The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Wednesday, August 5

Hello, all!

At the top today is Spurs midfielder Anna Filbey, whose Wikipedia page says she’ll stay at the club until 2037 as I’m typing this, but I have found no evidence she signed a 17 plus year contract.

Ramble of the Day

Kits are a very important part of football culture, and it’s always a bit of fun finding the best and worst from each kit season, but I come with a different question: Which clubs are consistently great at coming up with great kits and other merchandise?

I have two answers, the first being AS Roma. I really started to regard Roma’s kits highly when they first went without a sponsor, which for me affirmed a theory many have that sponsors make kit designs worse unless the designer accounts for them. For me, Roma’s work with Nike has really struck the minimalist balance Nike has occasionally been dedicated to; they actually do turn out sleek designs regularly instead of just calling a fairly boring design sleek. It probably helps that Roma has a terrific and unique color scheme.

My other answer is the Chicago Red Stars, who continue to get creative with a very good base design. They’re probably one of the top clubs that I’m familiar with that is very clearly associated with the city based on its design; I don’t feel is a requirement for clubs to lean on regional imagery, but it can lead to success and that’s really clearly the case for the Red Stars. It helps that the city flag the name and look are inspired by is really well designed, but the club and Nike have so far not gotten tired of the base design they have. This year’s kit is probably the best iteration of the Red Stars’ time with Nike, but may be one of the best that is very influenced by geography.

tl;dr: Which team do you think puts out the best kits on a regular basis? My choices are AS Roma and the Chicago Red Stars.

Stay informed, read this: Louisa Thomas on the road to the WNBA’s return to play and the influence the LA Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike had as the president of the players’ union for The New Yorker

Links of the Day

Spain World Cup winner Iker Casillas retired after a 22 year career.

UEFA created a rule in the case of future COVID-19 travel bans, saying the team unable to host a team impacted by a travel ban will forfeit the tie.

Wigan lost its appeal against a 12 point deduction and will play next season in League One.

David Squires covers Arsenal’s FA Cup win and contract negotiations with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in his latest cartoon.

Transfer updates: Manchester City signed Ferran Torres from Valenica; Lyon signed Jodie Taylor from OL Reign; Lille signed Angel Gomes from Manchester United

A longer read: Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu interviews American Samoa’s Jaiyah Saelua on being a pioneer for the fa’afafine community and being depicted in Taika Waititi’s upcoming film Next Goal Wins for The Guardian