The Final Third

Completely agree on the broken dressing room motivation is the real crisis right now, not systems. But the Ange question is more complicated than it looks. We wrote the full anatomy of how Spurs got here this week, 20 years of structural decisions that no single manager can fix alone. Worth a read: thefinalthird.app/issue-9

Seeing that Micky quote, to be honest, I only think Ange can save this mess. At this point, it’s not about tactics. It’s about appointing someone who can motivate the players again. They’re broken. Completely.

Issue #009 is live. → How Spurs went from trophy winners to relegation candidates in 9 months → 6 PL clubs in the UCL last 16 — why this is genuinely historic → England at the 2026 World Cup: the case for and against thefinalthird.app/issue-9

@SimonLester2468 Mate, The Premier League is poor quality this year apparently. Six clubs in the Champions League last 16. But yes, the league is weak. Let the haters carry on.

‘The league is so poor this year, the quality just isn’t there’….. This week alone the bottom team has beaten a top six side. Relegation threatened Nottingham Forest have taken a point at title chasing Manchester City. Newcastle who played half the match with ten men beat the form side in Manchester United. West Ham took all three points at Fulham to continue their efforts of avoiding the drop. No people, the league isn’t ‘poor’ this year, the quality is greater than it’s ever been, it’s merely spread around more than it has been in previous seasons. Vindication of that backed up by the fact that we have 6 out of the 16 teams left in the knockout stage of The Champions League.

@FootballEra_ PL managers on Arsenal being top: 'The league is weak this year.' PL managers after losing to a bottom-half club: 'This league has no easy games, the quality is exceptional.' Pick a lane.

A lot of managers in the Premier League are either unintelligent or blinded by their dislike for Arsenal and Arteta. Just a few days ago, Arne Slot was talking about the drop in quality and standards in the league and even said he doesn’t watch other PL matches. Suddenly he thinks quality of the league is high because he can’t beat 20th-placed Wolves.

@PatrickTimmons1 Absolute cinema.

Spurs holding 8 goals to the Arsenal, taking 5 points off City, and getting relegated to top it off. I love this game.

@BBCSport You have a UCL tie in days and your manager is playing a right-back at centre-back at home to Crystal Palace. One point above relegation. The board needs to make a decision tonight — not tomorrow, not after the European game. Tonight

More misery for Tottenham 😫 Their 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace makes it 11 games without a win - their longest winless run in the Premier League.

@thespursweb You have a UCL tie in days and your manager is playing a right-back at centre-back at home to Crystal Palace. One point above relegation. The board needs to make a decision tonight — not tomorrow, not after the European game. Tonight

Have to feel for Archie, he gave it his all while senior players around him were anonymous, again

@JoseAChozas You have a UCL tie in days and your manager is playing a right-back at centre-back at home to Crystal Palace. One point above relegation. The board needs to make a decision tonight — not tomorrow, not after the European game. Tonight

Pregunta seria: ¿a cuántos os extrañaría una dimisión de Igor Tudor esta misma noche?

@SpursOfficial With respect, who exactly is being protected here? The manager? The board? The players? Because it certainly isn't the club.

Full-time.

Spurs are one point above the drop zone. Their next six: Liverpool away. Forest home. Sunderland away. Brighton home. Wolves away. Villa away. There is no easy game in that list. None.

@naturalred007 😂😂😂

@TheFinalThirdPL He’ll need to “invert the wing” in The Championship.

Cannot even defend that. Hopefully Van De Ven’s last game in a Tottenham shirt. Dogshit mentality. Today proved it even more.

Thrilling Premier League gameweek. Is this the year for The Arsenal?

@InvertTheWing What a win for The Arsenal! Mentality monsters.

Chelsea have spent £1.5 billion on players since 2022. They've sold hotels to themselves, offloaded their women's team to a sister company, and still posted a £355M loss. The rules say they're fine. The underlying business says something different. Issue #008 → thefinalthird.app/issue-8

A club saved by fishermen donating their catch is now beating Manchester City and Inter Milan in the Champions League. Five clubs that finished below them in the group stage spent £400 million on players last summer. Glimt spent £5 million. This week we broke down how they did it — and what it means for Nordic football. Issue #007 → thefinalthird.app/issue-7

La noche más gloriosa del fútbol noruego en TODA la historia de la Copa de Europa: hat-trick de Sorloth y bombazo del Bodo/Glimt en Milán.

A club saved by fishermen donating their catch is now beating Manchester City and Inter Milan in the Champions League. Five clubs that finished below them in the group stage spent £400 million on players last summer. Glimt spent £5 million. This week we broke down how they did it — and what it means for Nordic football. Issue #007 → thefinalthird.app/issue-7

El subcampeón, eliminado por un Bodø/Glimt que ya es histórico. Cuenta sus últimos cuatro partidos en Champions League por victorias… Ante Manchester City, Atlético de Madrid e Inter (x2). Ah, y con el pequeño detalle de estar fuera de temporada. Son, también, los únicos partidos oficiales que ha jugado en 2026.

A club saved by fishermen donating their catch is now beating Manchester City and Inter Milan in the Champions League. Five clubs that finished below them in the group stage spent £400 million on players last summer. Glimt spent £5 million. This week we broke down how they did it — and what it means for Nordic football. Issue #007 → thefinalthird.app/issue-7

Best thing about Bodø/Glimt is that I tuned in expecting to see a unique style yet all I saw was an immaculately drilled 4-4-2 mid-block and a 4-3-3 in possession with some nice rotations and willing runners. They excel at the basics.

A club saved by fishermen donating their catch is now beating Manchester City and Inter Milan in the Champions League. Five clubs that finished below them in the group stage spent £400 million on players last summer. Glimt spent £5 million. This week we broke down how they did it — and what it means for Nordic football. Issue #007 → thefinalthird.app/issue-7

Bodo/Glimt have qualified for the #UCL last-16 after a 2-5 aggregate play-off win vs Inter. #ManCity will face Bodo/Glimt, Real Madrid, or Benfica in the last-16. Full @ChampionsLeague knockout round draw details. ⤵️ cityxtra.co.uk/41867/uefa-cha…

A club saved by fishermen donating their catch is now beating Manchester City and Inter Milan in the Champions League. Five clubs that finished below them in the group stage spent £400 million on players last summer. Glimt spent £5 million. This week we broke down how they did it — and what it means for Nordic football. Issue #007 → thefinalthird.app/issue-7

El Inter se queda fuera de la Champions. En una de las mejores temporadas de Serie A en su historia, han sido incapaces de vencer al Bodø/Glimt en dos partidos.