The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Friday, November 5

Hi, everyone!

Here’s a fun fact to start your Friday.

Ramble of the Day

I think it’s funny that, just last week, I asked us all to share fun football highlights because we were being starved of it watching Tottenham. It truly highlights what a difference a week can make, doesn’t it? In that time, we saw the team lose to Manchester United in a drab and embarrassing manner, fire a manager that was never really a good fit, and hired his stylistic opposite (or close enough). Beating Vitesse in a 3-2 game with three red cards is a little more entertainment than one could’ve predicted, though.

It really did provide the overdose of entertainment that this team was missing over the last two years. (Side note, but it is pretty wild that Mauricio Pochettino was fired less than two years ago.) I find a match that just keeps providing significant events, from goals to red cards, just extremely fun. I can understand why it might be tense for some — Antonio Conte’s already on the record saying he doesn’t like a “crazy game” — but I tend to find them the most engaging because they’re the most surprising. I find them to be a rare treat, and enjoy them accordingly.

It’s also nice to see the (almost) inoffensively silly Tottenham make a comeback. We’ve all embraced this team as one that dabbles in chaos, and the chaos is always better when you win.

tl;dr: So yesterday’s match was fun, wasn’t it?

Stay informed, read this: ex-France international Thierry Henry accuses social media of profiting from hate at the Web Summit in Lisbon

Links of the Day

West Ham supporters were seen in a video singing an anti-semitic song on a plane while traveling to the team’s Europa League tie at Genk.

Ivory Coast’s Wilfried Zaha asked not to be called up for this month’s World Cup qualifiers.

OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey signed a new deal with the club until 2023.

Manchester City’s Zack Steffen signed a contract extension until 2025.

A longer read: Rory Smith on Wrexham and the trend of the rich buying lower league clubs and making documentaries for The New York Times