What the papers say
Wolves’ Portugal winger Pedro Neto, 23, and Crystal Palace’s England international Eberechi Eze, 25, are among Tottenham’s main summer targets, according to The Independent. The club have put a wide-playing forward at the top of their shopping list.
Mason Greenwood’s future at Manchester United will be decided by the end of May. The Sun reports the club will make a decision on the 22-year-old English forward, who is on loan at Getafe.
Dele Alli could be handed a fresh start to his time at Everton. The Daily Express, via The Athletic, reports the club are looking to give the former England midfielder, 27, a new deal.
Liverpool are interested in Brentford’s Cameroon winger Bryan Mbeumo, 24, according to the Daily Express.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Jorginho: Arsenal’s Italy midfielder, 32, could return to Serie A in the summer, reports Goal.
Diant Ramaj: Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea are looking at Ajax’s German goalkeeper, 22, according to German outlet Bild.
Proud Lilywhites, Tottenham’s official LGBTQI+ supporters’ group, has changed lives and the law since its inception a decade ago, and has no plans to call it a day any time soon.
Tuesday marks the organisation’s 10th anniversary and co-founder Chris Paouros acknowledged an early aim was to “put ourselves out of business” by improving equality in football and changing homophobic attitudes.
The achievements of the group include helping a member seek asylum in the UK and contributing towards the Chelsea rent boy chant being deemed a homophobic hate crime, with this past month full of activities to celebrate their milestone.
Recent men’s and women’s matches with Wolves and Aston Villa respectively were dedicated to Proud Lilywhites’ 10th anniversary with the club’s 62,850-seater stadium lit up in rainbow colours and again on February 15 when a celebration event was held at the ground, with first-teamers Ben Davies and Ellie Brazil in attendance.
“Walking down the High Road (before Wolves), I can’t even begin to tell you how I felt,” Paouros told the PA news agency.
“I come from Seven Sisters way and seeing the stadium saying celebrating 10 years of Proud Lilywhites, it almost took my breath away and I feel emotion now talking about it.
“We just made up this thing 10 years ago and thought this is a good idea!
“As a LGBTQI+ fan, you don’t always feel football is for you. And I always say that feeling when the ball is about to hit the back of the net and everyone rises in unison, you don’t get that anywhere else. For that reason I don’t want to deny that for anybody.”
Proud Lilywhites’ celebration event was attended by several key allies with Spurs’ executive director Donna-Maria Cullen, Troy Townsend of Kick It Out, Women in Football’s Jo Tongue and Olympic gold-medallist Helen Richardson-Walsh all addressing the three-figure audience, while symbolically Ledley King was also present.
Ex-Tottenham captain King has supported the group since the beginning after being in its first ever photo ahead of a Europa League clash with Dnipro on February, 27 2014.
View this post on InstagramThe wheels in motion for Proud Lilywhites started weeks before that launch event at the Dnipro fixture when Paouros and five others held a meeting at White Hart Lane with then-supporters’ liaison officer Jonathan Waite to set out the group’s formation.
In the Bill Nicholson Suite, Proud Lilywhites declared its three key principles would be community, education and campaigning and with it the pathway to changing lives and the law had been set.
Later that year Proud Lilywhites put up its rainbow-coloured flag at White Hart Lane for the first time, which has been the catalyst for fans like group co-chair Lee Johnson to give football a second chance.
Paouros added: “When we first put a flag up at White Hart Lane, there was a huge hoo-ha about it.
“Now it is a permanent fixture and people are proud of it. You can say it is just a symbol to say you are inclusive, but actually that flag has brought so many people back to the game.”
The homophobic rent boy chant – aimed at Chelsea, their players and fans – had forced Johnson away from football, but the Crown Prosecution Service in 2022 recognised it as a homophobic hate crime after Proud Lilywhites alongside Chelsea Pride co-chair Tracy Brown gathered evidence through victim impact statements to ensure the law was changed.
Proud Lilywhites also works alongside Kick It Out to provide fan education, but a real source of pride revolves around helping a now-committee member to be granted asylum in the UK.
“One of our members, she is a committee member now, was seeking asylum in this country for persecution for her sexual orientation,” Paouros explained.
“And as you know if you seek asylum, you have to prove it and how on earth do you prove your sexual orientation? It is unthinkable.
“However, in 2016 or 2017, we did a stall before the north London derby where we made rainbow rock sweets, talked about Proud Lilywhites. She helped and it was photographed.
“So, that evidence of helping with the stall along with a letter we wrote supporting her case meant she was granted asylum and it is one case, but I am really proud of that.”
There are countless other examples of Proud Lilywhites’ impact with the group recently singled out for praise by Angharad ‘Haz’ James upon her departure from the women’s team, while Ashleigh Neville described it as “amazing” earlier this month.
Proud Lilywhites has twice been recognised at the Football v Homophobia awards and was the fourth LGBTQI+ football group to form in England. Now it is one of more than 50 linked to the Pride in Football network, which it helped form.
However, the group’s work is far from over with homophobic abuse targeted at Proud Lilywhites on social media earlier this month, which means a one-time assertion no longer rings true.
“We’ve always said we want to put ourselves out of business and not be in a position where we’re doing this forever, but Donna (Cullen) said, ‘Do you really? Because look at all these people who love being part of this group’. There is something in that because it’s about how you bring people together to feel a sense of community,” Paouros conceded.
“Last year we saw an increase in homophobic chanting and abuse in professional football.
“So, we need to encourage a culture of reporting that doesn’t feel like people being grassed up.
“While we are not safe on our phones, not safe on our streets and while football can sometimes send us signals that we don’t belong, the Proud Lilywhites remains a beacon for the positive change fans can make alongside committed clubs like Spurs to ensure football really is for everyone.”
Proud Lilywhites, Tottenham’s official LGBTQI+ supporters’ group, has changed lives and the law since their inception a decade ago, but have no plans to call it a day any time soon.
Tuesday marks the organisation’s 10th anniversary and co-founder Chris Paouros acknowledged an early aim was to “put ourselves out of business” by improving equality in football and changing homophobic attitudes.
The achievements of the group include helping a member seek asylum in the UK and contributing towards the Chelsea rent boy chant being deemed a homophobic hate crime, with this past month full of activities to celebrate their milestone.
Recent men’s and women’s matches with Wolves and Aston Villa respectively were dedicated to Proud Lilywhites’ 10th anniversary with the club’s 62,850-seater stadium lit up in rainbow colours and again on February 15 when a celebration event was held at the ground, with first-teamers Ben Davies and Ellie Brazil in attendance.
“Walking down the High Road (before Wolves), I can’t even begin to tell you how I felt,” Paouros told the PA news agency.
“I come from Seven Sisters way and seeing the stadium saying celebrating 10 years of Proud Lilywhites, it almost took my breath away and I feel emotion now talking about it.
“We just made up this thing 10 years ago and thought this is a good idea!
“As a LGBTQI+ fan, you don’t always feel football is for you. And I always say that feeling when the ball is about to hit the back of the net and everyone rises in unison, you don’t get that anywhere else. For that reason I don’t want to deny that for anybody.”
Proud Lilywhites’ celebration event was attended by several key allies with Spurs’ executive director Donna-Maria Cullen, Troy Townsend of Kick It Out, Women in Football’s Jo Tongue and Olympic gold-medallist Helen Richardson-Walsh all addressing the three-figure audience, while symbolically Ledley King was also present.
Ex-Tottenham captain King has supported the group since the beginning after being in their first ever photo ahead of a Europa League clash with Dnipro on February, 27 2014.
View this post on InstagramIn the Bill Nicholson Suite, Proud Lilywhites declared their three key principles would be community, education and campaigning and with it the pathway to changing lives and the law had been set.
Later that year Proud Lilywhites put up their rainbow-coloured flag at White Hart Lane for the first time, which has been the catalyst for fans like group co-chair Lee Johnson to give football a second chance.
Paouros added: “When we first put a flag up at White Hart Lane, there was a huge hoo-ha about it.
“Now it is a permanent fixture and people are proud of it. You can say it is just a symbol to say you are inclusive, but actually that flag has brought so many people back to the game.”
The homophobic rent boy chant – aimed at Chelsea, its players and fans – had forced Johnson away from football, but the Crown Prosecution Service in 2022 recognised it as a homophobic hate crime after Proud Lilywhites alongside Chelsea Pride co-chair Tracy Brown gathered evidence through victim impact statements to ensure the law was changed.
Proud Lilywhites also work alongside Kick It Out to provide fan education, but a real source of pride revolves around helping a now-committee member to be granted asylum in the UK.
“One of our members, she is a committee member now, was seeking asylum in this country for persecution for her sexual orientation,” Paouros explained.
“And as you know if you seek asylum, you have to prove it and how on earth do you prove your sexual orientation? It is unthinkable.
“However, in 2016 or 2017, we did a stall before the north London derby where we made rainbow rock sweets, talked about Proud Lilywhites. She helped and it was photographed.
“So, that evidence of helping with the stall along with a letter we wrote supporting her case meant she was granted asylum and it is one case, but I am really proud of that.”
There are countless other examples of Proud Lilywhites’ impact with the group recently singled out for praise by Angharad ‘Haz’ James upon her departure from the women’s team, while Ashleigh Neville described them as “amazing” earlier this month.
Proud Lilywhites have twice been recognised at the Football v Homophobia awards and were the fourth LGBTQI+ football group to form in England. Now they are one of more than 50 linked to the Pride in Football network, which they helped form.
However, the groups’ work is far from over with homophobic abuse targeted at Proud Lilywhites on social media earlier this month, which means a one-time assertion no longer rings true.
“We’ve always said we want to put ourselves out of business and not be in a position where we’re doing this forever, but Donna (Cullen) said, ‘Do you really? Because look at all these people who love being part of this group’. There is something in that because it’s about how you bring people together to feel a sense of community,” Paouros conceded.
“Last year we saw an increase in homophobic chanting and abuse in professional football.
“So, we need to encourage a culture of reporting that doesn’t feel like people being grassed up.
“While we are not safe on our phones, not safe on our streets and while football can sometimes send us signals that we don’t belong, the Proud Lilywhites remains a beckon for the positive change fans can make alongside committed clubs like Spurs to ensure football really is for everyone.”
Dejan Kulusevski has acknowledged Tottenham were “too open” against Wolves and insisted they must work harder to get their top-four charge back on track.
Spurs slipped to a 2-1 loss at home to the Midlands club on Saturday, which allowed Aston Villa to leapfrog them and take back fourth position, while sixth-placed Manchester United are only three points behind.
Tottenham lacked fluency against Wolves and while Kulusevski levelled 34 seconds into the second half, the visitors continued to cause Ange Postecoglou’s team problems on the break and it ultimately resulted in Joao Gomes’ second goal after a superb Pedro Neto run.
“Nothing worse than losing so very tough,” Kulusevski said.
“We had a lot of chances, we can’t score them and then not enough discipline when we lost the ball.
“They had two or three counter-attacks where we’re not good enough and they made us pay. After that it is difficult to come back again in the game.
“We were too many guys up front. Too open and not running back as hard as we should. They could score a couple and that’s not good enough.”
Tottenham have shipped chances all season and only kept five clean sheets in the Premier League, but have missed first-choice defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven for chunks of the campaign.
The absence of speedy full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie also curbed Spurs’ creativity against Wolves and they face a two-week wait to put things right as Friday’s scheduled fixture at Chelsea was postponed due to the Blues’ Carabao Cup final involvement.
Postecoglou stated hard work would get Tottenham back to the free-flowing football they produced during the opening months of the season and Kulusevski echoed his sentiments ahead of Crystal Palace’s visit on March 2.
Kulusevski added: “We are not playing good enough, especially first half. We are not playing good enough and losing too many balls, so we have to get better.
“We have two weeks to work on that and come back much better.
“We found a couple of solutions (against Wolves) so it is there and we just have to get better and practice in training.
“We are football players, we want to play a lot and two weeks is a long of time, but we have to do the journey. We have to train and get better, so we have to see it as a positive thing.”
Gary O’Neil welcomes Wolves supporters dreaming of Europe even if he is happy to play down such talk.
Wolves completed a Premier League double over Tottenham on Saturday with a 2-1 away win that moved them on to 35 points for the campaign.
It was Wolves’ fourth win from their last five matches and they are now only two points off seventh spot, which has earned Europa Conference League qualification in each of the last three seasons.
O’Neil said: “I haven’t seen the league table but I don’t really set goals in league table positions, especially with a group that I didn’t know when I joined and most of the talk at that point was around relegation!
“To switch talk from relegation to Europe is a big jump.
“I’ll keep pushing them until the final whistle at Anfield at the end of May or hopefully beyond that if we’re able to keep a cup run going.
“Yeah, I love the fans dreaming. One of my favourite parts of the job is I am not allowed to get carried away and think about things that might happen, but I love them being able to think about it.
“If we were on 22 points right now, they would be worrying about, ‘how we get our next win and are we going to stay up?’.
“The fact we’ve got to 35 already, they can talk about a title charge for all I care!
“I am delighted they are enjoying themselves and we got to share another fantastic moment with them, which was really special.
“You can see the connection between the players and the fans, but we just need to keep trying to push it and improve everything.”
Joao Gomes was the two-goal hero for Wolves and the midfielder produced his stellar display in front of Brazil head coach Dorival Junior.
“Was Joao aware of the Brazil manager being here? I’m not sure,” O’Neil admitted.
“I think you know what you’re going to get with Joao whether there is one man and his dog watching or the Brazil manager or the Real Madrid manager or whoever else might want to watch Joao.
“I hope he’s just trying to impress me! It was a good day for him.”
Tottenham will have to lick their wounds for the next fortnight after next Friday’s scheduled match with Chelsea was postponed due to their opponents’ involvement in the Carabao Cup final.
View this post on Instagram
Spurs will stay in England over the next two weeks and prepare for the visit of Crystal Palace on March 2 when Ange Postecoglou will hope to have Pedro Porro (muscle) and Destiny Udogie (knee) fit again.
The duo have produced 13 goal involvements between them this season, but the Spurs boss played down their absence.
Postecoglou said: “We’ve had a lot of injuries this year, we’ve certainly performed better than that when we have had injuries.
“So, I don’t think that’s the reason. Like I said our general level of performance wasn’t where it should be.”
Ange Postecoglou warned no magic wand will get Tottenham’s top-four tilt back on track after they suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Wolves.
Spurs had returned to fourth position with a last-gasp victory over Brighton last weekend but were leapfrogged on Saturday by Aston Villa, who won at Fulham.
Joao Gomes headed Wolves into a deserved lead after 42 minutes and, while Dejan Kulusevski levelled 34 seconds after the restart for Tottenham, Gomes grabbed his second after an excellent solo run by Pedro Neto with 63 minutes on the clock.
It consigned the hosts to a frustrating defeat and they have now failed to score in the first half of their last five home matches.
“We will work hard, we’ve got two weeks to prepare for our next game (against Crystal Palace) and there’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves,” Postecoglou insisted.
“You take the blows and you’ve got to move on irrespective of what’s happened in the past. You’ve got to make sure you’re ready for the next game.
“There’s no tricks, it’s hard work. I’m not a magician, I’m a football manager. It’s hard work which these guys have done all year.
“Like I said, we’ve got to this point which is pretty decent on the back of some hard work and that’s what we’ll keep doing.”
Spurs were without first-choice full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie and struggled to break Wolves down in the opening 45 minutes with home goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario making fine saves to deny Nelson Semedo and Pablo Sarabia either side of Gomes heading in a corner by Sarabia.
Tottenham came out firing after the break, like they had done in recent wins over Brentford and Brighton, with Kulusevski equalising after he dribbled past Craig Dawson and poked under Jose Sa.
Postecoglou’s team were beginning to build a head of steam but Wolves remained a threat on the break and, after Vicario denied Sarabia in the 56th minute, the visitors’ second arrived six minutes later.
Yves Bissouma lost possession after a Spurs corner and Neto carried the ball half the length of the pitch before he cut back and teed up Gomes, who slammed home for his second of the afternoon.
A raft of attacking players were thrown on by Postecoglou, but Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Toti and Neto all squandered promising positions for Wolves before Ben Davies headed wide deep into stoppage-time for Tottenham to ensure Gary O’Neil’s side completed the double over the north London outfit.
Neto’s moment of individual brilliance was his ninth assist of the campaign but his manager issued a hands off to potential suitors after they moved on to 35 points for the season.
O’Neil said: “I still want to push him and get him as close to perfect as a wide player as we can.
“Yeah, I’ve been asked a few times this week about the summer already and I’m not interested in discussing Pedro Neto leaving the football club.
“He is a fantastic player that we spent a lot of money on, that we work very hard on and as far as I’m concerned, we don’t want to lose our best players.
“We have a long way to go yet this season and then hopefully he stays with us and we can keep pushing towards the top half of the table.”
Tottenham’s top-four hopes suffered a blow after a Joao Gomes brace fired Wolves to a deserved 2-1 away win in north London.
Spurs had claimed back fourth spot from Aston Villa with a last-gasp victory over Brighton last weekend but struggled to break down Gary O’Neil’s side.
Gomes headed Wolves ahead in the 42nd minute and, while Dejan Kulusevski levelled for Tottenham straight after half-time, Pedro Neto’s wonderful solo run settled the contest.
Neto raced half the length of the pitch before he teed up Gomes to side-foot home with 63 minutes played to earn the visitors to a fourth win from their last five matches.
There was a big contingent of South Korea fans inside the stadium with two of the nations’ best going head-to-head and Hwang Hee-chan should have scored in the fifth minute.
Wolves worked the ball out wide to Nelson Semedo, who was denied by Guglielmo Vicario and Hwang inexplicably sliced over the rebound from close range.
Spurs threatened for the first time soon after when Ben Davies fired over on the turn before the visitors created another promising opportunity but Rayan Ait-Nouri curled straight at Vicario.
The stop-start nature to the contest continued although Tottenham enjoyed a rare foray into the away penalty area with 36 minutes played only for Kulusevski to side foot well wide from James Maddison’s pass.
Wolves had frustrated the hosts’ well, while also proving a threat and made their dominance count with 42 minutes on the clock.
From Wolves’ second corner of the match Pablo Sarabia picked out Gomes, who headed into the top corner after being given too much space.
It was a deserved breakthrough but sparked a frantic finish to the half with Vicario pushing wide a curler by Sarabia, who was offside before the same player flashed an effort off target.
Ange Postecoglou’s team did test Jose Sa through Emerson Royal but it stayed 1-0 at the break.
It meant Tottenham had failed to score in the first half of five consecutive home matches, although they quickly hit their straps after half-time.
The equaliser arrived 34 seconds into the second half and it was all about Kulusevski.
Richarlison knocked the ball into the path of the Sweden international, who dribbled past Craig Dawson close to the byline before he poked under Sa for a superb sixth goal of the season.
Spurs were pushing for a second but Wolves remained dangerous, especially on the break and Vicario impressively denied Sarabia after Semedo’s cross.
Back came Tottenham with Kulusevski’s low effort excellently tipped wide by Sa before Semedo blocked another shot from the Swedish forward in the 63rd minute.
It earned the hosts another corner but they were hit with a sucker-punch after a moment of individual brilliance by Neto.
Yves Bissouma lost possession on the edge of Wolves’ penalty area and Neto carried the ball half the length of the pitch before he cut inside Emerson and teed up Gomes, who slammed home for his second of the afternoon.
Tottenham attempted to respond straight away and Maddison curled over before Postecoglou turned to his bench with Rodrigo Bentancur, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner sent on.
Chances remained at a premium until Kulusevski picked out the unmarked Davies deep into stoppage-time but the Welsh defender headed well wide to ensure Wolves completed the double over Spurs.
Ange Postecoglou has leapt to the defence of Tottenham captain Son Heung-min over an incident during South Korea’s recent Asian Cup campaign that left the attacker with a dislocated finger.
Son’s nation exited the tournament in the semi-final stage after a 2-0 loss to Jordan, which resulted in Jurgen Klinsmann being sacked on Friday.
A report this week revealed Son dislocated his finger the day before the last-four clash after the Spurs skipper was involved in an altercation with younger members of the South Korea squad, who had allegedly left a team dinner early to play ping-pong.
Son returned to club duty last Saturday with a key role off the bench in a 2-1 victory over Brighton, where his right fingers were taped up and Postecoglou talked up his leadership.
“From what I know of the incident, and I haven’t asked too much about it, it was Sonny being Sonny. Being a leader and when you’re a leader, sometimes you get in the firing line,” Postecoglou said.
“That’s what leadership is all about. Leadership is not about being popular and trying to make everybody happy, it’s about when you see something that you don’t feel is right then you stand up for it because it’s the best thing for the group. I see that in Sonny.
“Sometimes people are mistaken about Sonny because he’s such a positive guy, who whenever you see him is smiling and everyone has a real affection for him, but he wants to win.
“He doesn’t like standards slipping and I’ve seen him do that around here. If something is not right, he will say it.
“Sometimes it is not the popular thing to do. Sometimes that puts you in the firing line with the playing group and with coaches or the club, but as a leader if you think this is the right thing to do, then you should go strongly on it.
“Sonny by nature is a nice guy. He is very polite and very respectful but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a real winner and a guy who has high standards.
“There is a real discipline you need to last this long, especially in the Premier League, and that drive to have high standards transfers to leadership. The best (leaders) are the ones who are themselves because people respect that. When you try and be somebody else people see through that.”
Son will aim to keep Spurs out in front in the race for Champions League qualification at home to Wolves and should be back in the starting XI after his cameo against Brighton.
Postecoglou has lost full-backs Pedro Porro (muscle) and Destiny Udogie (knee) to minor injuries but has boosted options in midfield and attack.
Yves Bissouma, who started Tottenham’s first eight league fixtures, is primed to make his first club start since December 15 after missing the past two months through suspension and international commitments.
Postecoglou added: “It’s fair to say with Biss, he’s probably a little bit frustrated with the way the season has gone.
“Really early on I could see the way we played really suited him. He really thrived in that responsibility in that role.
“Look, he’s ready to go. He’s had a good week of training. Looking forward with him, Rodri (Bentancur), Madders (James Maddison) is now back, Lo Celso is now available, Skippy and Pierre (Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg).
“We’re looking really strong through there. Not just to start games; the ability for us to change games. I think that’s going to be a really big part of us having a strong finish to the season.”
Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham are still a “long way” from playing the football he wants after he fended off talk he could leave at the end of the season to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Klopp announced last month he would depart Anfield at the conclusion of the campaign following nine years at the club.
Liverpool have reportedly placed Postecoglou on a shortlist of candidates to replace Klopp, with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso seemingly at the top of the pile, but the Spurs boss insists his focus is on finishing this season strongly.
“I may be on a shortlist? I don’t think I want to say anything about that because I don’t think that’s ever going to enter my brain space for what is my priorities in life and my profession right now,” Postecoglou said ahead of Saturday’s visit of Wolves.
“Well, I am (just getting started at Tottenham). Not just feel — I am. I’ve only been here seven months, so that’s self-explanatory.
“I’ve been at pains to say we’ve still got a long way to go in terms of the football we want to play, the team we want to be, the squad we want to have.
“We’ve had two positive windows, I think we’ve had a decent campaign so far, but we’ve got a long way to go.
“That’s the funny space when we talk about managers. When we’re not going well, then there’s questioning about whether we’re going to be here.
“When you’re potentially going OK, there’s still question about whether you’re going to be here. The reality of it is – most of it is out of our hands.
“I’m never worried or thought about that. I’ve got a history of 26 years of management where you can see pretty clearly what I do.
“I rely on that as my explanation as to where my thought processes are with all those kind of things.
“Right now it’s about finishing the season strong with Tottenham and making sure we’re trying to establish a really strong foundation for who we want to be in the years to come.
“That can only happen if I’m totally focused on what these last 14 games can bring for us.”
Asked if links to Liverpool were a compliment, Postecoglou added: “It depends. If it’s just people throwing up names, then who cares?
“It doesn’t matter, but at the end of the day, if I’m doing a good job then hopefully people will acknowledge that in one form or another — whatever that form is. But so-called ‘chat’, really? That’s of no interest to me.”
What Postecoglou has to deal with in the immediate future is being without both recognised full-backs for the visit of Wolves.
Pedro Porro suffered a muscle strain in training this week, while Destiny Udogie was forced off at the end of last weekend’s dramatic 2-1 win over Brighton with a minor issue.
Postecoglou is hopeful both will be back for Tottenham’s home fixture with Crystal Palace on March 2, with the club not in action next weekend due to Chelsea’s involvement in the Carabao Cup final.
Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) has also returned to training, but Spurs’ back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster has fractured his foot and is set for a “couple of months” on the sidelines.
Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham are still a “long way” from playing the football he wants after he fended off talk he could leave at the end of the season to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Klopp announced last month he would depart Anfield at the conclusion of the campaign following nine years at the club.
Liverpool have reportedly placed Postecoglou on a shortlist of candidates to replace Klopp, with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso seemingly at the top of the pile, but the Spurs boss insists his focus is on finishing this season strongly.
“I may be on a shortlist? I don’t think I want to say anything about that because I don’t think that’s ever going to enter my brain space for what is my priorities in life and my profession right now,” Postecoglou said ahead of Saturday’s visit of Wolves.
“Well, I am (just getting started at Tottenham). Not just feel — I am. I’ve only been here seven months, so that’s self-explanatory.
“I’ve been at pains to say we’ve still got a long way to go in terms of the football we want to play, the team we want to be, the squad we want to have.
“We’ve had two positive windows, I think we’ve had a decent campaign so far, but we’ve got a long way to go.
“That’s the funny space when we talk about managers. When we’re not going well, then there’s questioning about whether we’re going to be here.
“When you’re potentially going OK, there’s still question about whether you’re going to be here. The reality of it is – most of it is out of our hands.
“I’m never worried or thought about that. I’ve got a history of 26 years of management where you can see pretty clearly what I do.
“I rely on that as my explanation as to where my thought processes are with all those kind of things.
“Right now it’s about finishing the season strong with Tottenham and making sure we’re trying to establish a really strong foundation for who we want to be in the years to come.
“That can only happen if I’m totally focused on what these last 14 games can bring for us.”
Asked if links to Liverpool were a compliment, Postecoglou added: “It depends. If it’s just people throwing up names, then who cares?
“It doesn’t matter, but at the end of the day, if I’m doing a good job then hopefully people will acknowledge that in one form or another — whatever that form is. But so-called ‘chat’, really? That’s of no interest to me.”
What Postecoglou has to deal with in the immediate future is being without both recognised full-backs for the visit of Wolves.
Pedro Porro suffered a muscle strain in training this week, while Destiny Udogie was forced off at the end of last weekend’s dramatic 2-1 win over Brighton with a minor issue.
Postecoglou is hopeful both will be back for Tottenham’s home fixture with Crystal Palace on March 2, with the club not in action next weekend due to Chelsea’s involvement in the Carabao Cup final.
Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) has also returned to training, but Spurs’ back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster has fractured his foot and is set for a “couple of months” on the sidelines.
What the papers say
Tottenham are confident they will keep manager Ange Postecoglou amid interest from Liverpool, the Telegraph reports. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp announced he will step down from the club at the end of the season, with ex-midfielder and current Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso favourite for the position.
The Daily Mail says West Ham have delayed contract negotiations with manager David Moyes as he deals with a seven-game winless streak.
Manchester United are reportedly interested in Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt, the Sun reports, with the 24-year-old said to be unhappy at the German club.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Bernardo Silva: Manchester City’s 29-year-old midfielder is a target for Paris St Germain with the French club reportedly ready to pay his £51million release clause, Spanish outlet Fijaches says.
Kylian Mbappe: The Athletic reports the French striker, who is available on a free transfer this summer, is not happy with Real Madrid’s latest offer.
Tottenham scored for a 36th successive Premier League game in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Brighton to equal the second-longest run in Premier League history.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how they have done it and the record run still in front of them.
Scoring for fun
After losing 1-0 to Wolves in March, Tottenham scored in their final 12 games of last season – even as they sacked manager Antonio Conte and then caretaker Cristian Stellini, the latter following a shambolic 6-1 defeat to Newcastle.
They finished the season with Ryan Mason in charge and have not let up this term under a fourth manager in Ange Postecoglou, netting at least once in every game so far – 51 goals in 24 games, to add to their 24 in last season’s portion of the scoring run for a total of 75.
They have also conceded 63 at the other end and have kept only six clean sheets along the way as they rival Saturday’s opponents Brighton as the Premier League’s great entertainers – Albion’s own sequences of 32 consecutive games without being shut out and 20 in which both teams had scored were ended by December’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal.
Postecoglou’s side have matched Manchester United’s run from December 2007 to November 2008, and Liverpool from March 2019 to February 2020.
Spurs would need to score in every game for the rest of this season and the first five of next term to equal the record of 55, set by rivals Arsenal from May 2001 to November 2002.
Son shines in scoring streak
Captain Son Heung-min is Spurs’ top scorer in those games with 17 goals, joined in double figures by the departed Harry Kane with 12 and Richarlison on 11.
They have had 19 different scorers in all, in addition to own goals by opponents Lisandro Martinez, Joel Matip and Joel Ward. Pedro Porro has made the most appearances, featuring in 34 of the 36 games.
Their stand-out performances in front of goal saw them beat Burnley 5-2 in September as well as 4-1 wins over Newcastle this season and Leeds last.
They have scored three goals on six occasions, netting twice 17 times and once on 10 occasions, averaging 2.08 goals per game.
That compares to 2.13 for Arsenal on their 55-game run, which encompassed the last game of 2000-01, their entire 2001-02 title win and the first 16 games of the following campaign. The Gunners, though, conceded barely a goal a game (56) compared to 1.75 for Spurs.
Arsene Wenger’s side surprisingly had only 15 different scorers, plus four opposition own goals. Thierry Henry racked up 31 of their 117 goals, with Sylvain Wiltord on 18, Freddie Ljungberg 15 and 10 apiece for Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp.
Brennan Johnson is excited about what Tottenham can achieve this season with their improved squad depth.
Spurs were able to welcome captain Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma back into the fold for Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Brighton after their recent international commitments.
It was Son who set up fellow substitute Johnson for a last-gasp winner, which keeps Tottenham firmly in the hunt for Champions League qualification and as a big outsider in the title race.
Boss Ange Postecoglou has not had a fully-fit squad to pick from since November due to injuries, suspensions and national-team duty, but does now and has used options off his bench during the last fortnight to inspire home wins over Brentford and Brighton.
“You don’t play that well or with that togetherness if everyone isn’t on board. Everyone is firmly on board with how the manager plays,” Johnson insisted.
“At half-time he was so frustrated because we came away from the way we want to play and when we score goals like that, it is stuff we work on day-in, day-out so it’s a nice feeling because it is the rewards paying off.
“It is just excitement (in the squad). Everyone is back and we’ve missed some really key players. As the manager said, now in training we’ll be doing the starters against the sub team and most times you won’t be able to tell who is starting because the quality is so high.
“We have that competition in training, there is never any bad blood, everyone gets on so well in training and we just want to push ourselves.
“It shows like (here) and against Brentford, when people aren’t at it for one reason or another, it’s not down to them, but it shows the squad and the players coming on can make such a good impact.”
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The 96th-minute winner was Johnson’s latest encouraging moment after a mixed start to life with the north London club.
After struggling for form earlier this season, his third goal for Tottenham makes it four goal involvements in his last seven Premier League appearances.
Johnson told SpursPlay: “Moments like that are what you dream of as a player.
“Even when I was on the bench, I knew when we come on there is such good quality in the team. Coming on with a player as good as Sonny, when he gets the ball down the left-hand side, his crossing is unbelievable, especially off both feet.
“It was just about making sure I got it in. It felt like it was coming in slow motion but to get the ball in the back of the goal is a special feeling.”
Brighton were without boss Roberto De Zerbi at Tottenham with the Italian back in his home country recovering from invasive dental surgery.
De Zerbi also had a one-match touchline ban to serve, but his number two revealed he was in contact with his staff during the match.
“Yes, Roberto was the whole match in contact with us,” Seagulls assistant Andrea Maldera revealed.
“In the first half not too much because the match was easy to read, but in half-time I spoke with him and he gave to me and the team some suggestions.
“In the second half, the substitutions arrived from him because he is watching the match on TV.”
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou heaped praise on “world-class” Son Heung-min after he helped inspire a dramatic 2-1 victory over Brighton.
Spurs looked set to drop more points after they had been held to a 2-2 draw at Everton last weekend but Brennan Johnson struck in the sixth minute of stoppage time to fire them back into the Premier League top four.
Son created the winner with a wonderful delivery across the face of goal on his first appearance since he returned from the Asian Cup, where his nation South Korea suffered semi-final disappointment.
Postecoglou introduced Son and Johnson with 28 minutes left and the duo eventually helped the hosts earn all three points after Pape Sarr’s 61st-minute goal cancelled out Pascal Gross’ opener for the Seagulls from the penalty spot after 17 minutes.
“Obviously Brighton were doing really well but they were working really hard to stay in the game and you know they’re going to get tired,” Postecoglou explained.
“The fact we could bring on two attacking players who are going to be a threat, it maybe looks simple but that ball that Sonny plays, that’s a world-class player in a clutch moment.
“Even Brennan getting on the far post, we’ve helped him to do that.
“It’s not about confidence, I feel like with the squad we have for today and hopefully moving towards, we do have that ability irrespective of where the game’s at, to finish games strong.”
On Son, Postecoglou continued: “Maybe the nation he plays for works against him but I think he’s a world-class player.
“You look at his record in the Premier League, the toughest league in the world, his goal contributions irrespective of how the team’s gone through the time he’s been here have always been right up there.
“Even this year, before he left, I think he was probably the best attacking player in the competition, just my opinion obviously. Certainly he’d be up there.
“He’s a world-class player. I thought we did well to cover his absence.
“Richy (Richarlison) obviously stepped up in terms of goal threat, and a few other players, but to have a world-class player for the run-in is brilliant for us.”
Brighton were crestfallen at full-time and deserved more in the absence of Roberto De Zerbi, who was back in Italy recovering after he had invasive dental surgery this week.
Andrea Maldera patrolled the touchline in his absence and watched Brighton go ahead via a Gross penalty after Danny Welbeck had been fouled in the area by Micky van de Ven.
It could have been 2-0 before half-time but Guglielmo Vicario saved Kaoru Mitoma’s poked effort and Spurs finished strongly before Sarr equalised when he curled home after Lewis Dunk deflected his cross onto the post.
The points looked set to be shared after Welbeck fired wide with 14 minutes left but Richarlison sent Son away and he squared for Johnson to slam home with seconds of the six minutes of stoppage time remaining.
“Yes, to concede a goal in the 96th minute in transition away, it is very tough, but this is our mentality,” Maldera said.
“We want to score always the second goal. We don’t think to stay in our half.
“Yes, we can do better but the last pass, Son is a big player, but until that moment we played a big match, with big courage.”
Brennan Johnson struck the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time to fire Tottenham into the top four after a dramatic 2-1 victory over Brighton.
Spurs looked to have lost more ground after they dropped points at Everton last weekend but Ange Postecoglou’s second-half substitutes did the trick.
Pascal Gross’ 17th-minute penalty had given Brighton a half-time lead in the absence of boss Roberto De Zerbi, who was recovering at home after invasive dental surgery this week.
The points looked set to be shared after Pape Sarr levelled for Tottenham in the 61st minute only for Son Heung-min, back again after Asian Cup duty, to tee up fellow substitute Johnson deep into stoppage time to earn a vital victory.
Brighton assistant Andrea Maldera patrolled the touchline in De Zerbi’s absence and should have watched his team take the lead inside 60 seconds.
Danny Welbeck won back possession from Micky van de Ven by the halfway line and dribbled into the area but Guglielmo Vicario clawed away his shot.
Spurs continued to be sloppy in possession and it was no surprise when Brighton took the lead in the 17th minute.
Gross tackled Rodrigo Bentancur and the ball worked its way to Welbeck, who was caught on the ankle by Van de Ven inside the penalty area.
Without the injured Joao Pedro, Gross took on spot-kick duties and sent Vicario the wrong way for his fifth goal of the season.
Postecoglou’s side did mount a response with Richarlison impressively denied by Jason Steele after a fine through ball by James Maddison, who himself curled wide from 18 yards soon after.
In between had been a flair-up between Cristian Romero and Adam Lallana, which referee Sam Barrott was happy to wave on despite protestations by the Brighton midfielder.
The Seagulls almost doubled their lead prior to the half-hour mark when Bentancur again lost possession but Kaoru Mitoma – back from Asian Cup duty – had a poked effort tipped wide by Vicario from a tight angle.
Spurs did finally start to click in attack towards the end of the first 45, with Richarlison flicking wide from a Timo Werner cross and Dejan Kulusevski forcing Steele into a low save.
Richarlison also squandered a promising position ahead of half-time with Maddison free to his left to ensure it remained 1-0 to Brighton at the break.
Tottenham maintained their momentum after the restart with a Maddison free-kick saved before Werner’s mazy run ended with his shot deflected wide.
It started three corners in quick succession for Spurs but after they failed to make the most of them Postecoglou turned to his bench.
Yves Bissouma, Johnson and Son were all ready to come on when the equaliser did arrive with 61 minutes played.
Kulusevski was the architect with a wonderful through ball releasing Sarr and while his cross was deflected onto the post by Lewis Dunk, the Senegal midfielder was on hand to curl home with his left foot to make it 1-1.
Postecoglou made his triple change immediately after but it failed to have the desired impact aside from Son teeing up Johnson for a snapshot straight at Steele.
Brighton were now in the ascendancy and should have gone back ahead with 14 minutes left when Mitoma got in behind Porro but Welbeck arrowed his cutback past the post.
A minute later and Van de Ven had to throw himself in the way of Facundo Buonanotte’s strike before Spurs had penalty appeals for a handball by Dunk turned away.
Hopes of a late goal were raised when six minutes were added on and with seconds left Richarlison played in Son, who crossed for Johnson to slam home a dramatic late winner.
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