The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, July 20

Hi, all!

That’s defender Esther Morgan at the top.

Ramble of the Day

We have finally made it to Tokyo Olympics, which around here means another round (or two) of ranked kits. The women’s tournament begins a day before the men’s tournament, so I’ll rank the women’s kits first.

Considering the nature of things, there was a ton of overlap with the other tournaments this summer. There are, though, plenty of unique kits and won’t actually be a ton of overlap in the rambles. (That’s by coincidence — I didn’t purposely rank kits higher or lower because I’d already seen them.) Again, like I did for the Gold Cup, I’m only going with new kits.

Let’s start with the nice kits.

3. The Netherlands’ home kit

Photo by ANP Sport via Getty Images

I liked it for the Euros, and I like it now. It’s a cool take on the classic, all orange look and as always, the black collar pairs nicely.

3. Canada’s home kit

It looks like Canada has spent much of its Olympics prep wearing the team’s away kit, but the home kit is pretty sharp. It’s awfully similar to the Netherlands’ home kit, but the reason I rank this ahead is because I tend to prefer something closer to minimalism. For both, you won’t catch the details from a distance, but they both rank better than the training top-adjacent looks many others will be wearing in Japan.

1. Japan’s home kit

Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images

This may be the most visually interesting kit at the tournament, and it’s a pretty fun one. It’s very obviously distinct and the lighter blue/navy combination makes for a great base. It’s distinct and it’s cool, and therefore my favorite.

Now, the kits that I don’t find nice.

3. Canada’s away kit

Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Here, Canada records an unwanted double by ending up on the top and the bottom. I clearly have it out for a simple white kit, but I might’ve ranked this higher if it was not for that collar. Maybe my dislike for it is unwarranted, but I really don’t care for it.

2. Chile’s away kit

If Chile’s worn this kit, they haven’t been photographed in it yet. Still, photographic evidence exists of this kit and it’s just a lot. It’s definitely too much. Some editing would help this one, because the colors are great. It’s just not good as it is.

1. Great Britain home

I really tried liking this kit, but every time I saw another, I felt bad about ranking this kit higher than any of the others. I never warmed up to the distressed look on clothing, and I think I’d rather the pattern not start at the shirt’s midway point. Editing is likely needed here, too.

tl;dr: The international tournaments just keep coming, so here are the best and worst kits (according to me) at the women’s Olympic tournament.

Stay informed, read this: Pierre LeBrun interviews the Nashville Predators’ Luke Prokop, the first openly gay player in the National Hockey League for The Athletic

Links of the Day

Two players from South Africa’s Olympic men’s team tested positive for COVID-19.

Luton assistant manager Mick Harford was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Transfers: Arsenal signed Albert Sambi Lokonga from Anderlecht; AC Milan signed Brahim Díaz on loan from Real Madrid

A longer read: Jonathan Tannenwald profiles the USWNT’s Carli Lloyd on her journey to her fourth Olympic Games, including a long-awaited reunion with her family for The Philadelphia Inquirer