Thomas Frank spoke about managing the Tottenham squad ahead of a midweek encounter.
The side struggled with injuries under Ange Postecoglou in his second season in North London, and the schedule does not relent due to the team’s qualification for the Champions League through winning the Europa League final in May. The head coach has now got his work cut out for him.
Spurs must now prepare to play against Newcastle United in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup in their bid to win their first domestic title since 2008. Their coach has been keen to mix and match to manage minutes as he learns about the players, and that pattern is likely to continue on Wednesday.
“It's all good from guys who played on Sunday. Dominic Solanke: steps forward. Cristian Romero is on the pitch, no timeframe, but on the pitch. Destiny Udogie is on the pitch as well.
“Now it's a cup tournament. It's one game. So, it's a little bit more at stake, you can say, but it needs to be the same mindset. So, I changed four players from Monaco to Everton and three from Aston Villa to Monaco.
“So, of course there will be a little bit of rotation, like I’ve basically have done from game to game, because we played every third or fourth day, you need to do it. Every club does it. If you want to compete, that's the next thing.
“So, if you want to compete over 60 games, you can't play the same 11 for 60 games because risk of injuries and fatigue and lack of performance, that will just naturally happen. So, it's that fine balance to try to manage that, but that's what we're up for. That's one of the beauties of being Head Coach and sleepless nights to try to figure everything out. That's part of the good fun.”