Welcome back to the final installment in our mini-series looking back at Tottenham Hotspur’s exciting preseason campaign. So far, we’ve looked at the winners and the losers over the last few days: those who have taken their chances and those who have spurned them.
This last piece is an interesting one. It’s a dig into some of the players for which there are some rather large question marks. For some of these we may see an answer almost immediately as the season kicks off; for others, they may remain an unsolved quandary as time goes by.
These could be players who may have performed well, but in unusual circumstances; or players who have struggled but with indications as to a deeper cause. Let’s discuss the Tottenham Hotspur footballers who are the biggest puzzles for Ange Postecoglou to solve with the launch of the 24/25 Premier League right around the corner.
James Maddison
Maddison could have been swapped with Pape Matar Sarr in the other piece, and I mentally wrestled where to put them. I ended up categorizing Maddison here, because we know just how good a player a fit and firing James Maddison can be. He was a vital part of Spurs’ early season run last season, and if he can get back to that level Spurs will be hard to beat.
That’s the question, though: is that level still achievable for Maddison? He was poor after his return from his midseason injury, though one might hope that he was still suffering the after-effects; but then he was poor in preseason, putting in some muddled performances after a full offseason with no international involvement. Was he saving himself for the season proper? Surely Ange wouldn’t tolerate that. Maybe he’s nervous about his body?
I don’t know, but this Tottenham team needs him fit and firing – and hopefully that will start against Leicester.
Djed Spence
Djed Spence found himself in the doghouse last season, where rumors abounded of a poor attitude as he was quickly sent off on loan to Serie A. You have to hand it to him though – he apparently front-footed these issues this preseason, seeking out time with Ange Postecoglou to clear the air and affirm his commitment to playing for Tottenham Hotspur. One question, however, still remains: is he good enough?
It seems he’s been good enough to play his way back into Ange’s plans at least; some bright performances against weak opposition showed off some of the physical tools at Djed’s disposal. Unfortunately, his shortcomings were then put on display against a tougher opponent, with his poor touch and lack of defensive awareness causing him all sorts of problems in the latter friendlies.
Was this a reflection of him playing out of position against a stronger opponent? Or could we see the same struggles on the right? One thing’s for sure: he won’t have it all his way as Pedro Porro’s backup with Archie Gray breathing down his neck… which, speaking of:
Archie Gray
A hugely talented youngster, Gray was perhaps the most impressive performer across the first few preseason fixtures, where he was deployed in the center back position. He then transitioned into midfield, and things got much tougher for him. He often struggled to find space to receive the ball, and often gave away possession under pressure. In fact, I would argue that he and Sarr were the two main reasons Tottenham were almost unable to get out of their half in the first match against Bayern – but it wasn’t just the Bundesliga giants, as Gray struggled in the same way against the K-League All Stars.
He then offset all of this by subbing on in the second half at right back in the second match against the Germans, where he looked fantastic! Which then begs the question – how is he going to develop, and where will he get minutes this season? Spurs paid a pretty steep price for the youngster, with a view to him being a future option at the #6 – but is he ready now? Because he may be hard-pressed to get minutes on the right, with Pedro Porro and Djed Spence (as mentioned above) potentially ahead of him in the pecking order. He has a lot of talent, but the Premier League is a step up.
Dejan Kulusevski
Arguably the top performer of preseason. So why is he listed here, rather than the first piece, I hear you ask? Well, Deki spent nearly the entirety of his preseason at striker… where Spurs just made a £65 million signing, and where Spurs also have the likes of Richarlison, Son, and Will Lankshear (I know, I know) at their disposal to fill any additional minutes Solanke can’t.
And this is the thing with Deki: he doesn’t really have a true position in Ange-ball. He doesn’t have the speed or trickery to really fulfil the right wing position, though he does have significant value there against teams more like to pressure Spurs. Some like him in the #10 position, and while he can often do good work when receiving the ball in those attacking areas, he struggles much more than a natural midfielder to find the space to get himself on the ball in the first place, leading him to often go missing from games when he starts in midfield.
Honestly, I thought he’d potentially made the backup striker position his own with Solanke linked and Richarlison potentially leaving; but that’s no longer happening. So, will Dejan Kulusevski be able to reclaim a starting role somewhere, or will he be used more as a kind of “Mr Fix-It” through the season?
