good morning!
Welcome to another edition of Trending Up / Trending Down, where we at Hoddle Headquarters examine who at Tottenham Hotspur is trending up, and who is trending down.
Let’s get started.
Trending Up:
Micky Van de Ven:
Van de Ven really hasn’t missed a beat since returning from injury, has he? The man is as fast as ever, providing valuable cover for Destiny Udogie. It’s great to see him paired with Cuti Romero again.
Richarlison:
That’s nine goals in eight games now for Richarlison, and he’s the first Brazilian to reach the 10-goal mark in Europe’s top five leagues this season (per Squawka stats). Before this he was what, 2 in 38? Both goals against Everton were great too.
Johan Lange:
The man largely responsible for bringing in Swedish wunderkid Lucas Bergvall.
Trending Down:
Guglielmo Vicario:
Vicario’s had it rough these past couple weeks. He got bullied in conceding that goal to Manchester City in the FA Cup. Vicario wasn’t to blame for the Brentford goals, but he had a real tough time against Everton on Saturday.
Unavailable players:
We’re getting a lot of them back! Van de Ven, as mentioned before. James Maddison has returned from injury, too. And soon Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr will be in the squad again from international competition. Sonny’s the last one left.
Should nothing dramatic happen, that would leave only Manor Solomon and Gio Lo Celso unavailable for selection. A strong bench is a happy bench.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Farewell Farewell, by Charles Mingus
And now for your links:
Alasdair Gold’s talking points from Tottenham’s 2-2 draw vs Everton
Charlie Eccleshare ($$): Tottenham can’t keep riding their luck forever
Dan KP: Richarlison growing in confidence at the right time
New York City metropolitan area (New Jersey) set to host 2026 World Cup Final