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As Tonali, Fernandes, van Hecke, and Senesi headline an unprecedented shopping season—with more to come—we also remember last season's highlights. There were at least one or two.
Whew.
Well, it’s been a while since my last post. And the fury of activity out of THFC makes it seem like an even longer while.
Where to begin?
ARE WE…A REAL CLUB NOW?
Since I’ve been following Spurs, we have been a “selling team” among the Big 6. Our rare instances of big splurges usually came after selling our best players—Modric, Bale, Kane—and even then, we were rarely buying top talent in its prime. We were the club who bought the Gedsons, not the Brunos.
And now: We’ve suddenly spent Tonali for 100M, Fernandes for 85M, van Hecke for 52 (with one year remaining on his old deal, even)…with rumored approaches for Kroupi.Jr, Savinho, Leao, and who knows else. This to go along with our deals on-a-free for Sensei, Dubravka, and Robertson. What’s this—actual depth on the back line??
Vušković heads out to Brighton for money that could be as much as 50M plus a sell-on fee. If you’d told me a month ago that we’d sell Luka, I’d be outraged. And although he has yet to show he can handle the pace of soccer outside Germany, the fact it was Brighton who wanted him make me think he has a future in the Premier League. But having 4 legit, PL-tested CBs —and maybe even 5 should Romero not leave—makes me feel a lot better about it. And hey, when Udogie needs to be spelled at LB, we now have not one but two old, slow LBs to cover for him. Speaking of which, who saw that contract extension for Gentle Ben coming? Hopefully, it was with an eye toward him being a player-coach.
PREDICTING OUR STARTING XI
I can’t because we don’t know what that front 3 is going to look like and who will be healthy and who we’ll bring in.
But here’s my stab at guessing the starting VIII for MW1:
Kinsky
Porro JPVH VDV Udogie
Bentancur Tonali
Madders
Why? First, I think Simeone is going to move mountains to bring Romero to Atletico, and I see Senesi and Danso as high-end cover for our twin vans (though either could start in a back 3).
And while we’re all eager to see Fernandes take the field, I have a gut that RDZ will value experience at the beginning of the season. This leaves one heck of a bench with Gallagher, Fernandes, Gray, Bergvall (if we do indeed refuse to sell him), and Sarr (who I think will be sold)—and after living through some bleak seasons in this past decade, I will never, ever, ever complain about midfield depth. Even without European football in 26/27, cup matches and the inevitable injuries, we’ll be able to give quality minutes to each one of these players, mark my words.
GOING FORWARD
There are two big question marks here: When will our injured wingers come back—we’ve gotten to a point where “injured winger” is almost redundant—and who will we bring in?
If/when they return to fitness, I will feel good about a horses-for-courses rotation of Deki and Kudus on the right. You know…like what I wanted to see Fr*nk do with Johnson and Kudus last season, before our former manager alienated our top scorer from the previous season. Deki has, at times, looked like our best player; and Kudus was our best player at the beginning of last season.
At striker, I like Solanke. I feel many people forget how good he has been when fit. Granted, he hasn’t been the most prolific of scorers, but as he’s shown in matches like the EL final, he can help win matches even when he scores.
Note I said like, not love. I hope we find someone to take the starting spot—more on that below—and keep Dom as our backup #9.
Like many of us, I have a soft spot for Richarlison. We’re now the second club he’s helped stay up and the second one he’s won over with his work ethic and passion. You gotta appreciate his in-spite-of-everything goals. But I don’t think he will ever be dependably fit for an entire season, and even when fit, I don’t think he’s the polished tip of the spear we need. It’s very possible we sell him this summer.
Together with Solanke and [NEW GUY], this would leave a spot for Will Lankshear. It’s time for the lad to have an extended chance with the first team. I like his build and his touch, and the dreamer in me thinks we might be able to develop him into a poor man’s Harry. Remember, we’ll have two cup competitions this season and, hopefully, European matches in 2026/27.
Right now on the left, we have Tel and Moore. I think we have to keep Tel for now due to our injury situation with Xavi, Deki, Kudus, and Odobert. Tel is a young, healthy body who can score a goal. Ultimately, however, I think he’s too raw of a player and doesn’t have a very high ceiling for what we’d need. Again, I am looking for a [NEW GUY.] And I think it’s very much time for us to let Mikey show whether he can make contributions to the first team.
I WANT TO BELIEVE
I spoke to Mitch McConnell for roughly 20 minutes yesterday and I asked him if Kroupi.Jr is coming to Spurs and he gave me a wink and a thumbs up.
I’ve gotten very excited about the Kroupi links, if only because I had him on my otherwise terrible FPL team, but not only because of that. I like his quickness inside the box and his shot from outside the box. With the caveat about the limitations of YouTube comps, here, enjoy this YouTube comp:
As far as the recent links with Rafael Leao…I’m lukewarm. He’s not without considerable talent. But I’m not sure how he would fit into RDZ’s attack. He’s got great breakaway speed, but he doesn’t strike me as the tidiest of players. I think he’s very good at leading transition play with long-loping strides—but can he break down low blocks? And would he commit to pressing?
Finally, the links with City’s Savinho keep resurfacing, almost to the point I’m tuning them out. We need something special, and I like what I’ve seen of him. But call me when this moves beyond “Spurs are interested in the player.”
All this said, hearing that we’re looking to upgrade both LW and ST and waving a big purse around town makes me hopeful.
RIGHT BACK WHERE THEY BELONG
Kudos to Djed Spence and Pedro Porro for their fine work in helping England and Spain advance, respectively. Porro converted an important header against Austria, and Spence won raves for his challenges in the Mexico games. And then there was this moment from the Ghana match.
As it seems we have a bit of depth on the left—and with our CB depth, this also could free up VDV to fill in on the left, as well—are we now living in a world in which Spence can be used in his actual position in a rotation with Porro?? I’ve been banging on for years that forcing managers to run Udogie into the ground while also expecting Spence to serve as cover for both fullback positions bordered on malpractice. Might we even spell Porro now and then with Spence in the XI? Crazy, I know.
Update: I will be pissed if we sell Djed to Everton.
THE SECOND ANNUAL UPSYS
With the 2025/26 being as dismal as it was from MW3 to MW 37, these awards are announced in whispers, no celebrity emcees or musical numbers…
PLAYER OF THE SEASON: MICKEY VAN DE VEN
In a season in which we seemed to lose players as often as we were losing matches, VDV seemed like the proverbial Last Man Standing. He emerged as the closet thing to a consistent player, played solid defense, scored seven goals, and even wore the arm band down the stretch. Nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah nah nah nah, van de Ven, Mickey van de Ven…
GOAL OF THE SEASON: DOM SOLANKE
How did his scorpion strike against City not win Premier League Goal of the Season? Let’s also recognize the effort Gallagher put into winning the ball and racing into a position where he could deliver the ball to big Dom (if slightly behind him).
Sure, Harrison Reed’s equalizer against Liverpool was a rocket, but if that was the season’s best goal, we owe Son Heung-min a closestful of awards because he used to score those for fun.
What was especially fun about Dom’s goal is it hurt City’s chances of catching Woolwich…and no one cared. We all thrilled at that goal. It showed—and I can’t stress this enough, because it’s amusing how much this bothers them—how little we care about VARsenal.
A FATHER’S DAY TO REMEMBER FOREVER
I’ve occasionally shared stories of my son playing travel soccer. I’d avoided sharing photos of him on Bluesky because of the predatory threat of AI, but I recently posted this one (with his face obscured and the other players’ faced blacked out).
Some of you said he looks like Chris Waddle here, which made me very happy, though if you saw his handsome baby face, he looks somewhat like Archie Gray (which also makes me happy because we routinely visit a gray bard owl named Archie at the nature center down the boulevard from us).
My son began playing a bit of striker this spring. Though he doesn’t have the natural speed for the position, he did well in building his endurance (lots of time spent at our local track) and learning positional awareness.
In our last match—which also happened to be Father’s Day—he got forward to pounce on a rebound and then followed up on the keeper’s save to score his first goal, which proved to be the go-ahead goal.
I was beyond happy for him. I do not make a big deal out of it on the sidelines—I help coach the team, and even if I didn’t, I don’t want to be one of those parents. Aside from giving high-fives to another dad, I quietly enjoyed the moment and loved seeing his smile as teammates congratulated him.
After the match, he walked toward us on the sidelines, found me, and exchanged the Sonny “snapshot” celebration we used to do with each other when he’d score in our Rec league.
It had been a tough week for me. I’d had trips to three different doctors and was told surgery is likely in my future. (Another doctor has recently suggested that might not be the case; more testing to come.) So it was wonderful to see my son smiling and celebrated by teammates for his persistence.
And to mark the day, I gave him a special Son Heung-min GOLAZO card.
Next up: The World is having a Cup. Who will win it? Cuti’s Argentina? Porro’s Spain? Djed and Harry’s England? And…our first summer friendly with MK Dons kicks off in just two weeks! (I’m not ready.)