The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Tuesday, April 13

Hello, all!

I found out there’s a show called Cakealikes in which people have to make cakes that look like real people, and I do not approve of this program.

Ramble of the Day

The NWSL came back last week, and with a new season came a number of new kits. Not all of the ten NWSL teams dropped new looks, but a number of them did and many of them are worth talking about. None of them are a true ten out of ten, but there was clearly some effort put into a number of these kits and I’d like to thank the powers that be for that.

I’d also like to rank them. (I’d also like to warn you that I have a feeling this ranking might be a little controversial.)

1. Racing Louisville (home)

There are critiques to be made about this kit, the chief one being that this is a home kit that does not have lavender, which is the color of the club’s crest. Another is that it has dark purple butterflies on it, and you can barely see them. This, though, popped on my tv screen and gets all the credit in the world for originality. It’s most certainly the most memorable of the bunch, too.

2. NJ/NY Gotham FC (home)

We’ve seen this before, but this is one of those instances where the simplicity works nicely. The colors coordinate well, and the design gets points for having a sponsor that does not kill the aesthetic.

3. NJ/NY Gotham FC (away)

This is where I stop loving the kits. It was definitely a better choice on Gotham’s part to make the black the home kits, because the very light blue does not pop well on white. That said, it more than clears the bar of inoffensive.

4. Houston Dash (away)

This, too, is not offensive. It’s inspired by the fact that the Johnson Space Center is in Houston, but I can’t say the little stars do anything for me.

5. Orlando Pride (home)

The Orlando Pride also went with a unique kit, and it’s another space themed one. I did give them points for originality, but ... I don’t think I like any of the elements. The proportions of the gradient are at least much better than the Tottenham kit of 2018-19, but I don’t care for it. I also don’t care for the stars at the top, or the design that helps the transition from black to purple. It isn’t for me.

6. North Carolina Courage (home)

It does not stand out in any way. It’s just a kit.

7. Racing Louisville white (away)

Again, poor implementation of lavender. This looks like a training top, and no one gets points for making a training top a kit.

8. North Carolina Courage white

I always appreciate a kit that isn’t boring, but I think ... whatever is happening on the lower half of the jersey (which you can see in better detail here) feels like a low effort design. Some of that design barely even registers in the sunlight. There’s a lot of room for improvement here.

tl;dr: There are enough new NWSL kits to rank them, and a number of them are pretty interesting.

Stay informed, read this: Alex Ritman on UK Muslim Film, a new charity with the aim of eliminating Muslim stereotyping in film for The Hollywood Reporter

Links of the Day

The Premier League and Scottish FA will delay matches to avoid conflict with the funeral of Prince Philip.

Everton’s Jean-Philippe Gbamin picked up a knee injury in training.

A longer read: John Muller on whether or not long shots provide useful goalscoring opportunities for FiveThirtyEight