Tottenham Hotspur’s football match schedule will not let up for the foreseeable future, so it’s up to head coach Thomas Frank to figure out how best to tackle Spurs’ participation in (as of now) four major competitions. The current challenge is the League Cup — Tottenham travel north to face Carabao Cup holders Newcastle United on Wednesday, but while cup competitions are important, Frank will certainly have one eye on this weekend’s home match against Chelsea this Sunday.
Speaking in a press conference yesterday ahead of the match, Frank all but admitted he plans to rotate his squad after an important 3-0 win away at Everton this past weekend.
“That’s the challenge. It’s one game so there’s more at stake. I changed four from Monaco to Everton and three before that. Of course there’ll be rotation, playing every third or fourth day. If you want to compete over 60 games, you can’t play the same XI. So there’s a fine balance. That’s one of the beauties of being Head Coach, that’s all part of the good fun.”
Of course we have no idea HOW Frank will rotate, and that’s pretty key. With Newcastle likely to similarly rest some key players tomorrow, it’s anyone’s guess how much Frank will lean on his reserves, or whether any youth players will get an opportunity to play. The injuries will also play a role — Frank also provided a positive update on the status of Cuti Romero, Destiny Udogie, and Dominic Solanke, but stopped short of saying any of those three will feature at St. James’ Park tomorrow.
“All good from the guys that played [Sunday]. Dom stepped forward, step by step. Cuti on the pitch today, not a time frame [for his return]. Destiny on the pitch as well today. Three steps forward.”
So what does that mean? Based on the players who featured at Everton, it’s likely we’ll see players like Mathys Tel, Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert, and Archie Gray at some point. Frank’s hands are a bit tied in defense as long as Romero and Radu Dragusin remain hurt, but could we maybe see a surprise Kota Takai debut, or someone like Gray or Palhinha drop into the back line to give one of Kevin Danso or Everton hero Micky van de Ven a breather. Maybe we’ll also see some late minutes for Dane Scarlett or Ju’nai Byfield, both of whom have made the bench the past couple weeks?
Nobody likes to lose, but if there’s one competition that I’d have little compunction rotating for — and dropping out of — it’s the League Cup. That said, Toon will also rotate, and Spurs have been good away from home lately. It’ll be interesting to see how Frank addresses this one.