Ange Postecoglou has revealed the thought behind using Wilson Odobert in the number ten role against Crystal Palace and has shed light on whether we could see the Frenchman playing in that role moving forward at Tottenham.
As expected, Postecoglou rang the changes for the clash against Crystal Palace, with eight new players coming into the starting eleven from the side that beat Bodo/Glimt 2-0 in Norway.
Pedro Porro, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Dejan Kulusevski were the only three players who kept their place in the starting lineup, but the Swede only lasted 19 minutes, being forced off after a clash with Marc Guehi.
Kulusevski coming off posed a big problem for Postecoglou since James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall are already out injured, with the Tottenham boss opting to bring on Mikey Moore and move Odobert to the number ten role.
Ange Postecoglou reveals if we will see more of Wilson Odobert in the middle
However, Postecoglou confirmed that he only opted to move Odobert to a central role due to Tottenham’s injury situation, admitting that he did not want to expose any of his other key players ahead of the Europa League final.
The Tottenham head coach also admitted that the players who came into the side failed to take the opportunity to stake a claim for a place in the team for the final.
When asked if we could see more of Odobert as a number ten, Postecoglou told Football.London: “It was a needs must basis today, I put him in there, he’s played there before because I didn’t want to expose any of the other guys from the other night so he had to play in there.”
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While the result may not have gone Tottenham’s way on Sunday, there is some good news on the injury front for the Lilywhites ahead of the final in Bilbao.
Postecoglou confirmed after the game that Kulusevski had only picked up a knock, and there is optimism that he will not miss any football.