A Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links March 25, 2016

Good morning!

I'll be honest with you all, writing the Hoddle was never all that difficult. Make a joke here, take a shot at the team there, add a bit of self deprecation, and voila, a Hoddle is born. Problem this season is that there is a whole lot less to joke about. We're incredibly good, and our players are prospering. At a certain point there seems to be a lack of angle to work.

Seriously, who wants to wake up every day and hear about how things are as good as they've been in years?

There is a reason most movies and books are tragedies or rags to riches and it's quite simple: both experiences are full of drama. A tremendously consistent team that most likely will take second is definitely more fun to support, but shockingly less easy to write about; I may have to institute some roosevelts style theme weeks going forward if things don't get a bit spicier around here, so consider this a brainstorming session as well.

I realize none of you all, dear readers, much care to be my online writing therapists, but I've got you captive, so you're going to have to deal with it.

Now for the "news":

Danny Rose set for his England debut| Guardian

Only since Ryan Bertrand is not in the squad anymore. Also, Roy's explanation of why Rose hasn't debuted earlier is really weird. Danny Rose played a lot last year; he wasn't in and out. Just admit you picked other players and would play other players over him if they didn't leave camp.

Aside from me taking Roy to task, it would be pretty cool if Danny did that debut goal thing again.

Josh Onomah scores for the England U19s| Daily Mail

They saw off the fightin' Georgians at the international level. Remember when Spurs played a Georgian team and Andros Townsend tore them apart? That seems like 20 years ago.

Tottenham and West Ham are tracking Manolo Gabbiadini| Sport Mediaset

It also says he wants to be paid in the form of a vineyard. The investment makes more sense to him than the banalities of making loads of cash and flaunting it. What, you don't believe me? Guess you'll have to learn Italian and read these rumors for yourself.

Johan Cruyff dead at 68| Independent

I'm not old enough to have seen him play, but this resonates across generations and continents. He was an absolute giant in the sport. Rest in peace.