I’ve always found there is so much more to think about when we lose a vital game than any other type of result and following that 0-2 result yesterday it’s definitely the case. It’s a strange feeling when their keeper gets the Man Of The Match award and yet it’s all documented as a complete disaster? I’m not trying to sugarcoat anything but the attempts on goal was a positive and while they were “good” chances, unfortunately there weren’t too many “clear cut” chances.
So here are my own bulletpoint takeaways:
- Sarr or Skipp moving forward?
- Kulusevski’s positive attitude in the post match interview
- Son – the performance, the difference from last season!
- City on Thursday – our midfield and Richarlison’s involvement?
- The future of our Goalkeeper position
- This Transfer Window – what are our needs, who is out there?
Sarr or Skipp?
After the game Conte helped me a little with this when he came out and stated that for the Palace game he went with “Skippy” – as he refers to him – and with Sarr for this game. This made me think he’s still undecided in which player might be ahead of the other. Obviously, it’s Hojbjerg and Bentancur when both are available for selection but the next in line probably is still Yves Bissouma. To me, it’s getting really close as to who out of the three midfielders of Bissouma, Skipp, or Sarr will emerge as Number 3 choice by the end of January. I’m leaving Winks, Lo Celso, and Ndombele out of the discussion assuming they won’t return anytime soon. How long do you give a player to settle in? The reason I ask this question is that Yves Bissouma still has a lot to show me to trust him in that vital position. Skipp may still be coming back from the injuries and Sarr might be too young? The reality is we have 6 midfielders outside of Hojbjerg and Bentancur and perhaps all of them won’t cut it for us! What I do know is we give away that central midfield so easily in those periods when we go down 0-1 and 0-2.
Kulusevski Post Match
A quick note here to say how impressed I was with Dejan’s post match interview. Very mature from a young player who clearly has the right attitude and an attitude that suggests he wants nothing more than to win football matches. He’s going to be a real asset for us whatever the future forward positions may be for Tottenham.
Son – the performance, the difference from last season!
I’ll be writing a future piece on this very subject as there is so much to put forward but wanted to write here that Son finally losing the mask for this game made no difference whatsoever to his recent performances! His shot towards the end of the first half – well saved by Ramsdale – was one of our best chances of the entire game but last year he would have buried that opportunity! It’s really been a terrible season for him and I don’t know what happens for this to turnaround anytime soon. I can only imagine it’s psychological and he needs to get his head right and soon!
City Away on Thursday!
There probably are no positives at all that our next game finds us going up to Manchester City who, like us, just lost their local derby!! We’ve been here before though and managed to pull out a crazy result – the big difference this time is that City will not be as complacent as previous occasions. They are hurting from that loss to United and will be desperate to appease both themselves and their fans. It will be tough and let’s see what happens but that midfield is critical to the outcome – who gets the nod to partner Hojbjerg? I’m going to predict Bissouma but I’d personally go with Sarr again.
The Future for the Goalkeeper position?
It’s probably the last season for Hugo Lloris and it’s likely that internally within Tottenham that his position is being discussed for next year. The facts are we’ll go with Hugo for the rest of this campaign and he’ll remain our Captain during that time. We’ll save this subject for a future post but I’ll state for this Post Game analysis here that he was rightfully scrutinized for much of his play during this game.
This Transfer Window – the needs and the availability?
We’ve never known what to expect in these January transfer windows but we can speculate on the needs before discussing individual players. As stated above, we can go with Hugo for the rest of the season and make the big move for that position in the summer. For me, Romero is set but the other two positions are anything but set and Dier, Sanchez, and Lenglet are all dispensable. Rodon and Tanganga may well be worth keeping on the books. We need that partner for Romero and must be addressed by the summer. The wing backs is a definite need but I’m optimistic that Udogie gets his chance next season on the left side when he comes to us from Udinese. If the talk is real that leaves the pursuit of Pedro Porro filling the need on the right – I say go for him and then Conte has no excuses. If Doherty or Royal has to make way I think Royal probably has the most marketability to recoup some funds and keep Doherty for the next year or two. Spence, Sessegnon, and Perisic will stay and who knows what the Reguilon situation is. We talked about midfield earlier and here is where we need that creative player to give us options with our attacking formations. There are times we need to go two upfront instead of the three. That means a James Maddison, Jack Grealish type of player and the type of player in the mould of our club over recent times. I’ll not speculate on player recommendations yet but rather just leave it with the need for that “type” of Number 8 or Number 10. Pending anything major happening with Kane or Son over the summer I think we’re good going with Kane, Son, Kulusevski, Richarlison, and that “type” of Number 8 or 10 I just referred to. I expect Gil and Moura to move on and we’ll likely replace them with one additional good squad player. It’s great to speculate!!