- Ange Postecoglou believes he has his ‘healthiest squad for a while’ at Spurs
- Son Heung-min is back from Asia, while Yves Bissouma has finished at AFCON
- CHRIS SUTTON on sledging, expletive stand-offs and on-field verbal jousting – It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma are back from international duty and ready to play, as he enjoys his ‘healthiest’ Tottenham squad ‘for a while’.
Tottenham host Brighton on Saturday afternoon, one week on from the 2-2 draw against Everton where a stoppage time goal earned the Toffees a late point against Spurs.
Son Heung-min has returned from Asian Cup duty with South Korea, with the Tottenham boss revealing he did recovery on Thursday, before training on Friday 24 hours before hosting the Seagulls.
Yves Bissouma is also expected to be part of the Australian’s plans for Saturday’s Premier League game, after being part of the Mali squad at AFCON.
Postecoglou said: ‘It’s good to get the guys back, all three of them, Pape [Sarr] as well. Unfortunately, their tournaments ended early, but we’re the beneficiaries of that. They’re good… Biss had a bit of a longer trip, but they both trained today.’
Ange Postecoglou revealed that Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma are back in contention
Son has returned from the Asian Cup, whilst Bissouma was part of the Mali side at AFCON
Postecoglou revealed that Giovani Lo Celso is back in training, adding ‘he’s had a good week’
Postecoglou revealed that Giovani Lo Celso is back in training, adding ‘he’s had a good week’, but his length of absence means he may need more time.
Bissouma ‘had a slight form of malaria’ before the African Cup of Nations, Postecoglou revealed, before adding ‘he’s 100% now’, as it cleared up before the international tournament began.
However, Manor Solomon has had a further procedure on his knee, meaning he is two to three weeks away from returning to the side, whilst Ryan Sessegnon is continuing his rehab after a thigh issue ruled him out for the season.
On the balance of things, he admitted ‘it’s the healthiest squad we’ve had for quite a while’ – now creating the challenge of who to pick, rather than being forced into team selections.
On the issue of blue cards which has been a dominant talking point in football this week, Postecoglou said: ‘I struggle to understand why this urgency suddenly to bring in new things. I don’t know if there’s that much wrong with the game. My issue with the game right now is that VAR has changed football as an experience.
He refused to accept that Tottenham have an issue with late goals, despite Everton’s equaliser
Postecoglou’s Spurs look to improve on their 5th place, sitting two points behind Aston Villa
‘I don’t know why a different colour card is going to make a difference. I don’t know about this taking things from other sports. Other sports are trying to make their games faster, we’re bringing in more clutter.’
After conceding the late equaliser at Everton, Postecoglou told reporters: ‘It’s disappointing to concede goals at any point. People will want to analyse it. I’m sorry but we’re going to be a team that will score or concede goals late.
‘The way we want to close out games is by trying to scoring goals late on. One thing we’re not going to do is jump at shadows and try to fix the latest thing being analysed.’
Spurs look to improve on their current 5th place in the Premier League, sitting two points behind Aston Villa who sit above them in the table.
