Ange Postecoglou has revealed what he thought of Wilson Odobert’s performance as a number ten against Aston Villa and has provided a hint regarding whether we can expect to see the Frenchman in the Tottenham starting eleven for the Europa League final.
The Tottenham boss began the experiment of using the 20-year-old as a number ten last week against Crystal Palace after Dejan Kulusevski was forced off with an injury.
It has since been confirmed that Kulusevski’s season is over, and that comes as terrible news for the Lilywhites, given that their other two creative midfielders, James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall, are also on the treatment table.
Ahead of the clash against Villa, Postecoglou refused to rule out experimenting with Pedro Porro as a number ten, but the Australian resisted the urge to do that, giving Odobert another opportunity to show what he can do centrally.
Ange Postecoglou assesses Wilson Odobert’s display in Aston Villa vs Tottenham
The former Burnley man was involved in some bright moments in the first half, looking tidy in possession, like he always does.
Odobert was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, with his improvised effort being saved from point-blank range by Emi Martinez after some neat interplay between him, Mathys Tel and Heung-min Son.
Postecoglou admitted that he was pleased with what he saw from Odobert and sent a big hint by stating that he is one Tottenham may need to “rely on” in Bilbao.
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When asked what he thought of the France Under-21 international in the number ten role at Villa Park, the Spurs boss said (via Football.London): “I thought Wilson was good. The issue with Wilson is that he has just missed so much of the season. You can see he lacks match sharpness, but he is an intelligent player.
“Now I thought at times tonight, in tight areas, he found his way forward, and a couple of things didn’t fall his way. He was unlucky with his finish, which I thought was an outstanding finish, but it fell straight at Emi Martinez.
“I think with Wilson, at least we have got him some significant minutes again. With the way we are in that midfield area, he might be one we need to rely on come Wednesday, so it’s good for him to play.”
Why Postecoglou’s words are very revealing ahead of the Europa League final
Ahead of the game yesterday, Postecoglou made it clear that the performances against Villa will influence his starting eleven for the final.
Based on the Australian’s answer about Odobert, it sounds like he might have done enough to sneak into the starting eleven in the number ten role for the final.