Were you hoping for some positive Tottenham Hotspur injury news ahead of this Saturday’s early match against Newcastle? Oh, you sweet summer child. There is no good news. Ange Postecoglou held his pre-match press conference before the game against the in-form and high-flying Toon and confirmed that not only is Destiny Udogie expected to miss six weeks of action (down from the eight previously hinted), but that the team’s been dealing with a virus that’s been sweeping through the squad this week.
“Destiny — his hamstring. Looks around six weeks for him. We lose Bentancur suspended. None of the injured ones are back yet. We’ve had a bit of an illness bug with a few not training.
“At this stage [Richarlison] and Mikey Moore are the next cabs off the rank, we’re hoping next week. Ben [Davies], Micky [van de Ven] and [Cuti] Romero all kind of around the same time, back end of January.”
So I guess that’s kinda good news in that we have a firm timeline for return of a few players this month. But that’s not going to help Ange with Newcastle, a team on a four game winning streak and that has scored 13 goals, conceding none, within that same span. Ange didn’t specify which players were afected by the virus or whether those players will be playing on Saturday, but it doesn’t look great, does it?
Postecoglou acknowledged that the team is going through a rough patch where everything seems to be going against them, but in true Ange form he didn’t moan about it, addressing the spate of injuries and the compressed fixture schedule as challenges that are “temporary.”
“Look, some of it, but some of it’s just circumstances, some of it’s just, and I know we always want a head on a stick and we want somebody to blame, and there’s always somebody at fault, but some of it’s just life, mate, you know, football is like life and you know how sometimes in life you get one thing go wrong and you get another thing later on, and you’re doing nothing different, you’re just going ‘why is it always me at the moment?’.
“And you know what, it’s all temporary, you get through it, and for us, some of it we understand is a consequence of the situation we’re in in terms of fixtures, the way we play, but some of it’s just the way...you know. We lost Djed with a red card and he was supposed to start over Destiny. Destiny starts doesn’t get the rest, and then...it’s like that’s just life and sometimes no one’s at blame, no-one’s at fault, you know, it’s just, we’re going through a bad trot, but it is temporary, we’ll get through it. We’ll analyse areas we can improve in and move forward from there.”
The January transfer window is now open with the expectation that Spurs will be bringing in some players to help bolster the squad. There have already been rumors that Spurs are looking at potential options at backup keeper and left back, two areas of need this winter. Ange wasn’t drawn in to explaining or expounding on the team’s transfer plans, but again noted that the club has a transfer and recruitment plan in place, and that the club will not be drawn into “panic buys” just to patch holes in the boat.
“It’s not a matter of pushing but the club are working hard to get help for the playing group. It’s no secret we need to bolster numbers. January is not an easy month, we understand. At same time want to make sure we do the best thing for us rather than panic and bring in people who aren’t going to be a suitable fit.”
When asked about new arrival Yang Min-hyeok, Ange was very careful to lower expectations on his ability to contribute to the first team right away. In short, we shouldn’t expect Yang to feature for Spurs anytime soon.
“There’s real plan or timeline [for Yang]. Let him settle. He’s still very young and he’s coming from the other side of the world where the level is nowhere near what he’ll face here. He’s got [Son Heung-Min] here which is a big help for him.”
Tottenham kick off against Newcastle at 7:30 a.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. in the early fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.