Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou could be set to welcome back his first choice striker for tomorrow’s mid-week fixture at Bournemouth. In his weekly press conference, Postecoglou said that while it’s not a sure thing quite yet, Dominic Solanke has recovered from the illness that kept him out of Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Fulham, and he could be in line to feature against his old club for the first time since his summer move to Spurs.
“Everyone from the weekend got through OK, Archie [Gray] obviously got a knock but he’s recovered well. Dom’s due to train today, he’s still not 100 per cent but he’s definitely improved from the weekend, so we’ll see how he goes through training today. The other injured guys are inching closer but not available.”
The news wasn’t quite as good for Cuti Romero, who has missed several matches with a foot injury sustained with Argentina in the last international break. Ange confirmed that Romero will not play vs. Bournemouth, but hopefully will be back very soon.
“[Cuti] is due to have his last session or last couple of sessions with the rehab guys, today and tomorrow. So we’re kind of hoping that back into training, potentially by Friday. At the very latest early next week, if everything goes well.”
Postecoglou also addressed the spate of injuries currently at the club, especially in the forward line. Against Fulham, Spurs were without Solanke, Richarlison, Wilson Odobert, and Mikey Moore with a variety of injuries and afflictions, a situation that has left Ange short on his options and a short bench with the busy holiday fixture season looming.
“Yeah, there is no doubt because when you add Wilson to that, even Mikey, we had Dom out at the weekend, you hope that alleviates. With Wilson it’s long-term, hopefully Mikey by the turn of year will be back as well, but he’s 17. With Richy it has been frustrating because I see the potential in him and to be fair when he’s been fit he’s always made an impact, for me anyway. I think back to the start of last year and when he came back into the team during the year he went on a scoring run.
“Even the little games he’s played this year, he’s made an impact. So, you know, that’s what you kind of hold on to, but there’s no doubt we need some bolstering in that front third over the next couple of transfer windows. Dom coming in has been great, but again we can’t overload him either, because ultimately, you know, even if he stays fit and nothing happens, performance will invariably drop if his energy levels drop. So it’s something we’re aware of and need to plan for.”
Postecoglou also got slightly tetchy when addressing the status of Moore, who has missed several weeks with what has been described as a virus, and who is set to miss even more time in the coming weeks before returning to training. Ange refused to go into any details about Moore’s situation, citing protection of his privacy as a young, underage player.
“Look, I come out here and I want to be as transparent as I can, but this is a 17-year-old boy. I don’t like talking about what they have and what they don’t have. It’s nothing serious, but you know, he’s 17. We’re going to take our time, and I don’t like this kind of constant, not from you [the reporter] by the way, but I’ve just heard other bits and pieces of people speculating, Come on. I mean, like, if it’s your 17-year-old son, you don’t want everyone to know what he has or hasn’t got. It’s nothing serious. It’s nothing long-term.
“It’s just that he’s a young lad and he’s only 17, and he’s a big part of this football club, and we will protect him, and we’ll be guided by how he feels, how he recovers from, you know, an illness. Like I said, young people will recover at different rates. He’ll be back. He’s still here. he’s He’s part of what we’re doing, and he’ll be back in the next few weeks, but again he’s missed a lot of football. So whether we bring him back the first team or he needs to play [for the U21s], we’ve got to bear in mind that he’s 17.”
Fair enough! But what about Djed Spence, a player who by all accounts is not injured, but who was still not preferred in Sunday’s Fulham match, despite Pedro Porro looking dead on his feet? A lot of Spurs fans were anticipating seeing a lot more of Spence after he looked good in preseason, but he has barely played and is not named to Spurs’ Europa League roster. Postecoglou’s comments hinted that perhaps the Djedaissance isn’t quite as far along as everyone seems to think.
“I don’t know about a major turnaround. I think a major turn around is Djed playing regularly at this level, just because he has hung around doesn’t mean that is a major turn around. I still think a lot of that is Djed continuing to train hard and wait for his opportunity.
“Fitness wise he is always in good condition. We train pretty hard. Could he start a game? I think he could. Could he start multiple games? Probably not because he hasn’t played for quite a while. He has been in and around the squad. Particularly between now and Christmas opportunities may come up for him, he almost got on at the weekend but the red card changed things a little bit. I think the key for Djed is he is still training well and his focus is there and just to be ready to take the opportunity when it comes.”
There are a lot of matches coming in the next month, and that will necessarily result in rotation. Ange Postecoglou said he’s mindful of the fact that Tottenham’s best players can’t play every minute of every match, and that pushing players too much for too long could result in a drop in form, something he’d like to avoid.
“You’ve always got to make decisions you think are right. I am never going to make decisions to alleviate or appease people’s opinions. Deki has been our best player this year and I want to protect him because there is no chance he can play all these games we’ve got. Like I say, even if they can play, performance will invariably drop because it is not sustainable. We have to pick and choose. I thought the weekend game, particularly with Pape and Madders and Biss in then, we’re missing Bentancur as well, whenever I was going to leave him out, it would leave a bit of a gap. And then losing Dom on the day didn’t help.
“So, it’s something we’re going to have to do, particularly with the small numbers we have, between now and Christmas hopefully we’ll get Romero and Micky back but the rest of them probably won’t. So, middle to front third, Bentancur included in that as he won’t be available [domestically] for a while, so middle and front third, we’ll have to rotate the players a fair bit.”
Tottenham kick off against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. UK. The match is televised on USA Network in the United States, and streamed on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.
