Ange Postecoglou faces major Tottenham dilemma as nightmare fixture scenario confirmed
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou will soon face a number of huge dilemmas following confirmation of a key fixture. Spurs have won nine of their last 11 games across three different competitions with hope they can continue their 100 per cent winning record in the Europa League on Thursday against Galatasaray.
In the last seven days, Tottenham have beaten both Manchester City and Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup and Premier League, respectively. However, the Lilywhites have been handed three big injury blows in that time with Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Richarlison all suffering issues.
Van de Ven will not feature in Turkey because of a hamstring injury with Postecoglou giving updates on the latter duo. "From the weekend, Richy unfortunately injured his hamstring so I'm still getting the final information but I think he'll be out for a while. Romero, I think nothing too serious, hopefully still a chance for the weekend," he said.
Confirming two new issues, the Spurs boss added: "Timo Werner has been carrying a bit of a groin complaint, which is still there, so he didn't travel, and Mikey Moore picked up a bit of a virus yesterday, so we've left him at home as well. I think everyone else who's fit and eligible is here."
Wilson Odobert is also still absent which means Spurs will be without two centre-backs and four attackers that can all play at left wing. Given Spurs are regularly playing twice each week, Postecoglou will need to use the full complement of his squad over the coming months.
That is currently very hard to do in the centre defence and out wide however, with Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin and Son Heung-min the only natural fit options for those two roles. As such, Son starting the fixture against Galatasaray looks very likely despite only playing 55 minutes this past weekend on his way back from injury.
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That is just one dilemma facing Postecoglou in the immediate but there looks set to be even more going forward with a particular fixture announcement sure to cause some dilemmas. On Thursday, December 19, Spurs will host Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.
Just three days later, Spurs welcome Liverpool to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with it clear Postecoglou may need to decide on his priority. Given the desire to win a trophy, going strong in the hopes of reaching a semi-final will be tempting but the league is of course the main focus.
By that point, Postecoglou will be hoping the injury issues he is currently dealing with are no more, as it is important for minutes to be carefully managed in that period. Even before the hectic run of games around Boxing Day and the new year, Spurs must play seven games.
With that in mind, fringe players will absolutely be required and almost every member of the squad could be called upon in order for Tottenham to continue competing in three different competitions.
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