The last few weeks have posed further disappointment for Tottenham Hotspur, and the losses to Liverpool and Nottingham Forest followed by the drab draw against Wolves result in us sitting 11th in the league and only 9 points above the relegation zone at the halfway point of the Premier League season. There is a distinct possibility that the situation will worsen before it gets better.
Our defenders aren’t looking like returning in the next weeks with Ben Davies having a setback, and Micky Van De Ven and Cristian Romero seemingly being weeks away according to the last updates. Destiny Udogie is rumoured to be out for 2 months after coming off injured against Wolves. This will leave a backline of Djed Spence, Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin and Pedro Porro playing every single game, at least twice a week to there being a lack of other options. Pedro Porro already looks tired, we know Radu Dragusin isn’t 100% and is playing as a necessity as our only available centre-back. Archie Gray is a young 18 year old midfielder who is playing out of position while Djed Spence hasn’t played an awful lot of football in recent years. Guglielmo Vicario has ditched the crutches, but is still relying on a protective boot indicating he is still a while away from recovering, meaning Fraser Forster will have to be relied upon in goal despite some shaky moments in recent weeks. Our upcoming fixtures include Newcastle, Liverpool, Arsenal and an away trip to Goodison Park, which is no easy place to go.
We need to be busy early in this transfer window which opens at midnight tonight. We need more defensive cover as too many of our players have shown they can’t be consistently relied upon and take too many knocks. To summarise the situation at the moment, even Mr Dependable Ben Davies is unavailable due to an injury.
The midfield is our strongest position available currently, but Yves Bissouma can be reckless to a challenge as shown by the fact he has already been suspended for getting 5 yellows. As I have mentioned before, Bissouma also loves to try and do too much with the ball and end up getting caught out and making a rash decision in a desperate attempt to try and make amends. Rodrigo Bentancur also loves a foul, and despite being an experienced member of Ange Postecoglou’s squad, he picked up a needless yellow card in the 97th minute against Wolves, meaning he will be suspended against Newcastle on Saturday due to the 5 yellow cards rule. Lucas Bergvall has barely had a look in when it comes to starting, although his cameos off the bench have been bright. The Sweden international did start against Southampton but this was more out of necessity due to Bissouma and Bentancur both being unavailable for differing suspensions. Bergvall himself is partial to a yellow card, and so is his midfield colleague Pape Matar Sarr. We need to try and reduce the amount of yellow cards we get as a team I feel, or there becomes further selection headaches when players miss matches due to suspensions.
Our attack has also struggled due to tiredness as well. Wilson Odobert, Mikey Moore and Richarlison have all been out injured for the past month and a half, so we have had limited options to use when a player like Heung-Min Son or Brennan Johnson needs a rest. Heung-Min Son’s decision making has been awful in recent weeks, and he looked devoid of confidence as he stepped up to take the penalty against Wolves, which Jose Sa saved. Timo Werner has come in a few times, but was slated for a lack of effort away at Rangers and has only had appearances from the substitutes bench since. Dominic Solanke has looked knackered and has been run to the ground in recent weeks due to a lack of options.
There seems to be a stubbornness from Ange Postecoglou to give Alfie Dorrington, Will Lankshear, Sergio Reguilon and Lucas Bergvall more opportunities. Surely a few starts for any of these players would cause the main core of the first team group to have a higher standard in their performance whilst putting them less at risk to potential injuries.
We need to get busy and creative in the January transfer window or our season risks being over by the end of January if we lose to Liverpool, continue stuttering in the league or even if we face a shock defeat to Tamworth.