The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Wednesday, August 26

Hi, everyone!

We’ve got another youngster at the top of the Hoddle today, and this time it’s Harvey White.

Ramble of the Day

A little bit of fashion and photography talk, courtesy of the Tottenham men’s team.

Spurs have been outfitted by Boss for a few years now, and they’ve really enjoyed assigning monochromatic looks for the team over the years. It’s better than last year’s pick of turtlenecks, which was certainly trendy but did not suit everyone. This year’s outfit looks mostly unremarkable, though I am getting a little bit tired of the monochrome. A little contrast may make the suit look crisper — a classic white shirt may go a long way in this case. I like that Dele dressed his look up with a ring and a bracelet because it brings both a subtle visual interest while keeping the look polished and classic. Otherwise, these outfits are pretty forgettable...

...until you get to the shoes. I never would have expected that shoe choice and do not think those shoes are the right choice at all. The shoes look like a classic example of something that looks different in different lighting, so it probably looks like the same color as the suit occasionally but definitely not all the time. It also doesn’t look like it belongs to the same outfit — I’m not inherently opposed to sneakers with suits, but it depends on the individual pieces. The suit is very clearly meant to be dressed up, and those shoes are not meant to be dressed it up.

To borrow something from the Cartilage Free Captain writers’ room, the image looks like it’s from the wedding of a groom who’s a little bit on the sporty side who wanted sneakers and a stadium to be part of the big day. It’s not impossible to pull that look off, but it’s pretty easy to fail in that task.

tl;dr: Hugo Boss picked out the latest outfit for the Tottenham men’s team, and I don’t really like it.

Stay informed, read this: Jessica Herndon interviews Insecure star, writer, and producer Issa Rae on creating a show that normalizes Black lives and creating a legacy that opens doors for others for The Hollywood Reporter

Links of the Day

Lionel Messi told Barcelona he wants to leave the club.

Manchester United’s Harry Maguire was found guilty of aggravated assault and attempted bribery by a Greek court, and was withdrawn from the England squad.

The NWSL will return to play with a seven week fall series beginning September 5 in home stadiums.

Southampton has a new shirt sponsor, striking a last-minute deal with Sportsbet.io after canceling one with LD Sports.

David Squires covers Bayern’s Champions League win in his latest cartoon.

Transfer updates: Roma signed Pedro on a free; PSV signed Yvan Mvogo from Leipzig

A longer read: David Goldblatt on what football’s governing bodies should do to combat the climate crisis for The Guardian