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Ange Postecoglou may have no option but to repeat Tottenham pre-season experiment vs Ferencvaros

Ange Postecoglou has some decisions to make before Tottenham's European tie against Ferencvaros
-Credit: (Image: (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images))


European football is back on the calendar for Tottenham this week as they travel to Hungary to take on Ferencvaros. Victorious in their Europa League opener with a 3-0 win over Qarabag despite playing with ten men for 83 minutes due to Radu Dragusin's red card, Spurs will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins in UEFA's second club competition to put themselves in a strong position in the newly-formed league phase.

As was the case last Thursday at home to Qarabag, head coach Ange Postecoglou will likely rotate some of his team with a tough away game at Brighton & Hove Albion coming up on Sunday. The Spurs boss does look like he will have limited options in certain positions on the pitch, with defence certainly one of them.

As a result of his dismissal against Qarabag, Dragusin will miss out in Budapest as he serves a one-match. Cristian Romero will return to Tottenham's Europa League squad this week after completing the final game of his European ban last Thursday.

The World Cup winner will very likely take his place in the starting XI due to the lack of defensive cover available to Postecoglou for the game. Question marks remain over whether Micky van de Ven will be named in the team as he played the full 90 minutes against Qarabag before getting a further 81 minutes in the tank in Sunday's 3-0 win at Manchester United.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Postecoglou did indicate that a reason for taking the Dutchman off at Old Trafford was because he "played probably more than we wanted him to" against Qarabag. This week's game away at Ferencvaros could be the ideal opportunity to give Van de Ven a breather as Spurs do not want to push him too much and see him pick up an injury as a result.

A possible rest for Van de Ven could open the door up for Ben Davies to come in at centre-back after starting in the position in Tottenham's first European game. The Welshman was left out of the matchday squad at Old Trafford on Sunday but looks a certainty to come back into the team and get some much-needed minutes with limited game time coming his way so far this season.

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However, there is the possibility that Davies switches across to his natural left-back role following Destiny Udogie's half-time exit in the Manchester United fixture. The Italian international felt something in his quad and was hooked at the break with Spurs not wanting him to do any further damage.

Djed Spence did replace his teammate for the second half but the versatile full-back is not available for European selection after missing out on Tottenham's Europa League squad. One other possible option if Udogie is given the rest he needs would be to play Archie Gray as a left-back.

The 18-year-old has a plenty of experience of operating as a right-back and Tottenham could be in a position where they need the youngster to instead take on a new role altogether on Thursday. Alternatively, Postecoglou and his coaching team could choose to play Gray as a centre-back alongside Romero and move Davies to left-back.

Gray did feature as a centre-back in Tottenham's first three friendlies during the summer and Spurs may possibly opt to repeat the experiment once more. Playing as a centre-back is definitely not the England Under-21 international's natural role, yet Postecoglou did namecheck him when discussing centre-back options currently at the club after Spurs did not look to sign another defender in what remained of the transfer window.

If that is indeed to be the case on Thursday night in Budapest it will only add to Gray's game and help him as a player as he looks to become a Tottenham regular in the months ahead. The Durham-born ace did play as a right-back last time out against Qarabag but that position could be taken up by Pedro Porro.

At a time when others need time on the sidelines, the Spaniard should be relatively fresh after not coming off the bench in the recent Coventry and Qarabag fixtures, meaning he starts away at Ferencvaros. Another important game in Tottenham's European schedule, all eyes will be on the teamsheet on Thursday evening to see Postecoglou's defence of choice.

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