Key events
Thoughts, West Ham fans?
Hey Mr. Levy,
Graham Potter is the obvious choice for Spurs!
…said a West Ham fan with his fingers crossed
Charlie, a Brentford fan, is hopeful that Thomas Frank will stay at the Gtech Community Stadium amid ongoing interest from Tottenham:
“As a Brentford fan I am greatly enjoying the snobbishness of Spurs fans who don’t want Thomas Frank. Please keep it up until he stays. Those grumbling about the risk of playing effective football should cast their minds back to what he did with the Benrahma-Mbeumo-Watkins team that narrowly failed to go up, when he had the most exciting attacking talent and used it to devastating effect, rather than aiming for Europe with one of the smallest budgets the Premier League has seen. Oh and we still play pretty decent stuff now established anyway.”
Martin Pegan
Ange Postecoglou took Tottenham Hotspur on the wildest of rides. A record-breaking run to begin his first Premier League campaign in charge. An injury-riddled slump that led Spurs to within sight of relegation the next season. A promise to win a trophy in his second year. The club’s first piece of silverware since 2008. The sack coming just 16 days later.
Fulham announce death of Malcolm Elias
Fulham head of academy recruitment Malcolm Elias, who developed the likes of Gareth Bale and Trent Alexander-Arnold, has died. Elias arrived in west London from Liverpool in 2009 and had a keen eye for developing young talent which included Bale, Alexander-Arnold, Theo Walcott and Harvey Elliott among others.
A statement on the Fulham website said: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our colleague and dear friend, Malcolm Elias, after a short illness. The club’s head of academy recruitment, Malcolm had a fantastic reputation in football for unearthing and nurturing young talent.
“The influence that Malcolm had on the modern game cannot be understated, having worked with and developed the likes of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harvey Elliott, Luke Harris and Jay Stansfield, to name but a few.”
Tottenham stars pay tribute to Postecoglou
Son Heung-min, Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison were among the Tottenham stars to pay tribute to Ange Postecoglou following his dismissal on Friday.
Son, the club captain, wrote on Instagram: “Gaffer. You’ve changed the trajectory of this club. You believed in yourself, and us, since day one and never wavered for a second. Even when others did.
“You knew what we were capable of all along. You did it your way. And your way brought this club the best night it’s had in decades. We will have those memories for life. You trusted me with the captaincy. One of the highest honours of my career.
“It’s been an incredible privilege to learn from your leadership up close, I am a better player and a better person because of you. Ange Postecoglou, you are a Tottenham Hotspur legend forever. Thank you, mate.”
Paul is confident that Tottenham will succeed if they appoint Thomas Frank to replace Ange Postecoglou:
“There’s probably been too much over thinking on this. I sent this message to my son last night.
”It’s the right decision. He can leave a hero and will always be welcomed back.
£100m just for turning up in the CL is too much to gamble on him getting top four.
I know Frank hasn’t managed at CL level and he may be out of his depth but, personally, I’ve been walking out of games during the tenure of the last 3 managers. That needs to stop and if Frank gets me to stay 90+ minutes every week, he’s a step up! It will be interesting whether Frank can attract top quality signings. I see Manor Solomon’s coming back. Not a good start to the window!!”
Bukayo Saka is expected to be absent from the England matchday squad this afternoon. The Arsenal winger suffered a knock in the final match of the Premier League season against Southampton and is yet to return to full fitness.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel said: “He came into camp with a little bit of discomfort from the last match against Southampton, so we took care of him and treated him individually until today [Friday] basically. It was the first training session that he started and finished with the group. Yesterday, he started with the group but did not finish with the group, so let’s see.”
Thomas Tuchel is looking to solve England’s physical problems ahead of next summer’s World Cup in North America. The head coach wants to harness the traditional virtues of the English game – namely pace, strength and aggression. But he is aware that searing temperatures await at many of the venues for the finals in the US, Canada and Mexico next summer and, as such, it will be vital to be able to play in different styles.
Solomon has a different view of the current managerial situation at Spurs:
“As a Spurs fan, I’ll forever be grateful to Ange for getting us a European cup. It won’t stop the Spursy memes but now no one can say we haven’t won anything! Having said that, Levy made the right decision, one that has been obvious for a while now and is perfectly summarised by our dismal performance in the league.
“Ange-ball can’t make it in the PL, and being entertained is only fun when it’s accompanied with results. After the initial novelty wore off, it was fairly straightforward for opposing managers to set themselves up for Ange-ball, and the results dried up. If the next manager can make us competitive with teams like Forest, Bournemouth, etc. in the next season, that would be a start.”
John Rudd has messaged in with his view on the dismissal of Ange Postecoglou:
“Daniel Levy and the board don’t quite know what they want. How much money have they paid out to out going managers over the last 10 years or so? With the league form so dismal and the English media assassinating Ange all season long. It was always just going to happen (being sacked). No doubt next season Tottenham will finish mid table and another manager will go by the wayside. I will add that Ange-ball never has experienced this level of injury. It makes me wonder if it was the playing style or just players being incredibly unlucky. It’s a shame his style didn’t succeed. Let’s see Burnley 5-4-1 formation and wonder if the Prem League will ever see high octane football again.”
Here’s a reminder of the England squad available for today’s match against Andorra and Tuesday’s international friendly against Senegal.
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, James Trafford.
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dan Burn, Trevoh Chalobah, Levi Colwill, Reece James, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kyle Walker.
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers.
Forwards: Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney.
David Hytner
Ange Postecoglou advanced his case to the last. And it was a measure not only of his ability to own the narrative, to master it, but his body of work at Tottenham that he was able to do so with such conviction.
As always, I want to hear from you today! What are your thoughts on Ange Postecoglou’s dismissal? Did he deserve to be sacked? Who will replace him?
Also, will you be watching England later today? Which starting XI should Thomas Tuchel go for? Let me know.
In case you somehow missed it, Tottenham sacked Ange Postecoglou yesterday despite the 59-year-old leading them to their first trophy in 17 years. It is understood that Thomas Frank is one of the top candidates for the job.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another matchday live! Today we’re counting down to England’s third World Cup qualifier against Andorra, with the Three Lions looking to extend their lead at the top of Group K. Thomas Tuchel is expected to name a strong line-up for the clash, although he could be without Bukayo Saka, who is recovering from a knock.
We’ll also bring you the latest football news, including the fallout and reaction from Ange Postecoglou’s dismissal and the latest transfer talk.
Join me!
