It has been over 100 days since Spurs won a PL game and now they are in the bottom three 😬

Tried to predict which players will benefit the most from De Zerbi's appointment before tomorrow's huge game against Sunderland 🤔

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/718...

Former Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong: AFCON final ruling undermines tournament The ex-Nigeria star says Senegal being stripped of their title leaves African football having to rebuild its reputation

“We have taken 2 steps backwards. It’s going to take time to rebuild AFCON’s reputation.”

Powerful column from former Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong on @theathleticfc.bsky.social about decision to overturn Senegal’s victory over Morocco

Free to read

www.nytimes.com/athletic/713...

Tottenham’s Guglielmo Vicario to be sidelined for up to a month after hernia surgery Vicario will be available for Sunday’s crucial relegation six-pointer against Nottingham Forest.

🚨 Guglielmo Vicario will undergo surgery on his hernia next week but could feature in Sunday's crucial game against Nottingham Forest

🤦‍♂️ Will there ever be/has there ever been a normal, quiet day in the world of Spurs?

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/713...

a group of soccer players wearing emirates fly better uniforms ALT: a group of soccer players wearing emirates fly better uniforms

𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺?

Rockets, remontadas, Real and, er, a new AFCON champion 🔥🤯

Bit of a mad one for @acjimbo.bsky.social, @cdeccleshare.bsky.social, @jaydmharris.bsky.social & @liamtwomey.bsky.social to get stuck into tomorrow morning. Which bits should they be getting stuck into? 🎙️

Morocco crowned AFCON winners 57 days after final as Senegal’s victory declared void CAF's statement on Tuesday, 57 days after January's final, said “all other motions or prayers for relief are dismissed”.

🚨 Two months after AFCON final the CAF Appeal Board have ruled that Senegal breached the competition's rules & have awarded Morocco a 3-0 victory

Remarkable decision but will anybody actually ever believe Morocco won the tournament?

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/712...

Micky van de Ven says noise around Tottenham ‘brings more trouble’ The Netherlands international said their season has been "really tough for everyone at the club" but that the squad still cares.

A fired up Micky van de Ven says Spurs' squad are "frustrated" & calls it "nonsense" that they don't care

"Trust me, all the people involved on the pitch, the staff, the players, everyone, they care so much about the situation we're in."

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/712...

Lucas Bergvall, Cristian Romero to return for Tottenham vs. Atletico Madrid, Igor Tudor says The head coach said Destiny Udogie will be on the bench for Wednesday's game, while Joao Palhinha is "doing worse" and remains out.

🚨 Igor Tudor confirms Bergvall and Udogie will be on the bench for Spurs tomorrow against Atletico Madrid

Romero is available after missing Liverpool draw with concussion but Palhinha is out. Gallagher has a virus and is a doubt

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/712...

Cristian Romero, Joao Palhinha to miss Tottenham’s visit to Liverpool after clash of heads With Micky van de Ven suspended at Anfield, Igor Tudor is short of options at centre-half.

🚨 Igor Tudor confirms Romero and Palhinha will miss Spurs' game against Liverpool after clashing heads in loss to Atletico Madrid

Bissouma out with a muscle issue and Gallagher struggling with a fever

Tudor calls selection crisis "rare & unusual"

www.nytimes.com/athletic/711...

Tottenham Hotspur are set to be without captain Cristian Romero and midfielder Joao Palhinha for Sunday’s visit to Liverpool after the pair clashed heads towards the end of Tuesday’s defeat to Atletico Madrid.

More from @jaydmharris.bsky.social ⬇️

🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/711...

What should Tottenham do about Igor Tudor? We asked five of our writers Tottenham have lost four out of four under Tudor, conceding 14 goals in that time, and there have been no signs of improvement

😱 What should Spurs do now?

Assembled @theathleticfc.bsky.social Avengers and *spoiler alert* we all came to the same conclusion

👑🗑️

www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany has said Jose Mourinho made a “huge mistake” in accusing Vinicius Junior of inciting an incident that ended with the Real Madrid forward alleging racist abuse.

More from @sebsb.bsky.social and @colinmillar.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

The Athletic FC Podcast: Vinicius, Mourinho and another ugly night for football Real Madrid’s 1-0 Champions League play-off first-leg win at Benfica on Tuesday night was overshadowed by alleged racist abuse suffered by goalscorer Vinicius Junior.Ayo Akinwolere is joined by T...

An emotional chat about what happened to Vinicius Junior last night with Ayo Akinwolere & @dermotmcorrigan.bsky.social for @theathleticfc.bsky.social

pod.fo/e/391ee2

Introducing Igor Tudor’s new-look Tottenham Hotspur coaching staff Spurs now have an imperfect and disjointed backroom team who need to unite with one clear aim over the season's final 12 matches...

⬅️ Heitinga, Cochrane, Haslam and Newton out
➡️ Javorcic, Rogic and Ragnacci in
🧤 Two senior GK coaches?

Here is a breakdown of Igor Tudor's backroom staff at Spurs

How will all they work together?

www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

John Heitinga leaves Tottenham assistant coach role after appointment of Igor Tudor Fellow assistant coaches Justin Cochrane and Chris Haslam have also left the club following the sacking of Thomas Frank.

🚨 John Heitinga has left Spurs 33 days after being appointed as an assistant coach to Thomas Frank

Fellow assistant coaches Justin Cochrane and Chris Haslam leaving too

Full story and details of Igor Tudor's new backroom staff on @theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

Thomas Frank was meant to bring stability to Spurs, but ended up unpopular with fans and players There have been some unpopular managers at Spurs in recent years. But even at the worst moments, predecessors were not as scorned as Frank

Thomas Frank gone at Tottenham

Piece on what went wrong, why he never fitted, and how much of it is his fault

With @jaydmharris.bsky.social @sebsb.bsky.social and others

www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...

Igor Thiago signs new Brentford contract to 2031 Only Erling Haaland has scored more than the Brazilian's 17 Premier League goals this season.

🇧🇷 From collecting rubbish and carrying people's groceries home in Brazil to support his family, to becoming a top striker in the PL

🐝 Igor Thiago's story is remarkable & now he has signed a new contract with Brentford until 2031

More on @theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

For Tottenham Hotspur and Thomas Frank, the grass was not greener Thomas Frank and Tottenham Hotspur seemed like a good match... until they didn't

Thomas Frank once said he had "close to the perfect football life" at Brentford

He left after nearly seven years in charge to join Spurs but the grass did not turn out to be greener

How Frank's dream move turned into a disaster for @theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/685...

Tottenham’s Destiny Udogie out for ‘four to five weeks’ – Thomas Frank The Italy international pulled up in the second half of Spurs’ 2-0 defeat to Manchester United last Saturday.

🚨 Destiny Udogie out for "four to five weeks" with his second hamstring injury of the season

23yo has only started eight PL games this campaign

Frank says "ongoing and long-term process" to improve his robustness

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

Man Utd 2 Tottenham 0 – Is this turning into a good season? Frank’s situation? Romero loses hero status? Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Athletic's experts break down the game

🟥 Romero's red card caps off mad week
🇩🇰 What does this latest defeat mean for Thomas Frank?
🤕 Udogie latest addition to injury list
🤯 4 wins in a row for Man Utd

Full breakdown of Man Utd 2-0 Spurs on @theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

Cristian Romero outburst ‘dealt with internally’ by Tottenham – Thomas Frank In an Instagram post, Romero described it as "disgraceful" that Spurs "only had 11 players available" for Sunday's draw with Man City.

🤯 Thomas Frank spoke for 28 minutes, answered 38 questions and 25 of them were related to Cristian Romero's post

Frank refuses to confirm if Spurs captain has been disciplined and just repeatedly says "we have dealt with it internally."

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

CAF investigating ‘unacceptable behaviour’ after AFCON full-time clashes CAF is investigating incidents from Nigeria’s victory against Algeria and Morocco’s win over Cameroon.

The Confederation of African (CAF) Football has launched an investigation into alleged “unacceptable behaviour” during Nigeria’s victory against Algeria and Morocco’s win over Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations.

More from @jaydmharris.bsky.social ⤵️

Brahim Diaz: A substitute for Real Madrid, a superstar for Morocco Brahim has led Morocco to the AFCON semi-finals and can be the best player in the world, according to his manager

Brahim Diaz is a substitute for Real Madrid but a superstar for Morocco.

The Spanish-born winger has been the undisputed star of AFCON, scoring in every game as the hosts have marched into the semi-finals.

Can he soar to even greater heights?

📝 @jaydmharris.bsky.social

I must have walked right past you as I was there as well! Glad you're enjoying the tournament

Gabon’s national team has been suspended by the government until further notice after they were eliminated from the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Gabon finished bottom of Group F after losing all of their games at AFCON.

More from @jaydmharris.bsky.social ⬇️

🔗 nyti.ms/49zeVey

Souleymane Coulibaly has had a busy life.

The former Ivory Coast U17 star spent time in Tottenham Hotspur’s youth ranks, Egypt, Tunisia and Scotland, and fought legal cases with FIFA and CAS.

Now playing in England's ninth tier, he speaks to @jaydmharris.bsky.social ⤵️

🔗 bit.ly/4quLFLC

The Totally Football Show with James Richardson: Arsenal meet Villa again, Cherki's on fire + the Cherries are in crisis Jimbo presents the last Totally Football Show of 2025 in the company of Daniel Storey, Tom Williams and Seb Stafford-Bloor.It will be 1st v 3rd on Tuesday as Arsenal host an Aston Villa side buzzin...

🚨LAST POD OF 2025!🚨

@acjimbo.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @sebsb.bsky.social bring you a packed Totally:

😍Arsenal v Villa again
🪄Cherki's effect on Pep
🍒Crisis time for Iraola?
🏆 #AFCON2025 with @jaydmharris.bsky.social
🗓️Hopes for 2026

pod.fo/e/36f04b

Two overhead kicks in eight days: Which of Ayoub El Kaabi’s outrageous AFCON goals was better? The Morocco striker stunned viewers with his acrobatic finish against Zambia, but he'd already done it once before at this tournament

🤯 Two stunning acrobatic finishes in eight days mean Ayoub El Kaabi is having his own goal of the tournament competition at AFCON

🇲🇦 Piece for @theathleticfc.bsky.social on Morocco's master of overhead kicks

www.nytimes.com/athletic/692...

Tottenham 1 Fulham 2 – Why did Spurs fans boo their goalkeeper? Is Frank making the right decisions? Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 2-1 defeat against Fulham on Saturday night

😲 Awful opening 15mins when Fulham scored twice and Chukwueze hit the post
😬 Vicario's horror mistake and being booed for the rest of the game
🤦‍♂️ What now for Frank after three defeats in seven days?

Spurs 1-2 Fulham breakdown on @theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...

How Nigeria’s World Cup dream died: Unfulfilled promises, an airport stand-off and ‘voodoo’ A chaotic qualifying campaign involved three different head coaches and a financial dispute that led to players boycotting training

▪️ Unfulfilled promises of land from the government
▪️ Tense negotiations after players boycott training
▪️ Airport stand-off in Libya
▪️ Accusations of opposition ‘voodoo’

The soul-searching has already begun in Nigeria.

@jaydmharris.bsky.social on how their World Cup dream went up in smoke.

The View From The Lane: A show about Spurs: The full NLD autopsy + PSG away Host Danny Kelly is joined by The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke, Jay Harris and Dan Kilpatrick to conduct a full autopsy of that crushing defeat at Arsenal. They discuss Frank's game plan, the player...

😡😡NEW VFTL😡😡
FULL-CREW NLD AUTOPSY
😵‍💫 What the actual F××k was that?
🤬 When does "not working" become "can't work"?
🥶 (serious) "Frank out" voices
💲PSG next; should we play the kids?
Me @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social @jaydmharris.bsky.social
@dankp.bsky.social
⚠️ contains anger and 😲
pod.fo/e/358d9d