A win at Chelsea would go a long way to shutting next season’s Champions League door on London’s hitherto top clubOn 24 February 2008 Tottenham came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final. Since then, they have sacked Juande Ramos, enjoyed a period of Gareth Bale-driven excitement under Harry Redknapp, taken significant missteps with André Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood, and then found in Mauricio Pochettino a bright young manager under whom they have made progress in each of the past four seasons. But in that decade, they have won nothing. Related: Harry Kane has ‘outside chance’ of making Spurs squad for Chelsea trip Related: Mauricio Pochettino admits stadium move has made Spurs job difficult Continue reading...
Tottenham’s ticket prices have left loyal fans reeling and some will be unable to renew as the club returns to White Hart LaneIf Tottenham Hotspur had set out to create a modern parable showing all that is wrong with football, they could not have done better.Details of the eagerly awaited new stadium were revealed last week, with season ticket price rises of up to 70%. The glossy brochure boasting of sumptuous facilities looks decadent now the ticket prices are known. Instead of welcoming an improved new “home”, many fans are saying that European oak finishes and brushed steel on the food court worksurfaces are not the reason they come to the match. And the placing of over 1,000 premium-lite exclusive...
Álvaro Morata needs to play regularly, rusty Manolo Gabbiadini can solve Southampton’s problems, and Stoke are in big trouble Related: Chelsea’s Morata tries to run his way into Antonio Conte’s good books | Barney Ronay Related: Mohamed Salah will get even better before the season is out, says Jürgen Klopp Continue reading...
Alex Iwobi is drifting, Pellegrino is on dangerous ground and Manchester United produced a classic performanceIt always feels unfair to single out a young player, not least one who seems with each performance these days to become a one-man Arsenal social media event, a living banter-meme. Just check out Alex Iwobi on Twitter the next time Arsenal are playing – and hope he never makes the mistake of searching his own name. But watching him against Watford it was tempting to wonder about stalled progress, and a comfort zone at the wrong moment in his career. He has been more productive since Christmas, has made an effort to make more decisive forward runs. But he remains a strange footballer, a...
Spurs looked like they would reach the last eight before the playmaker sprang to life and Chiellini defended for his lifeFor an hour at Wembley, with the quarter-finals of the Champions League beckoning and the scalp of Juventus already partially hacked from its canary‑yellow neck, Tottenham found themselves playing like a team in the process of becoming something else, of forgetting, just for an hour, to be Spurs.It will be a crushing disappointment Mauricio Pochettino’s team failed to hold their momentum long enough to see out this tie. But it is also tribute to the pure footballing will of opponents who seemed at times on the verge of being outmuscled; to the transformative power of a match-changing foul on Dele...