Tottenham Hotspur

Over the past week, we have been asking you to send in the best Premier League XI your club could have put together.

We know football existed before 1992 but as a Leeds United fan asked our experts on the club to name theirs - using the Ask Me Anything form on the Whites - we stuck with their parameters.

Here's BBC Sport's Tottenham fan writer Ali's effort.

And you can ask us about Spurs using the Tottenham Ask Me Anything form at the top of this page or here

Find more from Ali Speechly at Women Of The Lane, external and on Instagram, external

Former Brentford striker Ivan Toney is set to remain with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli despite interest in the 29-year-old Englishman from Tottenham, Everton and West Ham. (Football Insider), external

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We have, roughly, run the numbers and here is the XI your submissions have produced.

The spine of Mauricio Pochettino's outstanding side runs through this team, although there is no space for the centre-back pairing of Toby Alderweireld or Jan Vertonghen.

Both collected plenty of selections but were pipped by Mickey van de Ven - and let's face it, no-one is keeping club legend Ledley King out of this side.

His biggest competition might come with whether he should have the armband over Harry Kane, who spearheads a formidable forward line alongside Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min.

This side would be both entertaining and very, very good.

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

The statistics might say playing at home is an advantage - but what happens when it is not?

So far this season, 53% of Premier League matches have been won by the home team - the highest ever rate in a single campaign.

On the flip side, just 26% have been won by the away team - the lowest rate since 2010-11.

However, this has not been the case for all teams.

For some, being on the road has been more favourable. Tottenham are perhaps the most contrasting example having the joint-most points away from home with 13, but the second-worst in front of their own fans with just five points.

In the second part of her chat with BBC Sport, performance psychologist Marie Cartwright explained: "With crowds when playing away from home, there is a reduced scrutiny as a whole for away teams in that those crowds expect the home team to be the ones in charge. The players feel less judged. The pressure is on the other side.

"Another reason could come down to something in psychology I like to call simplification of the task. The team has a better collective identity when they are away.

"The human brain still goes back to the cavemen days. We have to, as a collective, fight for something. We have to protect our name. It goes back to that hunter-gatherer-against-danger mentality.

"When players are in front of a home crowd, there can be a bit of playing up to the individuality.

"I really do believe that collective identity has a strong enough influence because it amplifies the purpose and the belonging - let's belong together, let's be stronger together."

The focus might be on the players' performances being impacted by being home or away, but what about the managers?

Wolves, West Ham and Nottingham Forest make up three of the bottom four for their home records so far this term, and all have changed their manager in recent weeks.

"100% managers and coaches can be affected, and sometimes even more so because there is so much riding on that one person," Cartwright said.

"The decision-making is the main thing. The crowd is chanting - 'take this player off, do this' - and it can lead to rushed decisions, particularly when the noise becomes relentless.

"Then there is the emotional regulation and touchline behaviour. A manager is pacing up and down, mirroring the stress state, and players see that. It can lead to mimicking and players feeling that stress too."

The impact on teams psychologically playing home or away is apparent, so how can they make the most from these different conditions?

"Our brains are wired to think negatively - it's a protection mechanism," Cartwright said.

"So when it comes to performing home and away, those players and managers who deal with it best are those who know how to use the noise and scrutiny and move on quickly from it - an ability to have a reset routine and regulate their emotions in these pressurised situations."

Read more from Marie in part one of her chat around the impact of playing at home here

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has revealed that he was interviewed for two Premier League jobs in the space of two hours last year.

The Danish manager was in high demand during his time at Brentford, and eventually chose to swap Gtech Community Stadium for Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after seven years of service.

Read the full article here

Roma are in discussions with Manchester United over a January loan deal for Joshua Zirkzee, 24, but if the proposed move falls through, Roma will turn to Tottenham's France forward Mathys Tel, 20. (Metro), external

Rangers manager Danny Rohl would be reluctant to cash in on midfielder Nicolas Raskin, 24, in January, with Tottenham one of the clubs reportedly interested in signing the Belgium international. (Football Insider), external

Spurs may also miss out on former Everton forward Ademola Lookman, 28, after Atalanta changed managers. The Nigeria international had fallen out with former boss Ivan Juric prior to his sacking. (TeamTalk), external

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Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

"Home advantage gives you an advantage."

It is a quote - among many - attributed to the famous former England manager Sir Bobby Robson - a simple, yet fair reflection of a historical format of football.

For as long as teams have played in leagues, games taking place home and away has been the norm, with the idea that playing at home will be to the benefit of that team.

But what is the impact of playing at your own ground in front of your own fans?

In the first part of her chat with BBC Sport, performance psychologist Marie Cartwright explained: "Home impact can be viewed in two ways. Sometimes it does have a positive impact, and what happens is there is an elevated motivation.

"What that means is the crowd energy increases adrenaline and that creates a momentum in effort and intensity in the players. It is also a familiar environment for the players, so that means it reduces the cognitive load. They don't have to think as much about anything else other than their play because they know the pitch, they know the routines, they feel settled.

"However, there are a couple of potential negative impacts as well, with the potential intensification in pressure in the home fans, most times, expecting dominance from the home team. That can lead to mistakes from players feeling bigger to them.

"There can then be what we call a threat state. The players might perceive consequences as high, so they feel they might be facing more criticism when they are at home."

While those who watch football know there are more factors than just where the match is being to take into consideration, the statistics do suggest the influence is there.

Since the Premier League started, the home win percentage has outweighed the away win percentage in all bar one season - the Covid-hit 2020-21 campaign in which fans were largely not allowed admission saw a 38% home win rate compared to 40% away win rate.

So how a team handles this additional crowd pressure seems to be a key factor.

"In psychology, there is something called the challenge and threat theory," Cartwright said.

"In reality what that means is a 'challenge state' can push the player into thinking, 'I've got this, I've got the resources to cope with this'. That leads to better decision making and quicker reactions.

"The threat state, on the other hand, players might think the consequences outweigh their ability to cope. In any match context, that can mean they have a narrow sense of focus, the focus is not quite the same, so the play becomes slower because of overthinking."

"It can also be called 'red brain or blue brain' - with red brain being the one with fear-based dialogue and internal negative self-talk, while blue brain is the cool, calm and collected one that can handle its emotions.

"What sits in the middle of these is distraction. How a player responds to distraction and filters out the noise, like the crowd, can impact which of these mindsets they move into and ultimately how the team performs."

Read more from Marie in part two of her chat about why teams some teams play better away from home and how it impacts managers - that will be on this page early next week.

We wanted your suggestions for Tottenham's all-time best Premier League XI.

You've found ways to get big names involved:

David Ashley: 4-3-3. Lloris, Walker, Alderweireld, Van de Ven, Udogie, Modric, Dembele, Eriksen, Son, Kane, Bale. This would be an incredible team if they all played at their peak.

Michael Martin: 3-4-3. Lloris, King, Van de Ven, Romero, Walker, Modric, Dembele, Rose, Son, Kane, Bale. Strong defenders, with a clever and tough midfield. The front three pick themselves.

Henry: 4-3-3. Lloris, Bale, Vertonghen, King, Walker, Modric, Eriksen, Dele, Son, Kane, Lennon. Centre-backs are the hardest to choose from as many good centre backs have played in recent years but the rest is undeniable.

John Pomykala: 4-3-3. Lloris, King, Vertonghen, Van de Ven, Porro, Eriksen, Van der Vaart, Bale, Defoe, Kane, Keane. This team would have great strength and speed. It would be unbeatable.

George Mills
BBC Sport senior journalist

In a recent addition of the Football Extra newsletter, Roger asked BBC Sport: Players are frequently injured on international duty - such as Chris Wood for New Zealand last season, which may have ultimately cost Nottingham Forest a Champions League place. Are clubs compensated by the country or does insurance cover compensation?'

Since 2012, Fifa's Club Protection Programme has covered the salary of players injured on international duty - although there are some conditions.

Firstly, the player must be out of action for a period of at least 28 consecutive days and the injury must have been sustained during an "accident", which is defined in very boring and legally-specific detail in Fifa's guidelines, though it covers most of the examples you could think of.

The scheme pays the salary of an injured player up to the maximum amount of €7.5m (£6.6m) until they are declared fit to return for their clubs.

Transfermarkt lists Chris Wood as missing 18 days - three games - with the hip injury you mention from last March, suffered on international duty with New Zealand. As he returned inside 28 days, Forest would not have been eligible to claim compensation.

There are a couple of clubs who will currently be beneficiaries of this scheme though, including Newcastle United, whose £55m summer signing Yoane Wissa is yet to make an appearance since suffering a knee injury while playing for DR Congo.

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Tottenham and Liverpool are eyeing Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo, 25, to reinforce their attacks.

Meanwhile, top Serie A clubs have joined Spurs, Rangers, Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen in the race to sign 19-year-old Nigerian midfielder Sani Suleiman, who currently plays for Slovakian club Trencin. (Rudy Galetti on Substack), external

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Image source, Getty Images

Brennan Johnson scored the winning goal in last season's Europa League final and cost Tottenham Hotspur £50m, making him the second most expensive Welshman in history - second only to the great Gareth Bale.

But he had an impossible act to follow at Spurs, joining in the same transfer window Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich.

"He came in at quite a weird time for the club - I'm not sure they really had a good plan for how to replace Kane," says Jack Pitt-Brooke, who covers Tottenham for The Athletic. "But with injuries to other players, he ended up playing tons that year and he was actually pretty good."

It helped that it was Ange Postecoglou who signed Johnson, and the forward scored 23 goals in all competitions during his first two seasons.

"He fitted what Ange wanted from wingers," Pitt-Brooke adds. "Really high and wide, scoring goals where a winger goes down one side, pulls the ball back across the box, and the opposite side winger taps it in. Johnson was good at both delivering that cross, and also tapping it in at the far post."

Under Postecoglou, Spurs won the Europa League - with Johnson scoring the winner in the final against Manchester United - but the Australian was sacked this summer after the club finished 17th in the Premier League.

Thomas Frank replaced him - and the Dane opted for Kudus instead of Johnson.

"Frank wants to play a different way and he wants his wingers to do a lot more on the ball than just score tap-ins," says Pitt-Brooke. "Spurs paid £55m for Kudus, who doesn't score many goals, but everything until he gets to the opposition goal is much better than Johnson.

"At the moment, I don't think any Spurs fan would have Johnson in their first-choice team. It's not really clear where he fits."

Johnson has managed four goals in his 17 appearances in all competitions this season but, according to many supporters and pundits, does not offer much else.

Whether he has played in his favoured right wing position or as a centre-forward, Johnson has seemed lost; reluctant to take on opponents on some occasions, hesitant in shooting on others and often turning to play a safe pass backwards.

"He doesn't really do a lot apart from scoring goals," says Pitt-Brooke. "There are obviously worse things to be than a guy who's just known for scoring goals, but I think people would probably have expected him to have done more.

"He's a bit of a mystery."

Read the full article here

Image source, Getty Images

We wanted your suggestions for Tottenham's all-time best Premier League XI.

And you delivered!

Here's the first bunch of your replies:

Tom: 3-4-3. Robinson, Romero, King, Vertonghen, Modric, Dembele, Carrick, Eriksen, Son, Kane, Bale. Ledley King is a Tottenham legend and one of the best Premier League defenders of all time. Our centre-backs have been better than our full-backs so I've gone for a back three. Dembele was sensational but underrated outside of our club's fanbase. Kane, Son and Bale pick themselves.

Anant: 4-3-3. Lloris, King, Mabbutt, Van de Ven, Walker, Bale, Modric, Ginola, Kane, Rebrov, Berbatov. A mix of speed, skill, agility and full passion. Campbell would have made it if he hadn't moved across.

Matthew: 4-2-3-1. Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen, King, Rose, Dembele, Modric, Kudus, Eriksen, Son, Kane. A top quality starting XI. This would have been Premier League challenging levels.

Howie: 4-3-3. Lloris, Walker, King, Vertonghen, Rose, Modric, Dembele, Dele, Bale, Kane, Son. They are the best players. Honourable mentions to Rafael van der Vaart, Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen, Sandro, Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson.

Emile: 4-4-2. Lloris, Walker, Van de Ven, Vertonghen, Udogie, Son, Dembele, Dele, Bale, Kane, Berbatov. All elite, classy and exciting footballers.

Joe: 3-5-2. Lloris, King, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Bale, Trippier, Modric, Ginola, Son, Klinsmann, Kane. The players I've enjoyed most over my years of watching. Some hard omissions of note would be Mabbutt, Woodgate, Dele, Van der Vaart, Keane and Defoe - a pretty good bench!

Image source, Getty Images

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust claims the atmosphere at the stadium has "declined" as a result of some fans being "priced out of attending".

With just three wins from 15 Premier League home games in 2025, Spurs have struggled for results in front of their own supporters at the 62,850-seater stadium.

Despite their Europa League success last term securing them a place in the Champions League this season, the club's return to Europe's top tier has not brought bumper crowds, with numbers of 54,755 and 49,565 for home fixtures against Villarreal and Copenhagen.

The fan group said: "Over the past couple of seasons, it's undeniable that the atmosphere has declined at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"Too many empty seats and too many supporters, particularly young supporters, priced out of attending. Thin the crowd and you thin the noise.

"Europa League nights last season, with sensibly priced tickets, proved the point: fair ticket pricing fills the ground, often with the next generation of Spurs fans. And the noise follows.

"The Champions League - our flagship nights - has seen thousands of empty seats, in our view due to unrealistic and unaffordable match pricing.

"A world-class stadium without a full house is only half a home."

Tottenham recently announced the visit of Borussia Dortmund in January will now have category B pricing instead of category A, and ticket prices for this season were set in the summer when Daniel Levy was still chairman.

Image source, Getty Images

Five Premier League stadiums will host fixtures during Euro 2028.

Uefa have selected nine venues across the four host nations - England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland - to stage the 24-team tournament.

Manchester City's Etihad Stadium will host England's opening group game should Thomas Tuchel's side qualify for the competition directly.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Villa Park, Hill Dickinson Stadium and St James' Park are the other Premier League grounds that will be used across the 51 matches overall.

The last-16 games will take place at each host stadium except Wembley, with England set to play at Newcastle United's St James' Park if they win their group, or Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium if they finish second.

Chelsea have not made a move for Real Madrid and Brazil forward Rodrygo, 24, who is interesting Tottenham and Manchester City. (Fabrizio Romano), external

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It's international break so let's have a bit of fun to pass the time.

Now we know football existed before 1992 but for the purposes of this little exercise, keep it Premier League please.

So tell us, who would be in your dream Tottenham Hotspur Premier League XI?

The debate starts here.

Send your suggestions

Nick Godwin
BBC Radio London reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Last season made very little sense to Tottenham fans. A terrible Premier League campaign, an incredible night in Bilbao and a mercurial manager whose contradictions were reflected in his team.

This season was supposed to make more sense. Thomas Frank was brought in as a pragmatist who would strengthen Tottenham's core and put the team on a more rational footing.

Some of those things have happened but there have also been other, different problems arising as well - which makes taking stock at this stage of proceedings quite challenging.

It is difficult to move past the injury crisis that has deprived the new manager of his main three attacking and creative players.

Imagine a Mauricio Pochettino team without Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen?

The Frank equivalent of Dominic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison means any assessment of Spurs from an attacking perspective so far this season is impossible.

We just do not know how good they can be yet.

From an organisational perspective, there are signs of clear improvement.

I have been struck by how much more the Tottenham players seem to sense danger and respond accordingly than last season.

The raft of away wins is impressive. The manner in which they have executed plans on the road has been refreshing.

Meanwhile progress in the Champions League, while not jaw-dropping, has been just that. Progress.

However these successful away days also help to make the home form look even worse.

The most egregious example being that horribly unimaginative defeat to Chelsea.

If you are Tottenham, you simply cannot play that badly against Chelsea. Or Arsenal. Or West Ham.

So far I think we have just seen indicators - both of how good Spurs can be and how bad.

When Frank has anything approximating a first-choice attacking line-up, it will be fascinating to see how he approaches games and what he asks his team to do.

The trouble is events so often derail plans and intentions in football. And the next event occurs next Sunday against You Know Who.

The away form suggests Spurs can pose some interesting questions.

Despite all the talk of time and renewal in the summer, this is another of those games where the margin for error is tiny.

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Sin bins? Bonus points? Two goals if you score from distance?

Imagine a world in which you could reinvent football.

It's a dream, of course. Just a bit of fun. But stick with us.

What if you had the power to change any of the game's laws and potentially bring to an end countless hours of discussion about handball, offside, video assistant referees, or anything else you want to?

Some of BBC Sport's familiar football faces have offered their own potential rule changes.

Watch them above or read more here

A number of Premier League clubs interested in bringing and former Brentford striker Ivan Toney, 29, back to the English top flight but wages could prove a significant obstacle. (Sky Sports, external)

Tottenham are among those keeping an eye on the Al-Ahli forward but are testing the market as they draw up plans to sign a new attacking player in January. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column here

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