Ange Postecoglou has had an extra two days to work with his Tottenham squad after the international break and he isn’t set to let it go. With a cohort of South American stars returning to Hotspur Way less than three full days before the Premier League restarted, Spurs have a big advantage.
Although some of that comes at the cost of then having to play against on Friday with less rest, given the relative lack of depth to the squad compared to some of their top four and current title rivals, it is a marginal gain that they won’t want to give up. and they could be five points clear before any of their closest contenders play again.
That is getting too far ahead though and for this match, hosting Fulham on Monday, Spurs have the chance to respond to Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. With the extra few days to work things are in good order. “It’s been a pretty positive international break for us,” the boss admitted.
“In terms of availability I’ll address the international players first. Everyone is kind of back and medical reports seem to be good so no real issues around the guys from a fitness perspective.” Given the long-term injuries already littering the group this a big boost. Both Manor Solomon and Ivan Perisic remain out and will do for some time longer while Ryan Sessegnon is also sidelined.
This has left a big hole in the wide attacking spots of the squad but luckily things didn’t get any worse over the past fortnight. “With Brennan [Johnson] he’s has had a good, solid couple of weeks of training which is good for him with the guys who have been left alongside [Rodrigo] Bentancur, [Bryan] Gil,” Postecoglou added. “They’re all good. Monday night helps us in terms of that respect. All the international players should be available and Brennan we’ll see how he goes in the next couple of days.”
Johnson has only played twice so far since signing for Spurs from Nottingham Forest on deadline day. Arriving with a knock and struggling to overcome his fitness troubles, not being picked for Wales’ most recent squad has only gone to help the 22-year-old and he is now back in contention to play once more.
After Son Heung-min was seen limping off for South Korea in their dominany 6-0 win over Vietnam at half-time there was a worry that the club captain was putting his place in doubt but that does not seem to be the case. Also in attack and Postecoglou has revealed conversations with Dejan Kulusevski this week following his involvement in the Belgium vs Sweden match that was abonded due to a shooting in Brussels.
The winger is one of Tottenham’s most important players and is set to play despite being involved close to the incident. “No, he is fine,” the boss said. “I had a chat with him. Like everyone else we shake our heads at these things where you go to a football game and these kind of things happen.
“It is sad and kind of confronting how close it comes to your own world, but Deki is fine. He trained yesterday with the team and is ready to go.” While the Swedish ace is good to go, there is still a wait for Bentancur to be fit. “We’ll be careful with him,” the managfer explained.
“Now he’s sort of fully training, so that means he’s into the whole session. We’ve drip-fed him into training the last month and he’s coped pretty well with that. Now he’s into full training.
“We’ve got to be mindful that he’s missed a fair bit of football, but I think the more he trains with the first team over the next few weeks we’ll sort of pick our moment. He’s looking good at training and it was great to have him for the last couple of weeks to fully integrate with the guys who are here and we’re looking forward to having him back.”
Gil has taken another step towards being a genuine option. The Spaniard also struggled to find any rhythm during pre-season and had a damaging injury but was back in the squad to play Luton.
“He can be really important for us. He’s one like I said the last couple of weeks it has been great to have him just working really hard at training,” his Australian head coach said. “He’s missed all of this season so far and it’s well chronicled that we lost Ivan and Manor who play in that left-wing position.
“He’s, I guess, in the same boat as everyone else because at some point he’ll be forwarded an opportunity and then it’s up to him. He certainly has all the criteria and credentials to play in that position for us and, like I said, his training is getting stronger now, he’s part of the group and I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity.
“We’ve got a Monday night game and then we back it up with a Friday night game, so we’ll probably need a good deal of the squad to do those two games in the next five or six days.”
With Yves Bissouma out through suspension there is a midfield slot open. It looks set to be Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who takes it but should Postecoglou want to mix things up then the return of Giovani Lo Celso certainly helps. The Argentine was picked for his country once more but is yet to start a league game for Spurs this season and has been struggling with form and fitness for a while.
“He is obviously very highly regarded with the Argentinian set-up because they always call him up and he played in both games,” explained Lo Celso’s club manager. “He didn’t play significant minutes but he played in both and played 15-20 in the second game. It is great for him and his confidence.
“Unfortunately he has a disrupted early part of the season for us but again another player we haven’t had a contribution from and that’s a pleasing thing for us. As good as we’ve been, there are still a few players like Brennan, Bentancur, Gil and Lo Celso who haven’t really played at all for us yet.
