Marked for Michael Hunter
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Dec 2029
A fracture rules Michael Hunter out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tottenham will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match17 Dec 2029
36 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad17 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Savinho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
Savinho was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Boardroom17 Dec 2029
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Tommy Setford has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Tottenham have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
When it matters, Savinho plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
Tottenham pick somebody else ahead of Kevin
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Dec 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 Dec 2029
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad10 Dec 2029
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
A brace, and Mateus Mané takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mateus Mané provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad10 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tottenham is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market10 Dec 2029
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Dec 2029
32 days out for Michael Hunter after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tottenham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match1 Dec 2029
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match3 Dec 2029
The view from the top for Tottenham
34 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market3 Dec 2029
Savinho wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Tottenham hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad3 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Savinho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Ethan Nwaneri
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The terraces3 Dec 2029
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
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Squad
Defences have started doubling up on Savinho
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Dejan Kulusevski at his very best
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Player ratings
Brennan Johnson was on a different afternoon to everybody else
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Nov 2029
A fracture rules Michael Hunter out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tottenham will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Micky van de Ven was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Savinho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Savinho runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market26 Nov 2029
As if he never left: Jun'ai Byfield returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Jun'ai Byfield is a Tottenham player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Jun'ai Byfield arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jun'ai Byfield has, at Tottenham, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Match24 Nov 2029
0‑1 to Liverpool, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
Micky van de Ven is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
When it matters, Sandro Tonali plays
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Market
Savinho linked with a move away
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Nov 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Dejan Kulusevski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Nov 2029
A row about effort at Tottenham
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Savinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Nov 2029
9 Tottenham players away with their countries
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 9 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Boardroom19 Nov 2029
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Gerónimo Rulli has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Tottenham have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Savinho runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Looking ahead19 Nov 2029
The big one: Liverpool come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Tottenham will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
Savinho gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Savinho is on it.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateus Mané, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Nov 2029
58 days out for Michael Hunter after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tottenham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Sandro Tonali was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market12 Nov 2029
Only the photograph left for João Virgínia
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. João Virgínia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tottenham the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Nov 2029
A row about effort at Tottenham
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Savinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
A masterclass from Savinho
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Kevin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Savinho is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.25 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match10 Nov 2029
Tottenham hit back inside 4 minutes
Nottingham Forest held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Tottenham answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Nov 2029
66 days out for Michael Hunter after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tottenham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match3 Nov 2029
Sunderland will want this one forgotten quickly: 7‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tottenham were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad5 Nov 2029
A day Savinho will not forget
4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match31 Oct 2029
A 4‑1 win over Newport County, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match5 Nov 2029
First, on 29 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Andrew Robertson, 35, rolls back the years — 7.98
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.98 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market5 Nov 2029
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Tottenham hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words exchanged at Tottenham
Micky van de Ven and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Savinho falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Oct 2029
75 days out for Michael Hunter after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tottenham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match27 Oct 2029
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Savinho in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Oct 2029
A row about effort at Tottenham
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Micky van de Ven was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guglielmo Vicario, and the manager let it.
Match27 Oct 2029
Tottenham cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match27 Oct 2029
0‑2 to West Ham United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom29 Oct 2029
Nobody left the Tottenham dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Oct 2029
A fracture rules Michael Hunter out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tottenham will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match20 Oct 2029
Whatever happens, Tottenham do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Oct 2029
James Maddison and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Oct 2029
A row about effort at Tottenham
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Savinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Tottenham will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
Savinho gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Savinho is on it.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolas Jackson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” James Turner chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Oct 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match13 Oct 2029
Still nobody has beaten Tottenham
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market15 Oct 2029
João Virgínia has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Micky van de Ven and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A row about effort at Tottenham
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Savinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A quiet fortnight at Tottenham
With 10 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
Match13 Oct 2029
After 8 games, Tottenham finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Brighton; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Loan watch15 Oct 2029
“I watch every Tottenham game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Wigan Athletic runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad8 Oct 2029
A fracture rules Michael Hunter out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tottenham will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match6 Oct 2029
Tottenham make it 8 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tottenham have 8 straight wins of it.
Match6 Oct 2029
Crystal Palace will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tottenham were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Savinho scores twice — 8.53
Two goals and a mark of 8.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dejan Kulusevski commits to Tottenham for another 4 years.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Savinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Micky van de Ven is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match6 Oct 2029
Tottenham keep winning on the road
4 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad1 Oct 2029
107 days out for Michael Hunter after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tottenham will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match29 Sep 2029
Tottenham make it 7 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tottenham have 7 straight wins of it.
Market1 Oct 2029
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Savinho in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Micky van de Ven is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match29 Sep 2029
A 2‑0 win over Fulham, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Dejan Kulusevski was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.