some news you may have missed, especially for those of you who follow our Tottenham Hotspur loanees: midfielder Matthew Craig has been recalled from his loan at Barnsley, and has headed out on loan again to Mansfield Town as per the Tottenham Hotspur website.

Craig, for those who remember (and for those who would rather forget) made history as he and his brother Michael became the first identical twins to appear in a Tottenham Hotspur matchday squad... as Spurs lost a Europa Conference League qualification playoff match to Pacos de Ferreira during the heady days of Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign. Proud.

With twin Michael having been released by the club nearly three years ago, Matthew has continued to attempt to carve out a career in football at the top level, with loans down the English pyramid both last season and this. At Barnsley, he had a solid start, gaining regular starting spots in midfield across the first quarter of the season; unfortunately, he then began to see minutes dwindle, being relegated first to a bench role and then being left out of the squad entirely in Barnsley’s last four matches.

That clearly hasn’t sat well with Spurs, who have promptly organized him another loan to League One, with destination Mansfield Town just a few spots behind Barnsley in the table. Spurs will be hoping to see Craig continue the start he made at Barnsley, where he received rave reviews early on from some of The Tykes faithful.

I’m not going to lie to you, though. Craig is 21, and it’s hard to see him progressing much higher in the pyramid at this stage of his development. For the club (and player), it’s more likely now about maximizing value for a transfer so that Craig can continue to build a career in the football league - and there’s no shame in that!

Good luck to Matthew at Mansfield Town!

Tottenham Hotspur’s men’s team wasn’t the only Spurs side scheduled to play an FA Cup match tomorrow morning. Spurs Women were set to play an FA Women’s Cup match against Everton at Walton Hall Park in Merseyside tomorrow at 8 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. UK. However, the club has announced that the match has been postponed for a frozen pitch and will not be played.

Tomorrow’s match was supposed to be the first Spurs Women match since December 14, but as of now the next opportunity to see them play will be when they host Leicester City Women on January 19 in WSL play. It’s kind of a bummer, but on the other hand it’s also at least the fourth time already this season that the Men’s and Women’s teams have been scheduled to play at the same time, so I’m okay with this postponement. Safety first, of course. I understand scheduling is tough, but I do wish the leagues made more of an effort to ensure that club fans don’t have to decide between supporting their mens’ and womens’ teams.

Like the fabled trip to Marine in 2021, Tottenham Hotspur will get another memorable experience this weekend after being drawn against Tamworth FC in the FA Cup Third Round. Tamworth sits in the fifth tier of the pyramid and has only progressed to this stage in the competition four times. Needless to say, this is the biggest event in the club’s history.

The Lamb Ground has seen Stoke and Norwich arrive as visitors, but even in a down year, Spurs are surely the most notable attraction this stadium has ever seen. That fixture against Marine ended 5-0, and this one should be lopsided as well, but hopefully it goes down as another fun event that will be fondly remembered by both sides.

Third Round: Tamworth vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Date: Sunday, January 12

Time: 7:30 am ET, 12:30 pm UK

Location: The Lamb Ground, Tamworth

TV: ESPN+ (USA), ITV1 (UK)

Tamworth, which sits 14 miles outside Birmingham, currently plays in the National League; only other non-League side, Dagenham & Redbridge, remains in the competition. Its FA Cup journey includes a victory at home over Huddersfield Town and an away win over Burton Albion on penalties — both opponents are competing in League One this season.

Obviously, Tottenham is the overwhelming favorite, even with a completely rotated side (though is that even possible given the number of injuries that are still outstanding?). The Magic of the Cup can yield crazy results, but despite infuriating performances over the past few months, no one should realistically predict an upset on Sunday.

Spurs have not had much success in the FA Cup recently. After four straight exits in the Round of 16 — to objectively weaker opponents — they advanced to just the Round of 32 last year and fell to City. However, League Cup performances this season — against legitimate opposition — are making the case for some faith in Ange Postecoglou in these competitions.

Warranted fanfare

The match itself could bring some excitement, whether it be due to an unfortunately close result or from a great showing by the Tottenham youth, but most of the spectacle will be on everything around the event itself. There has been plenty written about the size of the ground and the accommodations needed, and just like against Marine, it is always fun to see Spurs in this sort of environment.

Over recent seasons, many supporters have seen the cups as a hindrance of bigger goals, as Tottenham continues to fight its way into the top echelon of the league. While this year is a big step back in that department, it does provide the silver lining of more importance on the auxiliary competitions, which offer a hope for something to achieve instead of just fixture congestion.

Postecoglou is still fighting for support, and runs in both cups would be big justifiers for his project. A date against Tamworth was just about the perfect draw for his side that is still very depleted. But while moving on to the next round is paramount, hopefully this weekend will add another memorable chapter into this club’s history as well — which will be even more special should Spurs make a deep run in this tournament.

good morning!

Yesterday we took a look at the second tier in the English football pyramid. Today we look at tiers three, four and five. Who knows, a future Premier League rival could emerge from these one day.

EFL League One:

Is this the most exciting title race in English football right now? Birmingham, Wycombe and Wrexham are all separeted by just two points (though they haven’t played equal matches).

Who knows how it’ll all shake out. Wrexham are going for the back-to-back-to-back promotion, whilst B’ham are looking to get back into the championship after their relegation last year.

Meanwhile Leyton Orient - Harry Kane’s former loan club - have won five straight and now sit eighth in the table.

Top Six:

Bottom four:

EFL League Two:

No idea what to make of this, except that Salford City could finally be moving up to League One. They’ve won their last five matches and now sit in the autuomatic promotion places. Less good news for Morecambe, though, who continue to flounder in the relegation zone.

Top seven:

Bottom two:

National League:

Another tight race. York City, Forest Green, and North London’s own Barnet are separated by just one point. Only one is guaranteed to make it to League Two, and at least one will miss out on promotion entirely).

Top three:

Bottom three:

Fitzie’s track of the day: Rush Rush, by Debbie Harry

And now for your links:

Dan KP: “Tottenham’s objective is clear before Liverpool semi-final as Ange Postecoglou waits for cavalry”

Welcome to the latest edition of Trending Up / Trending Down, where Hoddle Headquarters takes a look at what around Tottenham Hotspur is trending up, and what is trending down.

——

It’s been a couple weeks since our latest installment, and certainly the first since the congested holiday fixture schedule. A lot has happened too! Most of it not great. But Wednesday’s fixture changed the vibes!

Nevertheless, we continue.

Trending Up

Lucas Bergvall: Felt like he deserved this inclusion even before this goal. There was a lot of hype around Bergvall heading into this season. For the most part, I think he’s delivered. And what a machine he was on Wednesday. All leading up to his first goal for Spurs.

Liverpudlian tears: Spare me the tears.

Ange Postecoglou had enough to say in his defense of Bergvall. But really, who are Liverpool to complain anways? Remember this?

Archie Gray: Hard to believe he’s playing at 18 years old and out of position. Honestly, he’s played in so many in recent weeks that I forgot what his position was. He’s look very well composed, too, and thus earns a slot in the Trending Up.

Dominic Solanke: He almost feels underrated. But I think Dom Solanke has been one of the better signings for Spurs in the last couple of years. I love the way he presses and he is a very capable striker. I feel like he has great vision too, evidenced by that assist to Bergvall.

Trending Down

Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster: A pretty rough time for them both - most of it wasn’t their fault (yes, Forster had a shocker against United last month). Since December Forster’s gotten sick, Vicario remains out, and that’s left a vacuum. First Brandon Austin made a smart debut at the club. Then, Spurs signed Antonin Kinsky to challenge Vicario (pushing Forster down the order). Kinsky had an exceptional debut, and could very well be Spurs’ first choice until Vicario comes back.

But what happens when Vicario comes back?

My patience with AngeOut takes: Wild to think that Spurs are in a pretty poor place when you look at the Premier League table. A slew of injuries and disappointing results creaked open enough space for #AngeOut takes to creep through into Spurs discourse. I never bought it.

Appears the Spurs brass don’t either, as recently reported by David Ornstein who said he’s got the 100% backing of the board. The Kinsky signing seems to underline this.

Plus, who wouldn’t want to see Big Ange see through this project? Here’s a quote from him via Alasdair Gold:

“Name me another Premier League team that’s got two 18-year-olds and one playing out of position consistently. I’m so happy they’re at our football club and you know, in two or three years’ time, I just pray to God I’m the beneficiary of their talent, mate, because if somebody else is getting it, I won’t be happy”

How can you judge a manager who’s dealing with so many injuries? Spurs had 10 players out today, nearly enough to field an entire lineup. Let’s save the judgments for when Ange has a full squad for a considerable period of time (not including the offseason). Regardless, this team has picked up wins against Liverpool, Villa, United and City. That’s a hell of a lot better than last season, and feels a heck of a lot better than they did under Mourinho and Conte (though please double-check the hoddler-in-chief).

Fitzie’s track of the day: I’d Rather Go Blind, by Etta James

And now for your links:

Five things Football London spotted during Spurs’ win vs Liverpool

Jack P-B ($$): Sonny might be at Spurs for another year, but questions are not over

BBC: “Bergvall is headline act as young Spurs show incredible maturity”

Filed under:

Tottenham Hotspur Match Reports

Tottenham 1-0 Liverpool: Late Bergvall goal gives Spurs win in League Cup first leg

Spurs take a slim lead to Anfield for the second leg.

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Just two weeks ago, Liverpool came to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and came away with a dominant 6-3 win over Tottenham. Today, in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal match between the two teams, Tottenham turned the table. Lucas Bergvall, who moments before had luckily escaped what might have been a second yellow card, turned in a late goal after being set up by Dominic Solanke and Tottenham defeated the league leaders 1-0, taking a slim lead to Anfield in a couple months. It was Bergvall’s first goal in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt, and it was a crucial one, snapping Liverpool’s 24 match unbeaten streak.

Spurs put in a much more assured performance than they did the last time these two teams met, and benefited from the debut of new keeper signing Antonin Kinsky, who had an excellent match, both playing out of the back and also with a couple of outstanding saves. Dominic Solanke also had a ball in the back of the net that was called back for a toenail offside.

Tottenham put out the strongest lineup they could for this one, which unfortunately still isn’t their strongest possible. However, there were a few surprises — new keeper signing Kinsky was thrown straight into the squad just days after signing from Slavia Prague. Yves Bissouma, Lucas Bergvall, and Rodrigo Bentancur anchored the midfield with Pape Sarr and James Maddison both suspended due to yellow card accumulation. And to everyone’s surprise, Yang Min-hyeok was named to the bench — his first appearance in the squad since joining from the K-League, as was Mikey Moore, who makes his long-awaited return after recovering from a virus.

Liverpool also put out a strong squad, only really rotating their back line. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Diego Jota all started for the Reds, who have Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup coming up and are more easily able to rotate for that match than this one. Liverpool also know that a good result in the first leg sets them up for an easier time in the second leg, at Anfield.

Here are my match reactions from an exciting and cathartic Tottenham win.

Match reactions:

A really scary early moment when Bentancur went down injured. The stretcher even came out. I didn’t see what happened, it looked like maybe he attempted a diving header and fell awkwardly? But he was at least sitting up before leaving the field. I swear, this team is cursed w/r/t injuries. Do we need to sacrifice Chirpy at the center circle to break this?

I was very upset with the home fans singing the “I don’t care about Levy” song while Bentancur is down on the pitch on a stretcher. Read the fucking room.

Kinsky is just such a different keeper to Forster. He plays high, spending much of his time outside the box when Spurs are in possession. He passes to his defenders’ feet. He plays skip passes! He passes accurately from deep! The positioning allows Spurs to start their attacks higher up the pitch and be quicker. Small sample size, but thus far — I love him. He seems perfect for Ange, maybe more so than even Googly Elmo.

Yves Bissouma is always good for picking up a stupid first half yellow card. At least he’s consistent about it.

Spurs had an injury, a new keeper, several players out, and couldn’t complete a pass and were still better than Liverpool in that first half.

Djed Spence was quite possibly Spurs’ best player in this match. Dynamic with the ball, making runs, overlapping Son when necessary. Outstanding match.

Kulusevski and Solanke have both played a TON of minutes lately, and it’s finally starting to show. This was the first match where I’ve really noticed a drop-off from both of them in intensity and technical ability. I think they’re just knackered. Hopefully they can get a breather against Tamworth.

I’m not really a blame the ref guy but this match official let Liverpool get away with SO MANY fouls — shoulder charges, pull-backs, cheeky kicks. It was infuriating.

Lucas Bergvall has improved as a player this season but I’m not sure he’s at the level yet where he can be a consistent plus-add for Spurs in the midfield. The game has clearly slowed down for him and you can see the glimpses of some real quality, but he’s a little frustrating with his passing and decision-making right now. He really should’ve been sent off for two late tackles on Diaz and was very lucky.

That second half miss by Porro was Liverpool’s one gift to Spurs all match and they screwed it up. That goal was gaping, and I can’t fathom how Porro put that shot wide.

Must be nice to be able to bring Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, and Trent Alexander-Arnold off the bench in a cup semifinal. Spurs could never.

Just when I was about ready to yell at Radu Dragusin, he goes and makes an incredible goal-line clearance. Wow.

That was such a nice goal from Solanke and it’s such a bummer that VAR called it off for a toenail offside. At least the match official explained it to the crowd over the tannoy, that’s at least something.

Hey, remember that stuff I wrote about Lucas Bergvall above? Ignore all that, he rules. That was an incredible finish, and an excellent assist from Solanke to set it up.

Liverpool fans online are already salty about this match, saying they were robbed after benefiting from soft officiating all match. I love it that this seems to happen every time we beat them.

A 1-0 lead heading into Anfield isn’t especially a secure one, but one hopes that by the time these two teams meet again Spurs will have a few first team players back from injury. It sets up for a potentially explosive second leg, and that’s exciting.

Tottenham Hotspur are a side struggling for form. Liverpool are top of the Premier League.

When it comes to knockout football, though, anything can happen.

Spurs will be hoping for the roll of the dice to go their way this time around; it hasn’t been the case often this season, and the introduction of injuries and sickness has just made things worse. Ange Postecoglou’s side will be bolstered, though, by the signing of new keeper Antonin Kinsky, and the return of a few absentees to training.

It is likely too early to see Richarlison, Mikey Moore, and the other players on the very long injury list, but there were encouraging signs against Newcastle and this side will be motivated to prove the doubters wrong and secure a rare chance at silverware. Can they do it?

COYS!

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Time: 3:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. UK

TV: Not televised in USA; Sky Sports Main Event (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:

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!

Yet another disappointing Premier League outing leaves Tottenham Hotspur and Ange Postecoglou with little choice but to focus on alternative competitions to salvage something from this season. While the Europa League still offers promise, the League Cup remains an option as well, though the path ahead is anything but easy: the semifinals against Liverpool kick off this week, and either Arsenal or Newcastle awaits on the other side of the bracket.

The two sides last met just a couple of weeks ago in North London, where Wednesday’s first leg will take place. It was clear which team was superior (on that day and on the season), with the visitors scoring six goals on 5.6 xG in a wild match that felt clearly one-sided. Spurs will need a much stronger performance if they are to stay alive for the second leg at Anfield in February.

Semifinals (1st Leg): Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool

Date: Wednesday, January 8

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

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London

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

Liverpool’s draw against United over the weekend ended its streak of three-straight victories in the league. Meanwhile, the Reds’ League Cup run has seen them dispatch solely Premier League opposition, with victories over West Ham, Brighton, and Southampton leading into this round. This is a tough situation for Spurs, as Liverpool has dominated recent encounters, winning four of the last five meetings across all competitions (and 11 of the last 14).

At risk of sounding too pessimistic, Tottenham’s best hope on Wednesday may be facing a distracted or overconfident Liverpool. Arne Slot’s squad, which was not expected to perform so strongly this season, now sits atop the Premier League and leads the League Phase of the Champions League; though this is already the semifinals, the League Cup is probably not the highest priority on the club’s list right now.

Whether this leads to significant rotation is something to watch. Regardless, there is no question about which side needs this competition more. Despite their inconsistencies this season, Spurs have delivered their best performances in the bigger moments, and this week’s fixture certainly qualifies as one of those.

Biding time

Despite being at home, Tottenham’s best strategy may simply be to survive on Wednesday. The second leg is not for another month, giving Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Richarlison, and potentially others time to recover. With both James Maddison and Pape Sarr suspended for this match in addition to all the injuries, swinging for the fences seems unwise.

Given these factors, Postecoglou must adopt a conservative approach, ensuring Liverpool does not run riot again. Tottenham’s makeshift defense has been mostly serviceable, but it was torn apart by the Reds last month. Prioritizing defensive security at the expense of attacking is the right approach. It goes against the ambitious style he typically strives for, but with so many key players unavailable, it feels like the only viable option. Survive the first leg, and live to fight in February.

Sometimes it pays to subscribe to emails.

Tuesday morning I saw an email from a sender I haven’t seen in a while: Japanese Breakfast.

The Michelle Zauner-led outfit sent an email blast to the band’s subscribers about an album coming out in March.

For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) will be the band’s first record since Jubilee was released in 2021, and comes a couple of years after Zauner released her hit memoir Crying in H Mart.

To promote the new album, Japanese Breakfast released its first single Orlando In Love, which NME realised is a riff on the Orlando Innamorato. The epic poem, writtten by Matteo Maria Boairdo in the Renaissance period, contains 68.5 cantos (Japanese Breakfast rounded that up to 69). No, I have no clue what Orlando Innamorato was before this and I’m too busy reading up on fernando Pessoa to start now.

Zauner said in a press release that she felt she was “flying too close to the sun” and that she was “going to die” if she kept going.

I’m looking forward to how the rest of the album plays out, and cannot wait for this to make it onto the radio.

Japanese Breakfast will also be launching a brand new tour, beginning with performances at both weekends during the Coahcella Festival in Californai. The group also has dates in the EU and UK, although none in Washington DC (pour one out for your hoddler-in-chief).

Fitzie’s track of the day: Orlando In Love, by Japanese Breakfast

And now for your links:

Dan KP: “Ange Postecoglou reveals why even Mohamed Salah would struggle at Spurs”

Jay Harris: “Tottenham’s Richarlison hoping to return from injury for north London derby at Arsenal”

There’s no rest for the Tottenham Hotspur weary as Spurs are set to take on Liverpool in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal tomorrow afternoon. Ange Postecoglou was back in front of the microphone again for a press conference, his first since his “fair and level playing ground” comments in the wake of the Newcastle loss.

The good news is all the players afflicted by the virus that ploughed through the squad last week have recovered. The bad news is that nobody on the injured list has returned, and Spurs are without Yves Bissouma and James Maddison as they’re both suspended.

“Net wise we are still down. We will get Bentancur back but we lose Maddison and Sarr by suspension. A couple of numbers down there.

“In terms of injuries no-one is back. Mikey (Moore) could potentially be available on the bench. Everyone else from the weekend certainly feel better, Radu (Dragusin) has recovered, Archie (Gray) is better. They were the main ones. Deki (Kulusevski) was under the weather but he is good. Pretty much as it was on the weekend plus Bentancur minus the other two.”

That’s great, but what about Richarlison? There were photos that emerged last week that suggested he’s returned to training. Ange confirmed that he’s back, but after he pulled his hamstring on his first match back from ANOTHER lengthy injury, the club is taking no chances with his recovery and fitness.

“[Richy] is training. The whole plan with him, with what has happened this year, was to give him two full solid weeks of training. His second week will be next week and if he gets through that he will be fine. “

The other big question heading into tomorrow is who will line up between the sticks. Fraser Forster has apparently recovered from his illness, but Spurs just signed genuine first team competition for the injured Guglielmo Vicario in Czech keeper Antonin Kinsky, and third keeper Brandon Austin is coming off of a very competent club debut.

Is there a chance Kinsky could start just days after arriving at the club? Postecoglou didn’t give anything away.

“We will see. He arrived on Sunday I think. He has had a couple of days of training. He is registered and eligible to play. We still have got to do a couple final things with him and then we will see.

“[Kinsky] is one that we had earmarked for the end of the season to bring in during the summer. We’ve tracked him all season and he is definitely someone we are really excited about. Obviously, with our current goalkeeping situation - we explored the possibility of bringing him in this January. It wasn’t easy because he is doing very well for his club, his club is doing well, they are in Europe and top of their league. The club worked really hard to get the deal done in this window and it is a huge benefit to us and adds real quality to our goalkeepers.”

“We’ve to pick players and goalkeepers that fit our system and the way we play and [playing from the back] is certainly something that he does very comfortably, but you know it’s his all-round goalkeeping ability. Johan [Lange] and his scouts have done a lot of background work on him, they’ve been following him all year. The intent was to bring him in in the summer, but obviously that not only changed, we thought why not with the way we are in terms of the goalkeepers to try and bring in him earlier.

“I wasn’t confident that was going to happen, but the club worked really hard to make it happen, and I think it’s great for him, it’s great for us. It gives him an opportunity to come in a bit earlier and get bedded into the way we do things and it also adds real quality to our goalkeeping.”

Finally, the big news of the day was the club’s announcement that they have triggered the one year extension of Son Heung-Min’s contract, keeping him at the club until 2026. That extension does open up a whole new set of questions as to what the club intends to do with Son after next season, but Postecoglou was clear that he wants to make sure Sonny has something to celebrate before he moves on from the club.

“Yeah brilliant. He has already had an outstanding career at this football club. He has played a big role in the last 10 years. Made an impact at the club and in the Premier League. Great to extend his stay and the aim is to make sure he finishes his Tottenham career with silverware.”

Tottenham kick off against Liverpool on Wednesday at 3 pm ET / 8 pm UK at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.