Four Tottenham changes Ange Postecoglou would love to make vs Ferencvaros
Ange Postecoglou will take the opportunity to rotate his team when Tottenham return to action on Thursday evening. Fresh from that convincing 3-0 win at Manchester United on Sunday, Spurs take on Hungarian side Ferencvaros in their second Europa League league phase game.
Postecoglou made a number of changes for last week's 3-0 win over Qarabag and it's likely he will do the same this time around with a tricky game at Brighton & Hove Albion on the calendar for Sunday afternoon. A number of those on the periphery of the starting XI will come into the side but Spurs do actually find themselves light in a couple of positions as things stand.
Radu Dragusin's red card in the opening minutes of the Qarabag game means that he is suspended for the match at the Groupama Arena as his punishment is a one-match ban. There are also question marks over Destiny Udogie's fitness after coming off at half-time in last Sunday's win at Old Trafford.
The possible absence of both leaves Tottenham a tad short at the back, with Djed Spence also not available after his omission from the team's Europa League squad. Spurs do have options galore in midfield as things stand but it's a different story in attack.
Already without Richarlison and Wilson Odobert through injury, Son Heung-min could possibly be missing for the second game in succession but that will all become clear when Postecoglou holds his pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening in Budapest. Due to the lack of options up front, Dominic Solanke looks like he will start once again unless the head coach springs a major surprise and hands Will Lankshear his full Tottenham debut.
Following a busy start to the season and with some players perhaps playing more than Postecoglou would have liked, the 59-year-old may use it as the ideal opportunity to rest some of his first-team regulars even though some of his options are limited. Speaking to football.london immediately after the win over Manchester United, the 59-year-old indicated that Micky van de Ven "played probably more than we wanted him to" against Qarabag due to Dragusin's red card, thus explaining his late substitution at Old Trafford.
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The Netherlands international's only real rest this season came in the 2-1 win at Coventry City as he was left out of the matchday squad, with the player also absent at Newcastle but that was simply down to injury. Cristian Romero's return from his European suspension is a boost for Tottenham and there is also one of Archie Gray or Ben Davies to consider at centre-back in order to give Van de Ven the breather he requires.
It would also be wise to leave Udogie out of the team after the left-back felt something in his quad at Manchester United and made way for Spence at half-time as a result. Again, Spurs didn't plan for Udogie to play as much as he did against Qarabag but Dragusin's red card saw them rip up any plans devised pre-match.
The 21-year-old has played every single game for Tottenham this season, completing the 90 minutes in four of his eight appearances. As Udogie only played 45 minutes in total in pre-season due to working his way back to fitness from the quadriceps surgery he underwent in April, it was always important for the player to get as many minutes under his belt once the league had started as he was always playing catch-up with his teammates in terms of his fitness.
Udogie is probably at the point now where a rest would be beneficial, especially considering the injury scare he gave Tottenham during the first half at Old Trafford when he went to ground and looked certain to come off. In terms of Tottenham's midfield to face Ferencvaros, Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Lucas Bergvall will be leading the race to start against after doing likewise against Qarabag.
That in turn will see Rodrigo Bentancur, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison drop out of the XI and have a rest prior to Sunday's game at the Amex Stadium. Postecoglou may not be able to change too much up front, however.
One player he would probably like to rotate is Brennan Johnson. The ex-Nottingham Forest man has started six of his eight Tottenham appearances this campaign and he entered the action very early on at Coventry City due to Odobert's injury.
Those injuries to Odobert and Richarlison have limited Postecoglou's choice in recent weeks and that means Johnson is another who has perhaps played more than the Spurs coaching team would have liked. Mikey Moore continues to get minutes off the bench in a Tottenham shirt and there is an opportunity there for Postecoglou to hand the 17-year-old his full debut on Thursday against Ferencvaros.
Timo Werner would benefit from another go in the starting XI and the lack of fully-fit strikers probably suggests that Solanke will be starting again. In an ideal world for Postecoglou and Spurs, the team can put themselves into a comfortable position early on at Ferencvaros and then replace the big-money signing with Lankshear at some point in the second half.
Rotation was always going to be a big part of Tottenham's Europa League league phase campaign and hopefully that will be the case in the weeks ahead as they target a big year domestically and in UEFA's second club competition. Spurs may have limited options in some positions right now but Postecoglou must find a way of giving Van de Ven, Udogie and Johnson the rest they require in Budapest and the same goes for Solanke if possible.
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