The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Monday, August 17

Hello, all!

Today at the top are Rianna Dean, who scored in the team’s 2-0 victory over Sheffield United in a friendly over the weekend, and new signing Kerys Harrop.

Ramble of the Day

As you might remember, I’m a big advocate for a unique player reveal. Specifically, I was thinking about finding a scenic spot in the city the player is calling their new home, but I am well aware that that’s not necessarily an option during a pandemic. That said, any amount of creativity is a good approach to a player reveal, especially if we can avoid anything outright offensive or cringeworthy for other reasons. Benfica captured that spirit with the announcement that they’d signed Jan Vertonghen.

It’s clearly tailored to Vertonghen’s reputation to Tottenham fans as Super Jan, and it’s a habit of Benfica’s this offseason to do that with other players. They did a similar thing announcing Everton’s signing by making the video about him adding a Benfica tattoo to his sleeve, though whether or not the tattoo’s real is something I can’t tell you.

They take it very seriously, from the dramatic music that builds up perfectly to him picking his head up, and Vertonghen’s game — he has great eye contact. This part of the video isn’t about his face, though and they quickly pan down to his chest, giving you a very clear look at his shirt buttons. (Intentional or not considering the club’s colors, the white buttons with red thread is a decent touch.) They finally answer the question of why his shirt’s so large, asking him to do a Superman-style reveal to show the Benfica shirt he’s wearing underneath. The close up of the buttons dropping to the floor is leaning a little too hard into the message, but they bring the point home — a clip of him doing the Superman reveal as a celebration, and closing out the video wonderfully with the audio of an announcer exclaiming, “Super Jan Vertonghen!”

It ventures a little bit into cheesy territory, but like I mentioned, my general requirements for a player reveal are unique but not cringeworthy. The truth is, where can you get a little cheesy if you can’t with a player reveal? You should have fun with it if you can, and it looks like Benfica did that.

tl;dr: Benfica announced Jan Vertonghen with a Super Jan themed reveal, and though it’s slightly cheesy, I’m glad they had fun with it.

Stay informed, read this: USA Today’s Women of the Century project, celebrating 100 women who have influenced American history and culture in the 100 years since women were given the right to vote in the United States

Links of the Day

England hired Sarina Wiegman to succeed Phil Neville. She will begin after next year’s Olympics.

Dallas and Nashville opted to stay in the locker room during the playing of the national anthem during yesterday’s MLS game.

Raul Sanllehi left his position as Arsenal’s head of football.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne was named the Premier League player of the season.

Transfer updates: Arsenal signed Willian on a free; Reading signed Erin Nayler from Bordeaux; West Ham signed Ruby Grant on a free; OL Reign acquired Rose Lavelle in a trade from the Washington Spirit

A longer read: Molly McElwee on Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams, and the double standard when male and female athletes sulk for The Telegraph