Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

Sunday Edit

Depressingly predictable result but I was hoping against hope I was going to be wrong. Even put a Union flag up in my front window.

Over both halves I'd argue England probably played their best game of the tournament. Problem is that it wasn't good enough and we only started looking dangerous in their last third after the subs came on.

I think HK must have been carrying an injury of some sort (back?) because he was not really himself at all in any game despite receiving the 1 of 6 shared golden boot award.

There's still the World Cup to look forward to in two years time and the possibility England's women might retain their Euro title next year.

Yeah, Kane missed the last two matches of Bayern Munich's season with a back injury so it wouldn't surprise me if he was still feeling the effects of it during the tournament. Although I was glad that one pundit (I forget who it was, on the BBC) finally pointed out that a big part of Kane's performances were down to how England set up, and was completely unlike how he was used at club level by Spurs and Bayern for the past few years.

We did look better once the subs came on and started pressing the Spanish backline, and got joy from that. Once we'd equalised though, the pressing disappeared and we started letting the Spanish pass it out from the back again under no pressure. It seems like Southgate only lets them take the handbrake off when we're behind, and even in a match where we equalise we often go conservative again once we've drawn level.

Ah well, disappointing but not an unexpected result, the Spanish were rightly favourites and they were the better team for 90% of the match. The wait for a trophy for England's men goes on!

Edit: some Spurs related South American success though, as Argentina beat Colombia to win the Copa America last night. Gio Lo Celso provided the assist for the winning goal with a beautiful first time pass that sent Martinez clean through. Also it's now three international tournament wins in a row for Cristian Romero, 2020 Copa, 2022 World Cup, 2024 Copa.

[fallenangle]

England Women's got through to the Euro '25 finals yesterday so they'll be able to defend their current holders title next year.

Pretty dull match against Sweden TBH ending in a 0 : 0 draw, the minimum needed, with what excitement there was due to mistakes, mostly England players giving the ball away in dangerous positions. Everyone seemed reluctant to shoot and there was a just 'off' the pace feel to both sides. But against a genuine top ten like Sweden it was a good result.

[EJG1980]

I hadn't been keeping up properly with the England women's qualifying campaign, but I did see from the tweets that Spurs put out that Jessica Naz made her England debut last week. Nice to see a Spurs women's player getting international recognition.

The men's team had their first friendly of the summer today, a fun match up in Scotland against Hearts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CxiE9UNgIk

The first half was mostly first choice players, aside from the ones who are still recovering from injury and those missing because they're still on breaks after international tournaments, although it was a very makeshift defence with a Archie Gray (who played midfield and right back for Leeds) making his debut as centre-back alongside Oliver Skipp, with an u-21 winger playing at left back.

The first half wasn't bad, a mix of some really great attacking sequences, rustiness with some of the shooting and passing, and a few good chances given up to Hearts as you'd expect with the makeshift defence. We did eventually get a lovely goal near the end of the half. Given that it was his debut and he was playing out of position, Gray looked like a player who has a touch of class about him, you can see why he's highly rated.

The second half had a brand new eleven, with Timo Werner and Emerson Royal the only experienced players, everyone else was a youngster. And they really great to watch! The passing and movement (and finishing!) looked better than the more senior team in the first half. They must have seen this as a big chance to impress Ange because they were all really on it. The only blemish came from one of the experienced players with a lazy and sloppy pass from Royal across his own box gifting Hearts a goal.

All of the players had at least one or two moments that made you go "ooh, that was nice", but the standouts were Bergvall who seemed to be everywhere in midfield, Devine, Moore and Lankshear all putting in very good performances, Werner getting his customary ball across the box assist. Djed Spence was really good at full back, played the role of coming into attacking areas very very well and got a great assist and goal. Could just be a flash in the pan but maybe his loan at Genoa really helped him develop.

QPR away up next on Saturday, which I'll be going to with my brother. Hopefully it'll be another entertaining match with Spurs grabbing a few more goals.

[fallenangle]

Yes, I meant to mention Jessica Naz coming for her England debut.

Thanks for the Hearts vs.Spurs link.

[EJG1980]

I've been spoiled at the THFC Stadium, going back to an older smaller ground like Loftus Road and the difference in leg room is amazing. I'm a complete short arse but even I was having to scrunch up my legs with my knees jammed up against the seat in front! Get me back to our pampered den of luxury

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idcyS8fZCiQ

QPR (ended up) being a bit tougher than Hearts, a bit more physical. The more senior team in the first half should have put us further than 1-0 ahead, Son missed two great chances and Werner missed a one-on-one as well. The goal we did get was great though, brilliant run and finish from Bissouma with a nice one-two with Kulusevski in the middle of it.

The younger second half team started off very well again, but couldn't quite create the clear cut chances like they did against Hearts. Still missed a couple of good ones though. For about the last 20 minutes it was mainly QPR on top as our youngsters tired and struggled to get going again; QPR missed a few good chances and really should have had at least one goal. The youngsters did manage to finish things off nicely though with a late breakaway that ended with Mikey Moore getting the assist for Dane Scarlett.

A fun little day out though, some nice football, and everyone got through unscathed and improved their fitness (though Bergvall went off after 20 minutes, which was worrying, but after the match Ange said it was fine).

[fallenangle]

My father went to Loftus Road regularly to watch Wasps (Rugby Union) when they played there. He described it as an 'intimate' ground and he was used to old school football grounds like West Ham and Crystal Palace. He even bought penny shares in the company who owned the team/ground which ended up being pretty well worthless.

Thanks for the link again.

Been watching some of the England U19 Euro matches on the BBC Red Button including the Young Lionesses winning against France on Friday to reach the semi-finals. Only one Spurs player in the squad and she wasn't used.

A reversal of the Euro men's fixtures where they meet Spain in the semi-final on 24.07.24 and possibly the Netherlands (or France again) in the final.

25.07.24

The U19 Young Lionesses lost 1 - 3 to Spain. Just finished watching it on the Red Button. Not a bad game and it looked as if England might get back into it when they got a goal early in the second half to make it 1 - 2 but not to be.

The Netherlands beat France in the other semi-final.so the final could be interesting as they're the two best teams in the tournament. The Dutch play some very decent counter-attacking football.

There was some Spurs news today about them possibly signing a young well regarded South Korean player: Yang Min-hyuk.

[EJG1980]

I hadn't seen any of the tournament so I thought I'd at least catch the final, looked up when it was on and found out I'd just missed it! I'll have to try and start catching some of the olympic football now, although hopefully there's no more of the trouble that marred the Argentina vs Morocco match.

I did see the Spurs vs Vissel Kobe friendly this morning and it was another good match. It's been a very enjoyable pre-season so far when normally the matches are pretty dull. I think the good showings of all the young players is really helping it, it's great to see them doing well (even if it is just friendlies).

Once again we played some very nice football, and the youngsters in the second half yet again did themselves proud. Shouldn't read much into a friendly but Ange's style seems to come a bit more naturally to the youngsters, maybe because they haven't got years of ingrained habits to overcome like the more senior players might have.

Some really great passing an moving from the youngsters which should have resulted in a few more goals in the second half, but there were a few "Gazza at Euro 96" style misses where a player was an inch away from getting the touch to put the ball in the net. TBF we played some very nice stuff in the first half too, the move for our first goal was top notch. You can see the players are working their way up to full fitness and sharpness but every time it clicks it's superb to watch. Kulusevski has been doing well in pre-season playing centrally instead of on the wing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM8lVXa9MUo

Thought I'd post the official J-League highlights as they're longer that the ones Spurs have posted, and the commentary reminds me of playing the Japanese imports of Winning 11

Based on my extensive research of watching about two YouTube videos, Yang Min-hyuk looks like a decent player Apparently he wouldn't be coming in until January after the South Korean season has finished. Funnily enough our next friendly is against a K-League 11 and Yang Min-hyuk is in the squad and likely to play against us.

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg got his much mooted summer move a few days ago, he's gone on loan to Marseille but they're obligated to buy him at the end of the season for about £20 million. Not a glamour player but a real workhorse who'll never let you down from lack of effort. Good luck to him, I hope he does really well.

It's not official yet but multiple football journalists on Twitter are saying that Bryan Gil transferring to Girona is basically a done deal. A much needed move for him, he's a skilful player but perhaps a bit too slight for the Premier League. Good luck to him too.

[EJG1980]

Based on my extensive research of watching about two YouTube videos, Yang Min-hyuk looks like a decent player Apparently he wouldn't be coming in until January after the South Korean season has finished. Funnily enough our next friendly is against a K-League 11 and Yang Min-hyuk is in the squad and likely to play against us.

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2024/july/yang-min-hyeok-to-join-spurs-from-gangwon-fc/

Hey, we've announced the signing of a highly rated young South Korean player on the day we touch down in South Korea to play a friendly. That's lucky timing The reports saying he wouldn't be coming to the club until January were correct.

[EJG1980]

Another enjoyable friendly today against the K League 11.

We started okay and created a few good chances but a bit of energy and intensity was missing from our play, but a superb on pitch bollocking from Ange during a drinks break gave them a bit of a kick up the bum and they turned up the wick and scored three goals before the break.

I think a combo of complacency from being 3-0 up, and being tired compared to a team full of players in the middle of their season at peak fitness, contributed to a poor fifteen minutes at the start of the second half where we switched off and let in two goals (though I think one of them was actually offside).

An injection of fresh youthful legs got us going again though, and Will Lankshear got on the end of a classic Timo Werner assist to put us 4-2 up. A long range rocket got it back to 4-3 for the K League 11 but that was the final goal.

Should have won more comfortably as it was mainly all Spurs aside from that dodgy opening to the second half, and we also hit the woodwork three times. It was also nice to see some good stuff from Yang Min-Hyeok for the opposition, looks like an exciting prospect.

[fallenangle]

Thanks, I was going to go looking for the highlights of the game as it sounded like a good one in the reports I read yesterday.

Bayern Munich next I believe but without HK. Still could be an interesting game.

[EJG1980]

Thanks, I was going to go looking for the highlights of the game as it sounded like a good one in the reports I read yesterday.

Bayern Munich next I believe but without HK. Still could be an interesting game.

Should be a good match and it's definitely a big step up in the level of opposition compared to what we've faced so far this pre-season.

It's a shame Harry isn't playing, although a bit bizarrely we're playing a second friendly against Munich at home next Saturday. Maybe Harry will be fit for that one.

Edit: a much tougher test than our previous pre-season matches, as you'd expect. Bayern were the clear better side in the first half, we had little moments here and there but they were mostly on top and dominant.

We started better in the second, looked like we might be getting a bit of momentum, but then Bayern struck again to go 2-0 up. We didn't wilt though, and for the last half an hour of the match Spurs were the better side, getting one back though a superb Porro strike and were a bit unlucky not to get an equaliser. The tough first half will probably have done the team a bit of a good, hopefully we'll get a better result in the "rematch" next weekend and play more like we did in the second half, but for the whole match.

We didn't get to see Harry Kane today but Eric Dier did come on as a sub to play most of the second half.

Our man of the match was Lucas Bergvall who looked very good when he came on, he was the biggest reason why we looked much better in the second half. Only one sloppy moment near the end when he gave the ball away on the edge of our box, but his overall play was excellent, great vision with his passing, very good control and touch to get past opposition players, and tracked back and put tackles in too. Very promising (although he's only 18 so better not heap too much expectation on him too soon).

Some other good performances too, Djed Spence looked decent again despite having to play on the left when he's usually on the right. Ange had some nice things to say about him the other day so it looks like he's definitely earned a place in the squad for next season. Alfie Devine did well when he came on, and Dejan Kulusevski absolutely ran his socks off, the man is a stamina machine.

Edit 2: highlights of the Bayern match -

[EJG1980]

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2024/august/solanke-joins-from-bournemouth/

A new signing and a friendly all in one day, we're being spoiled

He proved he could score at Premier League level last season with his 19 goals, only Haaland, Palmer, and Isak scored more. Big thing for him is keeping that going and showing it wasn't a one off season. His style of play definitely fits with what Ange will want, saw a decent (neutral) analysis video of him on Youtube and how he'd fit in, with multiple stats that are important to "Angeball" where Solanke was ranked 1st/2nd/3rd last season.

Ange has said in past interviews that he likes players who have had to have a bit of fight and struggle to get were they are, which Solanke has definitely had to do. Highly rated youngster at Chelsea and then Liverpool, but struggled to score in the top flight, had to move to Bournemouth and build himself back up by scoring goals in the Championship, before finally coming back up to be able to prove himself in the PL. Good character to keep on fighting to get back to the top end of the game.

Should be a good competition between him and Richarlison, which should hopefully push both to elevate their games. And as much as I like him, Richarlison's injury record is not good, so we definitely needed another senior striker.

I've got a good feeling that Solanke will fit in with the team and end up doing very well for us. Good luck Dom!

[fallenangle]

Agreed ^. Seems like a good buy even at the eye-watering £65m but we were after Toney too at one point and he would have cost considerably more so if Solanke performs for us he could be a 'bargain'.

Just been watching the highlights of the Bayern game at Spurs - looked good with Kulu scoring a lightening fast opener and a second one later on. Could have been a worse result than the final 2 - 3 score and lets hope that they learn the lesson with yet another attempt to play out from the back against a high pressing team proved disastrous and resulted in their second goal.

Good to see HK back but glad his shooting boots were a bit off. He should have passed it to the guy on his right in the second case here:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2foFARUHxQ

[EJG1980]

Prices these days are crazy but I suppose it's not that bad relative to other fees. When you think we paid £30 million (plus £10 million in potential add-ons) for a highly rated 18 year old who's never played in the top flight before in Archie Gray, £57 million plus £8 million in potential add-ons for a mature striker who just scored 19 goals in the top flight doesn't sound as nuts. Only relatively though, all transfer fees these days are completely insane

I think we probably disagree on this but I don't mind so much the trying to play out front the back against a high pressing team, as the only way you're going to improve at it is by doing it against teams where it's tough to do, and you put up with the annoying mistakes in the short term to hope you're better for it in the long term. Whether it ends up being a brave strategy or a foolish strategy, only time will tell.

Overall the match was a fairly decent watch. Great start, and I think we slightly edged the first 25 minutes until the mistakes leading to Bayern taking the lead, then we lost our way a bit. Decent second half too, it was good to see three of our first choice back four get their first starts of the pre-season in Romero, VdV and Udogie. We actually won the half 1-0 so that's not bad!

Another very good display from Bergvall too; he's giving me some Dele Alli vibes in that he's a youngster who you are expecting to be very gradually eased in, but he puts in such good performances that he forces his way into the first eleven much more quickly. If he keeps up the same level of performance in competitive PL and European matches that he's had in the friendly matches, he could have a breakout season.

Lovely to see Harry Kane and Eric Dier again. It was nice to have the little ceremony before the match with Ledley King to thank them for their long service at Spurs, seeing as neither was able to get a proper send off in front of the fans when they left.

[EJG1980]

Just after 10AM journalist Sacha Tavolieri tweeted that Spurs were on the verge of signing 19 year old Wilson Odobert from Burnley, and 27 minutes later Spurs officially announced that we'd signed him! I've never seen such a quick turnaround from the first mention of a transfer in the press to the player signing.

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2024/august/odobert-deal-agreed/

I didn't pay much attention to Burnley outside of our matches against them last season, but the Burnley fans are gutted that he's left (while acknowledging that he was the most likely player of theirs to be picked up by a big club).

Attacking midfielder who seems to have played equally on the left and right, and a bit in the middle too, so very versatile. He's very fast (second quickest u21 player in the Premier League last season) and loves to dribble at opponents and go past them; he had the 4th most successful dribbles for a teenager in Europe's top five leagues last season, with Yamal at Barcelona at the top of the list so he's in decent company.

And, finally, he scored Burnley's goal of the season last year:

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