Tottenham Hotspur

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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Brentford and Tottenham.

Here are some of your comments:

Brentford fans

Richard: A very good performance, we just couldn't get a goal and should have got one. All credit to Tottenham for winning. It was a fair game in the end.

David: That was a torturous game to watch as a Brentford fan. We looked the most likely team to score in the opening 15 to 20 minutes and then it became sluggish. Bryan Mbeumo wasn't at the races, but Mikkel Damsgaard was unplayable at times and Michael Kayode looks like a strong signing.

Phil: I'm disappointed with the Bees' performances in the last few home games, with the exception of the Manchester City match, which was fantastic. The team needs a few fresh ideas. Anyway, onwards and upwards and fortune changes.

Ian: On this performance, relegation looms. There is no idea, no desire and we are a team going through the motions. We will probably survive this season but don't hold your breath next season.

Tottenham fans

George: A great result. It wasn't our most fluent but the battle showed by the lads was tremendous, against a team with one of the best home records in the division. More on Thursday night boys!

Anff: We badly needed a result. It would be churlish to complain about the general performance, but if the Bees had been on song then I think we would have lost that game. But a win is a win, so on we go!

Tristen: Finally Ange Postecoglou had the sense beaten into him to play two defensive midfielders to protect our vulnerable defence. Why it has taken so long is beyond me, and a huge embarrassment for Ange and his stubborn tactics. He needs to play the best XI available that can win him games, not blindly play the system he wants without the players to do it.

Gazza: Djed Spence has been outstanding all along. It just goes to show the muddled thinking there is at Spurs. Then we go and buy Pedro Porro for £40m! You couldn't write it.

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New Tottenham centre-back Kevin Danso says it was an easy decision to swap Ligue 1 for Premier League football once Spurs became interested.

Danso has joined from Lens on loan with a commitment to buy in the summer.

"I have always wanted to play for a big club in the Premier League and Tottenham are exactly that," the 26-year-old told the club website, external. "As soon as you hear of their interest, the only thing you can do is say yes.

"It is an amazing project to be part of and I am happy to be here.

"Growing up everyone watches the Premier League, so it is a dream come true. Growing up you dream of winning trophies, so I hope as a club we can win a couple.

"I'm a quick, powerful centre-back. Good on the ball and in one-on-one defending situations. That is what I thrive on because I love to defend."

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist at the Gtech Community Stadium

Image source, Getty Images

Facing a Brentford side that have scored the most home goals of anyone in the Premier League, Tottenham knew they would have to be at their best defensively to get anything out of the game.

And that is exactly what Spurs were, winning 2-0 to end a four-game losing run in the league.

Boss Ange Postecoglou was quick to praise teenager Archie Gray, who continues to impress having opted to join Tottenham over Brentford when moving from Leeds last summer.

"The job Archie Gray is doing is remarkable," said Postecoglou. "Eighteen years old, never played centre back and he is playing in Europe and playing every week. He's a fantastic player and we're very fortunate to have him."

"We're still a bit thin defensively," added the Australian on a day when Tottenham bolstered their defensive ranks by signing 26-year-old Austria international Kevin Danso on loan from Lens with a commitment to buy in the summer.

Gray himself was pleased with the side's defensive efforts and added: "At times this season, we have lost concentration just for five minutes. As soon as that goal went in, we knew we couldn't make the same mistakes and we had to keep disciplined.

"It's credit to Ben [Davies] and Djed [Spence] and Pedro [Porro] as well. We were shouting at each other the whole game. It was a really good clean sheet and hopefully we can keep it going."

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Tottenham defender Archie Gray has been speaking to Premier League Productions: "Obviously it is a massive win, off the back of another good win before. To break that run was difficult, we were in a difficult time. We have still got loads of games to prove that we can carry this winning form on, so it is important.

"At times this season, we have lost concentration just for five minutes. As soon as that goal went in, we knew we couldn't make the same mistakes. Once we got to half-time, we thought we had to keep disciplined for the second half.

"They play man-to-man, they left people open at the back, and we knew we could get a second goal as well.

"It's credit to Ben [Davies] and Djed [Spence] and Pedro [Porro] as well. To be fair, Ben was shouting at me the whole game. We were shouting at each other the whole game, so that was really good to have him next to me.

"Like I said, it was a really good clean sheet and hopefully we can keep it going."

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Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to Sky Sports following the win: "It is always a challenge here. Especially at home, they are hard to beat. A brilliant effort from the lads. Backing up from Thursday night, we needed a big effort again today. We put that in.

"They had a lot of set-pieces and we dealt with them awfully well. I think we defended as well as we have all season, and we still had the quality to hurt them the other way. An outstanding effort from the players.

"I don't think they had many clear-cut chances. There were a lot of balls in the box but, when you're throwing them in from the touchline, then you can't avoid that. They had a lot of corners but we got the first contact, we had challenges in there.

"I thought the lads handled that part of it really well. We still had to play and it was an outstanding second goal from us.

"Great football and credit to the lads. It's not easy coming here, particularly after a big game on Thursday night, I think they handled it really well."

On defender Djed Spence: "Since he came into the team he has been outstanding. We missed him the last couple of games, but that's the beauty of where we are at currently. We are slowly getting players back, improving us and helping us, and I think that's giving energy to the group.

"He was great today, Bryan Mbeumo is a handful for any full-back and he handled him really well."

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham remain unbeaten against Brentford under Ange Postecoglou, having played four games in which they have taken three wins and one draw. Thomas Frank's side are one of only two opponents they have faced four times without losing, having also taken three wins and one draw against Manchester United.

Tottenham earned their first away win in a London derby in the Premier League since October 2023 (2-1 v Crystal Palace). It was also the first time they have kept a clean sheet in a London derby under Ange Postecoglou, having conceded in all eight before today.

Archie Gray made his 10th Premier League start for Tottenham today at 18 years and 327 days old. He becomes the second-youngest player to reach double figures for the club after Aaron Lennon in February 2006 (18 years and 295 days v Charlton).

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Brentford's performance

What did you make of Tottenham's display?

Three matches make up Sunday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Brentford v Tottenham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Manchester United v Crystal Palace - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Arsenal v Manchester City (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 14:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Let's be realistic.

Instead of setting sights high only for dreams to get dashed, we want to know what the minimum requirement is for Tottenham on deadline day.

Be as specific as possible and tell us what will ensure you are satisfied come 23:00 GMT Monday.

Let us know

Micky van de Ven's return from injury is great news for Tottenham, but he cannot be expected to transform their fortunes on his own.

Last week's defeat by Leicester was hugely damaging to Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou and his side were so flat in that game. They have only picked up five points from their past 11 games and they cannot afford to keep on losing.

I don't think Postecoglou has been helped by the club's lack of activity in the transfer market. They have had all these injuries but they have brought in a goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky, to add to their senior squad, and that's it.

I look at Brentford and think they are going to do this Spurs team some damage.

With Bryan Mbeumo on the right and Yoane Wissa up front, the Bees have got a lot of goals in the team. They will have a go at Spurs and I think they will find a way through.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Tottenham have moved ahead of Wolves in the race to sign Lens and Austria defender Kevin Danso, 26. (Talksport), external

Meanwhile, Spurs have also expressed an interest in Chelsea's French defender Axel Disasi, 26, in case a move for 27-year-old England centre-back Fikayo Tomori from AC Milan falls through. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Sunday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Joe Bradshaw
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

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In a season ransacked by injuries, has Ange Postecoglou stumbled across the solution to Tottenham's problems?

Against Elfsborg on Thursday, a laboured performance from players out on their feet had new life injected by three academy graduates, all of whom got on the scoresheet to fire Spurs to victory.

At the end of the game, the average age of the XI on the pitch was 22.5 (red dot in the chart below), considerably lower than Tottenham's average of 25.8 in Premier League starting line-ups this season.

Postecoglou has been forced to use his young players already this season - teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall were both brought in last summer as bright future prospects only to find themselves learning on the job as integral players over the past two months.

The average age of his team has still been slightly higher than his first season in charge (25.6) but there are still only three players over 30 in Tottenham's squad.

Indeed, if it was not for having to field 36-year-old Fraser Forster seven times, it would have been much younger.

Even so, perhaps this Europa League victory offers up an opportunity. Are the latest young players ready to step up?

Winger Damalo Ajayi put his hand up for consideration as a wide forward to sub in for injured Brennan Johnson.

Dane Scarlett has had mixed loans in the lower leagues but finally has his first goal for Tottenham. He also cannot play for another club this season so Postecoglou may as well integrate him given Richarlison and Dominic Solanke's fitness struggles.

As for 17-year-old Mikey Moore, his goal made him the youngest English player to score in major European competition.

He has only played 139 minutes in the Premier League so far for Tottenham but is banging on the manager's door for consideration.

Sunday's trip to Brentford is one of the most daunting of the season given the Bees' home record.

But Tottenham's best finishing position in the past 10 seasons came with their youngest average age (25 in 2015-16 when Spurs came second).

Perhaps that fact can be instructive.

Full commentary of Brentford v Tottenham from 14:00 GMT on Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Tottenham have taken just four points from their last 10 Premier League games – their worst form for almost 31 years.

Only once across their 1,251 Premier League games have they taken fewer points in a 10-game spell, when they took just three points between January and March 1994.

Given the club's struggles, chairman Daniel Levy's stewardship has come under scrutiny, having been in charge since March 2001.

The chart below shows how many points Tottenham have taken from any 38-game spell (i.e. a season's worth of games) across the entire Premier League era, giving us an idea of what kind of side Spurs have been at different times.

As you can see, when Levy became chairman back in 2001, Tottenham were mainly a mid-table side, taking around 50 points from 38 games.

But over the next 18 years, Tottenham were steadily transformed under Levy into a team that not only competed regularly for the top four, but also for a time the Premier League title.

The pinnacle of the Levy era (so far) came between 2016 and early 2019, when Spurs showed true title-challenging form by taking 88 points from 38 games on two separate occasions.

However, the club have been unable to reach those heights in the six years since then, with their results in the Premier League falling off massively this season in particular.

While their severe injury list should definitely be taken into account, Tottenham have taken just 46 points from their last 38 Premier League games – the fewest they've taken from a season's worth of games since April 2009.

It's also one point fewer than the club took in the 38 games before Levy was appointed chairman way back in March 2001.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier, we asked you to name the former Tottenham manager from a series of clues.

The answer was Jose Mourinho, who was in charge between 2019 and 2021.