Football.London

Tottenham Hotspur appear to have come through the 2-2 draw with Brentford unscathed before the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie against AZ.

After losing 1-0 in Alkmaar courtesy of a Lucas Bergvall own goal, Spurs must win their first home match in almost a month to at least force extra time. Dominic Solanke returned from injury in the Netherlands, while Cristian Romero and Micky van der Ven were fit enough to make the matchday squad.

All three featured in the weekend's Premier League fixture, Solanke playing the entire match while Romero started before being replaced in a planned substitution by Van der Ven. That trio, therefore, all appear available to play a part against AZ.

Here is a round-up of the other Tottenham injury news:

Ben Davies

Injury: Knock

Postecoglou has said: "He's training at the moment, so we will see how he feels. He's definitely progressed, and he feels good."

Possible return date: AZ (H), March 13

Dejan Kulusevski

Injury: Foot

Postecoglou has said: "He's had a knock on his foot. He's not really sure when (it happened) to be honest.

"It's been sore for the last couple of weeks, but he has been able to train and play and still get through it. But it wasn't getting better, so we did some further investigations, but there's no real clarity. We're just waiting on a couple of things to find out the extent of it.

"But he's unlikely to be back before the international break. It's nothing serious; it's nothing surgical or anything."

Possible return date:Chelsea (A), April 3

Richarlison

Injury: Calf

What Spurs have said: Postecoglou has not addressed the injury since mid-February, with the club's injury updates only acknowledging the player remains sidelined.

Possible return date: Unknown

Radu Dragusin

Injury: Knee

What Spurs have said: "Radu underwent surgery today following his ACL injury. That procedure has now been completed, and the centre-back will now commence with his recovery before beginning the rehab process."

Aaron Lennon knows the path Archie Gray took in moving from Leeds United to Tottenham Hotspur and now he believes the teenager can become a midfield star in N17.

Both players moved to Spurs at 18-years-old from the West Yorkshire club and in both cases, almost 20 years apart, they made the switch to help out Leeds financially in tough times. Lennon moved to Tottenham in 2005 for a cut-price £1million and would star for the north London side for a decade while Gray sealed his transfer for £40million last summer, a deal that many within the club believe could end up being a bargain.

Gray has already got far more game time than expected, playing 36 times this season at centre-back, right-back and left-back to help fill the gaps in Ange Postecoglou's injury-ravaged team this season even if the teen had yet to play in the midfield role that is expected to be his long-term future.

Gray is one of a number of young players brought into the Australian's squad this season and Lennon, who will play for Spurs Legends against their AC Milan counterparts on Sunday March 23 in aid of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, can see some similarities between the refreshes at Tottenham at the start and end of his time at the club, under Martin Jol in 2005 and then 2014 under Mauricio Pochettino.

"A little bit, there's a lot of good young players. Obviously I know Archie quite well from his Leeds days. I'd watched him a lot. I knew how good he was. It's even shocked me how good he's been this season again and what he's gone on to. He's taken it to another level, and especially in the positions he's had to play," he said.

"There's a few similarities there and they've got [Lucas] Bergvall, who is obviously a quality player. [Djed] Spence has been brilliant coming in now, and you've got Mikey Moore. They've got a lot of talented young lads. Is it going that way [with the youth rebuilds of the past], I'm not quite sure, but they've definitely got potentially some really, really top players."

Lennon worked as an academy coach with Leeds' under-18s last season and the Elland Road club was awash with excitement about the potential of Gray, who was with the first team and impressing as many people off the pitch as he did on it.

"When I went back to Leeds in the back end of the last season, he was just with the first team, but around the place he was always a great lad. The staff who had had him before spoke so highly of him just as an individual," Lennon said. "They were just like 'Aaron, trust me, you won't meet a better lad', that he was an unbelievable pro but just such a nice kid, and he strikes me as that.

"I watched him play a lot at full-back for Leeds, but I've also watched him a lot playing in the middle of the park. I think his best position is still in the middle. When he played against Chelsea for Leeds he was honestly unbelievable.

"So for me, he's still going to be a central midfielder, and I'm actually gutted for him that he's not managed to get more minutes there because I do think he could have a big influence on this team playing in the centre of the park. Obviously with the injury problems, he's had to fill in in various roles, which he's done unbelievably well at.

"I think his time will come. I think if you ask him, he'll say where he wants to play, he'll tell you in the middle of the park, and once the injured players come back and it might be next season now, who knows,, but I think it will be amazing to see Archie get in the centre of the pitch."

It's all in the DNA for the Gray gang, with Lennon adding: "They're a fantastic family. Eddie Gray was one of my youth coaches at reserve level. Eddie was one of the coaches at Leeds and still obviously a legend at Leeds. So he was one of my first reserve managers and Nick Gray, his cousin, also played in the year above me at Leeds. There's his dad Andy. They're a family of footballers, their genes are incredible."

Gray's versatility has been a key strength in his first two seasons as a professional and that's something that Lennon knows all about. As a young right winger, he was used by Jol on the left side at times in order to improve his ability with both feet and give him a better understanding of the game.

"100% [it's important to not be one dimensional]. Martin was great. One of the main reasons he used me on the left was he just thought it would help me get into better scoring positions, but I enjoyed it," said the former England international. "I didn't mind because I was not so bad on my left foot. I started to improve because he wanted me to also go on the outside and then cross with my left.

"It's so important to be able to go both ways as a wide player, and play along the line, even probably more so these days, because it's not really wingers anymore. You're pretty small with the 4-2-3-1 formation, you're more just like a wide forward, so to speak. You probably do less defending, which I had to do probably more of as a wide player in my day in a 4-4-2, but no, it's massively important for any young player.

"I always tell them, look, if you can be confident on both sides, it's going to help you. If you can go inside and outside, it gives you much more opportunities, and then if you can use your weaker foot to cross or to shoot, it's a massive tool to have in the locker."

He added: "It used to be a standard 4-4-2 when I was coming through. You'd have two big strikers and you could literally hug the touchline as a player like me. I remember managers saying to me 'stand on the touchline'.

"Literally stand on the touchline, get out wide and 'get the ball to Aaron, beat your man and cross it'. And that was how it was when I first came through, it obviously started to evolve with different managers coming into the game and a lot of systems changing and most clubs started to evolve into 4-2-3-1, and you started to just adapt your position, playing a lot more inside, picking the ball up in between the pockets, in between the lines.

"The funny thing with me is I started out as a striker. As a young kid, I'd never played out wide. I only played out wide when I got into the first team because we had two big number nines when I was at Leeds, so I'd always played off a striker basically as the number 10.

"It wasn't until I broke into the first team that I actually became a wide player and I had quite a lot of success early on in my career and then it just stuck. I actually preferred playing more central."

One player remains at Tottenham from Lennon's time at the north London club and that's Ben Davies, with the Welshman surpassing his former team-mate's decade in N17 to reach 11 years this summer. Lennon has a lot of time for the 31-year-old defender and believes he will become a coach in the near future.

"Son was just arriving as I was leaving but it's probably only Ben now looking at the squad," he said. "Ben's been unbelievable, absolutely amazing, another great lad by the way, an absolute legend, a fantastic professional and still going strong.

"You never think about that [making a decade at a club] with anyone these days, because football's changed so much. I think even when I had reached it at Spurs, people were just shocked when you say you've been at the club for 10 years. It happens, but it's so rare now in football, especially with new managers coming in. You can have a new manager, you're not his cup of tea, see you later.

"That's how football's changed. So for Ben to do that is magnificent, but it doesn't surprise me because Ben is really an underrated player. He's a top player, top professional, can cover numerous positions and also a really, really good footballer.

"I'm buzzing for Ben because he's a great lad. Last time I was down there I actually bumped into him, had a little chat with him. He's still going strong, but he's a great, great lad, always has been. He's quite far in his badges because I was chatting to him a little bit about the coaching badges as well. Ben will definitely go into coaching. I'd expect it because he'd be good at that."

Aaron Lennon saw it all across 10 years at Tottenham Hotspur but one man in particular immediately makes him smile when he thinks of his former managers.

The England winger joined Spurs from Leeds as an 18-year-old, the West Yorkshire club's financial struggles meaning he arrived for a cut-price £1million in the summer of 2005. The youngster had needed to be persuaded to make the move because he was happy at his boyhood club and only agreed to the switch because it would help out Leeds.

Moving so young, Lennon quickly became homesick for his friend, family and life back up north. It took a big Dutchman in the shape of Martin Jol to help him settle and become a Premier League star in north London.

"He was unbelievable. I absolutely loved working for Martin Jol. Honestly, he's some man," Lennon told football.london . "The moment I got there, I was really homesick and he was fantastic with me. He was giving me extra days off to try and get me to adapt to London.

"Just the confidence he gave me as a young player coming into a new big club, a new environment, and literally put his arm around me and let me flourish to be the player that I became. He was so important for me.

"He was tactically very good, man management even better, and all around a genuinely lovely, lovely man, one of the nicest guys you'll meet in football. He actually cared about you as a human being, not just you as a football player, and I couldn't speak highly enough of him, honestly, he's still to this day one of my actual favourites."

Lennon will return to Tottenham this month as Spurs Legends take on their AC Milan counterparts in N17 on Sunday March 23 in aid of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Having played for a decade at the club, few are better placed than the 37-year-old to explain what it was like to play for some of the club's varied managers during that period, with the quirks each had as well as the highs and lows on and off the pitch.

Juande Ramos would replace Jol in 2007 and there was no exaggerating those stories about the Spaniard banning various items in the club canteen.

"In the food department, Ramos was by far the strictest. I remember the first day he came in, he tipped the butter into the bin!" remembered Lennon. "Back then you'd have your toast with butter and he went to the bin and it was like 'what's happening here? I've just seen him putting the butter in the bin'.

"But as an actual man and a tactician, tactically he was unbelievable. Like really, really good and really clever, but the food stuff that's where he was really strict on the diet. Body fat testing, it was every Tuesday. You couldn't go up. If you did go up, you'd be doing extra running.

"So he was really strict in that sense, but when it came to actually being around the place he was quite laid back with everything else. It was mainly the diet stuff and I would say he did push things a little bit too far, and he upset a lot of players, especially senior players, they'd got away with what they want to eat.

"You've got a lot of players with a lot of superstitions. You might want some tomato sauce on your pasta and you've had it for maybe five or six years of your career, which has worked completely fine, then a manager comes in and says 'no, you're not allowed this any more'. So it's always going to create that problem.

"I actually really liked Juande Ramos. I thought he was a good manager. I just think he went a little bit too far with the nutrition stuff, but each to their own."

While Ramos was gone the following year after the team's struggles in the Premier League, he did deliver Tottenham their last trophy with the 2008 League Cup thanks to an extra-time win against Chelsea in the final. It's something that Lennon remembers fondly and he lays the credit at the door of the Spaniard.

"It was magical, honestly, the whole build up to it that year, it felt like it was going to be our year," he said. "I remember when we beat Arsenal in the semis, it felt like something special was happening. Like I said about Juande, he tactically was unbelievable. He prepared things really, really well.

"His in-game tweaking of things that he could change was what he was brilliant at. He did that throughout a lot of big games. He's really, really clever, and I think that definitely was one of the reasons we managed to win that game, and also the quality. We had some good players as well in that squad."

The next five years brought two very different managers at the helm in the form of Harry Redknapp and Andre Villas-Boas and Lennon was one of the fortunate few who flourished under both men.

"I actually got along with both. They're both really good man managers. Very different in the sense that Redknapp was more old school in the fact that if there's a game on Tuesday, you're off Wednesday," explained the former England man. "Andre came in and you trained throughout the week. There's no days off in the week anymore, but as both man managers, they were probably two of the best in getting the players, speaking with them individually.

"I was quite fortunate with those two, I had a really decent relationship with both of them, but I've seen other players who said the opposite. For me it wasn't a difficult transition between those two."

This month's Legends game will bring Lennon full circle from one of the biggest nights in his career, just over 14 years ago at the San Siro. On February 15, 2011, with just 10 minutes of normal time remaining against a Milan side full of stars in the Champions League, Lennon raced up the pitch from his own half, hurdled a challenge and pulled the ball across to Peter Crouch to stroke home the winner in the first leg of the round of 16 tie.

"When the [upcoming] game got mentioned, it was just like, wow, because that obviously is an amazing memory for me. I absolutely loved it. All the Champions League nights were special under the lights, but obviously the AC Milan game and the Inter games were really special," he said.

"So to go full circle and be saying 'look, I'm going back to the Spurs stadium now to play against Milan again' is quite funny. I'm really looking forward to it."

One of the most thrilling combinations Tottenham fans have seen over recent decades was the wing duo of Lennon and Gareth Bale, who would terrorise defences with their lightening pace and dribbling, as well as their ability to dovetail to each other's flanks. It was a one-two punch that would leave opposition sides dizzy, not knowing where the next blow was coming from.

"It worked unbelievably with me and Gaz out wide because before Gaz got there, there were games when I could get man-marked, I could get doubled up on, sometimes two or three players would come over to my side and they would literally block the ball coming my way," he said.

"But when you had Gareth on the other side, you can't cover both sides. So it just allowed us to play with a lot more freedom because if you block one side, we shift the ball out to the other side and he's one vs one, and vice versa. It was one of the most exciting teams that ever I played in with me and Gareth down the wings.

"Obviously we had Luka Modric in the middle of the park, Scott Parker and Rafa van der Vaart. The team was so exciting. To play in that team honestly it brought some of the best nights of my life. To play in that team was a joy, even training was a joy, but some of the games, with that front four, front six, we could blow teams away within 30 minutes. So a really, really strong team."

Lennon's time at Tottenham would ultimately come to an end with the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino. He would only play in half of the Argentine's first season in 2014 before leaving for Everton on loan after it became clear that he was not wanted as part of the new regime.

"I picked up that quite early, to be honest. I played in the first few games, but there were some early warning signs. I think it was the same, not just for me, but a few of the older lads," said the winger. "They'd decided to go along a lot younger route and I was 27 at the time. I wasn't that old, but I did get that feeling.

"You do as a player, you get that feeling and you could tell. There were games where I thought I should have been playing and I wasn't playing, and he wasn't really giving me much reason for why I wasn't playing.

"So sometimes you know the writing's on the wall and after a little while, I did get that feeling. Look, there were no hard feelings with him and I enjoyed his stuff. I learned quite a bit off him in a short period of time, especially on the physical aspect. Especially during a couple of his pre-seasons, I ended up taking a lot of his runs into my future career which I used off-season, which I thought were really good runs he did.

"He is a good man. It was funny because I bumped into him a few times after and we always had a chat, had a little catch-up. I really didn't mind it. I was in the game long enough to realise that some managers you're not for them, and they've got a different way of playing, a different style, and you have to accept it."

There were reports at the time that Lennon was part of an older clique with the likes of Younes Kaboul and Emmanuel Adebayor that Pochettino wanted to remove from the club. The former England international admitted that he was devastated to leave the Lilywhites in the end.

"There was speculation about this little cliquey thing around us, but there wasn't really any cliques at Tottenham to fair. Everyone got along. It was more like one big group, but it just felt like the senior lads, I think Daws was on his way out just before that also," said Lennon.

"We had a group of us who were slightly older, I don't know if it was that he felt that way he would just get a better response out of the younger lads, but you just never know from a manager, you don't really get real answers. I did pull him up a few times on it and asked him 'why am I not playing' and he didn't give me much back and it was all 'it's tactical, it's tactical'.

"I've been in the game long enough to know this is not tactical, but that's your choice. There were no hard feelings, you accept it. Not easily, I was gutted, absolutely gutted when I was leaving Spurs. I absolutely loved the place and like I said at the time, I still felt I was the right person and I should be playing.

"But he picked the team and in the end, after a few months of not playing, I was knocking on his door saying 'I think it's best if we go our separate ways if we can find a solution'."

Lennon would join Everton permanently in 2015 and go on to have two spells at Burnley, sandwiching a year spent in Turkey at Kayserispor. He would also speak out in 2019 about his mental health struggles and the stress-related illness he dealt with while at the Toffees, a period that brought an outpouring of support from supporters at Tottenham.

Nowadays at 37, Lennon is a family man who has studied for his coaching badges and he worked within Leeds' academy last season, while using his status to help others with mental health struggles.

"At the back end of last season I started coaching with Leeds for the under-18s. I did four or five months with them and I really loved it," he said. "Then I had a new-born child and decided the commute and the hours would just kill me. I've got two kids now, but my little boy was coming home and I wasn't even seeing him. He was already in bed and then I'd get up the next morning and I was leaving before he'd even got up.

"So I told Leeds that I loved the coaching, I love that aspect of it, but until my little girl is in nursery at least, then I've just got to put it on hold. So yeah, I've been just doing a little bit more media, and I've been working with a mental health platform also."

On that platform, called imatta, explained: "I'm massively into it, and I've spoken to a lot of players and when I retired, realising that it's still a big issue especially in football, with players needing help or players not knowing how to look after themselves in certain situations.

"So this opportunity came around for me to work with this platform, and that's only recently that we've got that going, and we should be hopefully seeing it in a lot of places really soon.

"It's called imatta and is already running and we're also going to make a separate platform with imatta of sports. So it's a really good platform, and we're doing a lot of work. We're speaking with a lot of people who are really interested. It's basically giving people, not just players but everyone the tools to understand the mind, and to learn how to deal with it."

Lennon has taken to his post-playing days with aplomb and he looks in exactly the physical shape he was when he played. Those Milan players he raced past in the San Siro 14 years ago who are brave enough to take him on again this month might just regret their decision once that first whistle blows.

There were mixed fortunes for Tottenham's big group of loan players this week as, like their parent club, many went through a variety of emotions.

Tottenham currently have 13 loan players plying their trade across clubs in the Football League as well as in Scotland, Spain and Belgium as well as Luka Vuskovic, who will join the north London club this summer after being loaned from Hajduk Split to Westerlo in the Jupiler Pro League.

So how exactly did all 14 Tottenham players, including the one to be, fare for their respective clubs in the past week? football.london takes a look below.

Yang Min-hyeok (QPR)

Yang Min-hyeok made his longest appearance yet for QPR as the 18-year-old started his third game for the club and played 89 minutes of the 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon.

The South Korean starlet's loan move has been a successful one so far in that it has given him plenty of exposure to the pace and physicality of the English game and he's got game time in every one of the seven matches since his arrival at the Championship club.

QPR will have been disappointed though with the defeat at the Hawthorns with the Baggies playing the second half with 10 men after former Rangers man Darnell Furlong was sent off in first half stoppage time.

Yang's case was not helped by the current striker shortage at QPR due to injuries, meaning the winger had no real focal point to aim for with his crosses.

During the game, Yang had 37 touches of the ball, made two tackles and one interception, but found himself dispossessed twice with two unsuccessful touches of the ball. He put in three crosses with only one finding its target. The teenager received a 6.19 in Whoscored's stat-based ratings, which was higher than most of his midfield counterparts.

Will Lankshear (West Bromwich Albion)

Will Lankshear would have come up against his Spurs team-mate Yang had he not been an unused substitute again in West Brom's win on Saturday.

After four appearances in a row for the sixth-placed Baggies, the 19-year-old striker has had to watch on from the bench in the past couple of matches as his loan club have picked up some good results.

Lankshear will be hoping to get some game time in another tough fixture on Tuesday evening with West Brom travelling to third-placed Burnley before welcoming Hull on Saturday.

Alfie Devine and Luka Vuskovic (Westerlo)

There was a welcome and speedy return for Alfie Devine from his hamstring injury as the 20-year-old came off the bench for the final 25 minutes on Sunday to help ensure Westerlo's 2-0 win at home against Anderlecht.

Luka Vuskovic, who turned 18 last month, made it back-to-back man of the match awards and added another goal involvement to his tally this season with an assist and a clean sheet.

The big centre-back won an aerial duel from a corner just two minutes into the contest, knocking the ball on to the unmarked Matija Frigan to nod home the opener.

Vuskovic's stats from the game said it all about his performance as the underdogs picked up an impressive win against fourth-placed Anderlecht.

The Croatian youngster made 14 clearances, blocked four shots, made one interception, one tackle and did not commit a single foul. He won all four of his aerial duels and all three of his ones on the ground and managed a 94% pass accuracy with two of his three long balls proving to be accurate and he went on one successful dribble while earning two fouls himself.

Despite being a centre-back, Vuskovic now has seven goals and two assists to his name from his 27 appearances for the Belgium club and with his defensive ability constantly growing, it's clear why there's a lot of excitement about his arrival at Tottenham this summer.

Manor Solomon (Leeds United)

Manor Solomon tasted a rare thing with Leeds - defeat - as the Championship leaders fell to their first loss in the league since November with a 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth.

It was a day when the Leeds attackers struggled to create much and Solomon found himself crowded out at times during his 68 minutes on the pitch.

The 25-year-old received a six in Leeds Live's player ratings from the game with the review: "Often had two markers on him and therefore struggled to make an impact. Rounded the goalkeeper well after a poor first touch for Joel Piroe's missed sitter. His shot had led to Piroe's first missed chance. Tracked back when needed to too but left the field having not produced much danger otherwise."

It was Solomon's 31st Leeds appearance of the campaign and he has racked up seven goals and eight assists in those games.

Ashley Phillips (Stoke City)

Ashley Phillips once again played the full 90 minutes, but could not prevent Stoke from losing 3-2 at Coventry in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Stoke had got themselves back from 2-0 down to 2-2, only to concede in added time at the end of the game. While it has been another big season of experience for the 19-year-old, Stoke have struggled with their managerial changes this season and lie 20th in the table.

Phillips received a 6.5 in Stoke-on-Trent Live's player ratings, with the review: "Won a few important headers and was largely no nonsense. Couldn’t chase down Thomas in time to stop winner."

Phillips has played 29 times for Stoke this season, scoring once with a back flick in the Carabao Cup earlier in the campaign.

Bryan Gil (Girona)

Bryan Gil awaits his La Liga match this week as Girona are set to travel to Espanyol on Monday night. It will be a clash of two sides in the bottom half of the table.

During this loan spell, the Spaniard has played 31 times this season for Girona with four goals and three assists.

Alejo Veliz (Espanyol)

When Gil arrives in Espanyol for the match on Monday night, he could face his Spurs team-mate Alejo Veliz, who will be hoping to get some minutes himself.

The 21-year-old striker has not played in a while as after being an unused substitute in Espanyol's last game at Alaves, their match at Villarreal the following week was postponed due to the fear of flooding and now comes the home game against Girona.

Veliz has made 22 appearances in all this season for Espanyol, scoring four times with one of those coming in La Liga.

Jamie Donley and Josh Keeley (Leyton Orient)

Leyton Orient's season continues to stutter after that great run into February as now they have lost five on the bounce in League One.

While the first three defeats were to promotion-chasers, the previous two have been losses to strugglers Rotherham and Northampton.

Jamie Donley got 77 minutes under his belt as they lost 2-1 at home to 18th-placed Northampton on Saturday and goalkeeper Josh Keeley played the full 90 minutes plus.

The goals and assists for Donley and the clean sheets for Keeley might have dried up for now but both players have still had loan seasons to remember.

Alfie Dorrington (Aberdeen)

Alfie Dorrington got a much-needed start and played his part as Aberdeen overcame Queen's Park 4-1 at home in the quarter-finals of the Scottish FA Cup on Saturday.

The 19-year-old centre-back has been coming off the bench in recent Scottish Premiership games but this was his first start for a month and he will have benefited from the extended minutes.

Dorrington got 72 minutes to his name, making it 337 across seven matches in his first loan move, having made his Premier League debut for Spurs in December late on in the win at Southampton.

Matthew Craig (Mansfield Town)

Matthew Craig continues to miss out on Mansfield's matches in League One. The 21-year-old had been back on the bench for Town late last month after missing their past seven league games with a back issue. However, he has not been included since and has only played 33 minutes for the club since switching from Barnsley in the winter window.

His manager Nigel Clough explained on Saturday that Craig now has a hamstring injury but is making progress on his return from that.

George Abbott (Notts County)

George Abbott is nearing the 3,000 minute mark during his impressive loan campaign at fourth-placed Notts County even if Saturday brought defeat at fifth-placed AFC Wimbledon in League Two.

The 19-year-old got another 90 minutes to his name to make it 2,740 in all competitions across 32 appearances for the Magpies. He has also clocked up five goals and five assists as well during the season so far.

Luca Gunter (Wealdstone)

Luca Gunter suffered two 4-1 defeats within four days with Wealdstone as the 19-year-old goalkeeper had to pick the ball out of the net eight times across the two National League games at Spurs' FA Cup third round opponents Tamworth on Tuesday evening and then Rochdale on Saturday.

Gunter has made nine league appearances so far for the struggling non-league outfit and has conceded 20 goals in those matches. It is still proving to be an important first developmental loan for the teenager.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham.

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly eyeing a move for Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi if they choose to sack Ange Postecoglou.

This season has been a desperately disappointing one for Spurs as they have slipped dramatically down the Premier League table. Postecoglou has needed to contend with an injury crisis, but performances have continued to be poor when they have returned to full fitness.

Postecoglou has been criticised for being incapable of adapting his style and arguably made a rod for his own back earlier in the campaign when he suggested he always wins a trophy in his second season. Spurs are currently a goal down to AZ Alkmaar in their Europa League round of 16 tie and that looks to be their best possible hope of winning silverware this season.

On Sunday, Tottenham rescued a draw at home to AFC Bournemouth, having largely been second best with hero Son Heung-min insisting that he was still 'very disappointed' with his team's current performances. With the pressure mounting on Daniel Levy as well as Postecoglou, there have been persistent rumours regarding the manager's future.

According to Tuttosport, Levy and the Spurs board have earmarked Inzaghi as an option to replace Postecoglou, should they choose to sack him. They are reportedly impressed by the team that he has built in Milan and are hopeful they could persuade him to leave Serie A for the Premier League.

Pape Matar Sarr's performance for Tottenham against Bournemouth was one of the shining lights on a difficult day and it was made all the more impressive as the midfielder was fasting for Ramadan.

The 22-year-old midfielder began Spurs' fightback from 2-0 down when his cross caught out Kepa Arrizabalaga and sailed into the far left corner of net. Along with Lucas Bergvall, Sarr was one of the home side's better players on the day with his energy and box-to-box runs in a 96-minute performance as he kept up with the Cherries' fast and physical pressing game.

What some might not have realised is that, as a Muslim, the young Tottenham player was also taking part in Ramadan, a month of prayer and reflection that will last this year until the celebration of Eid on the evening of Sunday, March 30. What makes Ramadan more difficult for footballers is that one of the five pillars of Islam states that during this month, Muslims do not eat or drink between daylight hours to show their devotion to their religion.

While in recent years in the Premier League, a natural break is now found in games that overlap sunset for Muslim players or officials to break their fast, there was no such opportunity for Sarr due to Spurs' game kicking off at 2pm and ending before sundown.

That meant on the day of the game, the Senegal international would not have eaten or taken a drink since before 6am on Sunday morning and only broke his fast after the sun set later that evening. Sarr posted an image on Instagram of a bowl of dates he was about to eat, a traditional food to symbolise the breaking of the daily Ramadan fast.

It's worth noting as well that Sarr will be training through Tottenham's high energy sessions each day under Ange Postecoglou at Hotspur Way this month while fasting.

He will be able to eat and drink as usual for Thursday night's game against AZ before needing to fast again during the trip to Fulham on Sunday. Then comes the international break for the Senegalese midfielder and after that Ramadan will come to a close before he plays for Tottenham again.

It says plenty though about his physical capabilities that on Sunday afternoon few people would have even suspected what Sarr was undertaking with his body as he put in an eye-catching display.

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The game was just 20 seconds old when Cristian Romero set the tone for Tottenham's day both on and off the pitch.

The Argentine was finally back in action for Spurs after months out and his name received a huge cheer from the crowd just moments before kick-off. The 26-year-old was back and wearing the captain's armband in the sunshine with Son Heung-min and James Maddison on the bench.

There was a tangible excitement about the return of Romero. However, the centre-back has also played only 15 minutes of football in four months and it showed as he took a matter of seconds for him to undo all of that excitement.

The centre-back turned inside with the ball on the right-hand side of his own box and miss-hit a left-footed pass straight at Evanilson, who ran on and thankfully for the World Cup winner, Guglielmo Vicario made a vital low save to deny the Bournemouth striker and bail out his defender.

It was a moment that sucked all of the energy out of the team and the crowd.

That's because Romero was meant to be the saviour as the man with the medals and the required aggression, but instead he looked vulnerable and suddenly an anxious wave swept around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It's a chicken and egg scenario when it comes to the atmosphere within a ground. The team must give the fans something to cheer about but also the supporters, by their very name, must play their part as a 12th man in home games.

Yet the Tottenham supporters have been beaten down this season, especially at home. Spurs might have won three and drawn one of their past five Premier League games, but at home they have won just once in their past 10 matches in the competition.

Fans who pay such high season ticket prices deserve better. They are shelling out so much money every match for a club that has brought them nothing silver and shiny to cheer about for decades.

All of the above contributed to an atmosphere that was as flat as a pancake on Sunday and when the senior players were needed in the first half to inspire, instead they shrank like wilting flowers.

Yves Bissouma's foot was spring-like, the 28-year-old's attempts at controlling the ball at times sending it flying away from him and just five minutes in Justin Kluivert took a loose ball off the midfielder. Again Vicario had to come to the rescue, this time with his leg stopping the Dutchman's shot.

Bentancur, 27, fared little better. The Uruguayan did plenty of huffing and puffing and pressing but continually gave the ball away in key moments, particularly as he moved into the final third.

Bissouma was hauled off at half-time for the infinitely better Lucas Bergvall but by then dreadful passing had already seen to it that Spurs would go into the break behind.

It had come when the hosts had looked like they were getting a foothold in the game. Three minutes from the break Pedro Porro's under hit pass never reached Brennan Johnson. Milos Kerkez sprinted into the space the Spaniard had left behind him by losing the ball and the Cherries full-back swung in a great cross that Marcus Tavernier slid home after getting beyond Djed Spence.

In the second half, Bournemouth had an effort ruled out for offside with Kluivert well beyond the defence and Spurs responded with a deflected Son shot that curled against the outside of the post. Maddison replaced Bentancur on the hour mark and with Son teed up Pape Matar Sarr for a glorious chance that the young midfielder dragged wide from a great position.

Spurs were made to pay for that profligacy when Kluivert sold Kevin Danso a dummy with a body swerve and played in Evanilson who dinked a delicate shot over the onrushing Vicario.

Tottenham did then finally start to fight back. First Bergvall hit a low effort from distance against the left-hand post.

Then the Swede sent Sarr up the pitch and the 22-year-old profited from a bit of luck as he curled a cross that would have reached nobody in an empty box yet it sailed over Kepa and bounced into the net off the left-hand post.

Kluivert then hit the post at the other end for Bournemouth before Son was brought down in the Bournemouth box by Kepa after running on to Maddison's pass and the captain stepped up to tap a ridiculously calm penalty down the middle. Both sides pushed for a winner but ultimately the spoils were shared.

"Chaotic game for sure," Ange Postecoglou told football.london. "We added to the chaos and it was a little bit self-inflicted, especially in the first half, just with the ball we were really careless with our passing and that allowed the game to be played on the terms Bournemouth would like with their transition football.

"So yeah chaotic but at 2-0 down it would have been very easy, particularly with the atmosphere as it was, for the boys to just let the game get away from us, but credit to them, they found a way to get back into the game and we got something out of it."

Postecoglou was stating a fact, at 2-0 down the atmosphere was understandably down in the dumps within the stadium, but as an under-fire manager it's better to just veer away from that entirely.

Mentioning it in his press conference on Sunday only invited further questions from the media about the anxious atmosphere and whether it needs to be different in midweek.

"I can't dictate to people how they interact, but, AZ’s crowd certainly helped them on Thursday night and we need our crowd to get behind the boys on Thursday to make it an atmosphere where maybe we lose some of that nervousness and anxiety within our game," he said.

"But the reality is, we as a team have to respond irrespective of the atmosphere and one may follow the other. If we start the game strong, it’ll get the place nice and loud, which will help us."

The second half is the key part that will get lost when fans assume Postecoglou is blaming them for his team's mistakes. He's not, he's just pointing out that it's harder to perform in a nervy atmosphere than a noisy one.

Just mentioning the crowd though will get people's backs up. Some of those who have shelled out their hard-earned money for those expensive tickets will be furious as will some who have not.

Social media was full of angry responses to the mere mention of the crowd, although perhaps many of those same fans have also bemoaned poor atmospheres at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium themselves this season for what they see as "too many tourists" not creating a noise.

Again, it's the chicken and the egg scenario. In Europe's major leagues, some of the fans of bigger clubs look to be entertained rather than push their side on, while in British football there's more of a sense of creating a cauldron of noise.

Regardless of which you believe is the right way, there's no denying that winning, good football and a good feeling help foster something to believe in. That's what Postecoglou's side have to give the fans again.

"Everybody [here] has to look at ourselves," said Son after the game. "Nobody will help us except on the pitch. I think those guys who are playing need to take more responsibility as I always say and it’s been many, many times we have been sloppy, we start sloppy, get behind and then chase the game.

"It’s not ideal. We have to be very strong and make a step forward. You can’t always stay on the same stairs, you have to try to make a step forward as we move on and it’s almost as much we have to improve our stats and our growth. We have to move forward."

Romero and the returnees

Getting Romero, Van de Ven and Solanke back and sharp will be key to moving forward as the trio got 60, 35 and 96 minutes respectively under their belts.

"That's the key thing, they got minutes. Romero just great to get him back out there. He's such an important player for us but you could see he hasn't played for a while," Postecoglou told football.london. "I thought he grew into the game and got a lot better as it went on. Great for Dom to get 90 minutes today, he's such a workhorse for us and I'm sure he'll feel better for that. Brilliant to get Micky out there as well. I think before Thursday night that was key for us to get some minutes into these guys and thankfully they got through it unscathed."

Postecoglou could need both his centre-backs to link up together on Thursday night as Kevin Danso did not seem to be moving freely towards the end of Sunday's draw, even if he was still trying to throw himself at everything.

According to Postecoglou on Friday, Ben Davies is in training and on his way back and Archie Gray remains a central defensive option, even if the fans are desperate to see him in the midfield ahead of his stuttering senior team-mates.

Romero made his feelings very clear after the game about his issues in recent months with his latest social media post.

"After a tough period full of things that happened in between, I'm back with the group and happy to be able to help the team," he said. "There’s surely a lot to fix and work on, but we're together and eager to turn this situation around. See you on Thursday, we’ll come back stronger than ever, all together @SpursOfficial."

Then he added a very pointed further sentence: "Grateful to the physios at @afaseleccion for pulling me out of a bad moment and getting me back on the field where I’m so happy. Thanks to everyone for the constant support."

Romero was making it clear that it was the Argentina national team's medical staff who got him back and fit, not Tottenham's.

In a way, the vice-captain, who has been one of Postecoglou's biggest supporters within the squad, was also continuing to back the Australian by indirectly putting the focus back on the club's medical department.

The amount of reinjuries at Tottenham this season has concerned the head coach and coaching staff and will have naturally divided those inside the club between those who believe it is a result of Postecoglou football and others who think it is a failing of the medical side.

For Romero, he had only played 15 minutes against Chelsea after returning from a toe problem before turning awkwardly and putting himself out again for three months with a quad muscle injury. With his thanking of the Argentinean FA's medical staff, it's clear where his thoughts lie.

It comes at a time when Brazilian media claimed that Richarlison visited the club Palmeiras this week in order to be examined by an old doctor there from his youth days in Brazil. Although the reports claim it was simply a consultation over his current injury, which they say is in his ankle, rather than treatment, it's again another example of a player going back home for help.

On Sunday, the two-time Copa America winner Romero did grow into the game as it wore on after that rusty start with a couple of misplaced passes and one miss-timed tackle, and Postecoglou admitted that the centre-back had wanted to exceed the original plan for his game time.

"I'm not surprised [he was rusty], he hasn’t played for a very long time. He's hardly played this year to be fair. Cuti will be disappointed with that himself but at the same time what was much more important for me was how grew into his game, his defensive work, his aerial ability," he said.

"I mean he was on the end of almost every cross they put into the box from corners and I think for him he will feel a lot better just having played. The idea was only to play 45 today, but he was keen to stay on for a bit longer and you could see he grew into the game and was really important for us."

One thing Romero was doing, even in the sticky early moments, was trying to force the play with quick progressive passes between the lines. He played seven passes into the final third, the joint-second highest with Bentancur among both sides. That's going to be key for Tottenham because they've missed that from the absent Argentinean.

Romero was off the pitch when the second Bournemouth goal went in. Danso was too easily sucked out of position and bypassed by the swerving Kluivert, leaving Evanilson to run in to score behind Van de Ven, who still has to shake off his cobwebs, with Spence playing him onside.

The young Dutchman began to find his feet later in the game with a couple of trademark runs up the pitch. Van de Ven's pace, when he's confident to use it again, will allow Spurs to squeeze up the pitch with less fear of what happened with the opening goal of the game.

"I think there was a perseverance there [among the team] and probably to the angst of our supporters, but they kept trying to play and that’s important," said Postecoglou of his team.

"I think that’s the best way to work your way through the struggle we had out there and even when Micky came on, you saw the drive he has and having a left-footed centre-back, it changes the dimension of how we play. There are little things there that certainly from today we can take into Thursday and the rest of the season."

For Solanke, this was a game about sharpening up because there was little in the way of a football for him to use. He touched the ball just 35 times across the entire 96 minutes. For context, Brennan Johnson came off at half-time with 29 touches and Bissouma with 52.

Tottenham need to get the ball to the striker if he is to hold it up or even do that thing all forwards live for, scoring goals.

The creativity issue

For a team that has scored so many goals this season, the second most in the Premier League, Spurs have dipped in their chance creation in recent games.

Yes they hit the woodwork twice against Bournemouth and Sarr missed a great chance in the second half, but they're not testing the goalkeeper enough at the moment and that comes down to the playmaker and winger issues.

It's all very well having 61% of the possession but you have to be dangerous with it. Movement is key and on too many occasions, Vicario looked up with the ball at his feet and had nobody available to pass to, as players got stuck behind the Bournemouth press rather than trying to evade it.

James Maddison and Vicario could be seen having an intense, albeit constructive-looking chat after the game as they walked around the pitch with the midfielder putting his arm around the goalkeeper. Perhaps it was about the struggles of Tottenham in asserting any control over the chaotic encounter.

"I just never felt like we had the control or the momentum or fluency in the game to be able to still make it as high tempo as possible, but without it having the chaos of what it did today because it ended up becoming a basketball game and that really suits them," said Postecoglou.

"That’s kind of their template and you need to control the game more, which we want to do anyway if you want to turn it into a game where it is high tempo but less chaotic as it was today."

Spurs under Postecoglou are such a frustrating team. Somehow it remains that only Liverpool have beaten them by more than a single goal this season. A little tightening up of their play in various games would have made for an entirely different campaign and Postecoglou knows it.

"We looked nervous, we looked anxious, especially in the first half, but within that context, to come back from 2-0 down, I think the positives of that is the lads showed a really strong mindset to to get something out of the game, which to be fair, that's probably what's been missing this year," he said.

"I think there's a lot of games we've lost where games have just petered out and if we had turned more of those single-goal defeats into draws like we did today, we'd be in a better position in the league."

What Postecoglou would do for a fit and fresh Dejan Kulusevski right now. Alongside Maddison, the Australian only really has two playmakers in the duo and with the England hopeful struggling in midweek and a need for fresh legs in the engine room, he went for a system on Sunday that was about energy and industry over creativity, with a brief to get the ball out to the wings for either the full-backs or the wingers to feed Solanke.

It didn't work as pass after pass ran aground or those wingers dribbled into dead ends and it ended up as a selection mistake from Postecoglou to leave Maddison or Bergvall out of the starting line-up, perhaps both, even though the latter was being protected.

Brennan Johnson remains Spurs' top scorer but looks low on confidence in his game and his speed right now, while Wilson Odobert will need coaching in the months and years to come to turn his threat into something with more bite than simply bark. The 20-year-old can beat a defender with ease but has little idea what to do with the ball once he's past him.

The arrival of first Son and then Maddison improved the attacking passing triangles. Both players look better sometimes when they arrive with a point to prove.

Before the game they could be seen joking during the warm-up when the South Korean fell to the floor after an accidental collision with a team-mate and Maddison went over and pretended to check his knee and leg like a physio.

As they both laughed, it was a moment that predictably enraged Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane, who remains on his current Maddison mission, as of course players didn't smile on a football pitch in the Irishman's day and definitely not in the deathly serious warm-up.

Somehow, despite the hurdle to overcome of his pundit-enraging grin, Maddison made an impact. He should have had an assist for Sarr after his interplay with Son and then set the captain away for the run that led to the penalty.

Son was more of a direct threat than Johnson and Odobert, who moved across to the right wing in the second half.

The 32-year-old Spurs captain is not a fan of being rotated out of the team even if he knows it's a squad game and has to happen sometimes.

"I mean I still want to play every single game. Physically, I still feel better than ever, but look, it’s a team and everyone needs the game time," he said. "With the squad we have right now, it’s very, very helpful and you can go to the game with fresh legs, with fresh energy and mentally and physically fresh. The most important thing now is performance wise and to get a result. It’s definitely helpful."

Son was disappointed with the rescued point on Sunday even if it was progress after Thursday's dire display in Alkmaar.

"Thursday was unacceptable. The performance and the way we took to the game with [our] attitude. It was very, very bad but today I am also not really happy with the result and we can look in a positive way that we came back from 2-0 but it shouldn’t already happen at home," he said.

"It is already in the past the game, so we have to look forward, be positive and take some tough moments because Thursday is another big game at home. We need everyone. From the supporters, players, staff from the club, we need everybody with that game to turn it around."

It will be interesting to see what part Mathys Tel plays now that Solanke is back as Postecoglou has hinted that his role would then move to be a winger. It could well be that the 19-year-old gets a job on the right flank alongside Son and Solanke on Thursday night if Postecoglou decides to try out a new attacking trio.

There is also Mikey Moore, who terrorised AZ the last time the two teams met in N17, even if the 17-year-old found no spot on the bench on Sunday as Postecoglou went for another striker in Scarlett alongside Tel.

Postecoglou needs to find a way on Thursday night to stoke the creativity train up again because Spurs need to make life difficult for AZ if they are to prolong their European adventure and by extension their season.

Thank goodness for Bergvall

Postecoglou might not be a fan of the stat that means Lucas Bergvall registered his first Premier League assist on Sunday but he is a big admirer of the teenager who is turning into a star in front of everyone's eyes.

The 19-year-old made a mockery of his senior fellow midfielders' displays on the day with the maturity of his performance. The Swede looks like someone who has rarely lived a day of his life without a ball at his feet.

It's simply an extension of him. The teenager caresses it, he cares for it and he twists and turns to protect it. There is the odd youthful error with it, but on the whole he's remarkably difficult to get the ball off. The way he uses his body will stir Tottenham fans' memories of a young Luka Modric and if the even younger Bergvall can reach even half of the Croatian's talent then he'll have a career to remember.

"Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that. He's becoming an important part of our team," Postecoglou told football.london. "I thought he made a real big impact when he came on.

"Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he's one who takes a bit more care with it. He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny made a really good impact when they came on."

The Technician probably isn't going to become a nickname that sticks for Bergvall but it suits his skillset well.

Postecoglou is not a fan of the assist stat but that won't remove the fact that the Swede grabbed his first on Sunday. Spurs' first goal, while fortunate at its end, was a move from back to front as Vicario found Danso and he turned and played the ball to Bergvall.

The Swede took a glance over his shoulder before motoring into space and then played a pass between three Bournemouth players to Sarr, who ran on unopposed and launched his cross beyond Kepa.

The Senegal international did not celebrate, other than a rueful smile towards Bergvall, for not only were Spurs still behind but he likely did not mean the strike to head in that direction.

People forget Sarr is still only 22 and he has so much growth to come. The young Africa Cup of Nations winner has put in some big displays in some big moments against big teams. He has six goals and two assists this season for Spurs. He needs to find consistency to his technique but there's so much there to work with.

Bergvall needs to be the first name on the team sheet right now and Sarr could join him on Thursday in a trio with Maddison. Bentancur is suspended and Bissouma still looks to have his head at the French ski resort he travelled to earlier last week. With every passing match, Postecoglou's trust in the Mali international looks to erode further and further.

Thursday will need a big performance from Tottenham, from the key players returning down the spine of the team to the young talented players like Bergvall who have now become essential. Most of all it will need work rate and movement, because the team sheet will not win the game itself.

"Quality doesn’t bring the wins," said Son. "The game always needs a mentality and the care and the performance. Hard work always matters. The individual quality you don’t have to talk about because everybody is playing in the Premier League and there is a reason why we are playing in the Premier League… football is not only the sport that can turn around.

"We need to be focused, take it seriously, respect our opponent and do everything we can to turn it around, especially at home."

Win against AZ and Tottenham's season gets a second wind and there's something to play for into next month at the least, along with the momentum a big performance could bring. Lose and the campaign is all but over, and everyone knows what comes next at a club where the appraisals are dished out from the top rather than at the top.

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A lot has been asked of Lucas Bergvall at Tottenham this season. And at a time when Spurs' senior stars have regularly gone missing, the 19-year-old has stood up to be counted.

The Swedish youngster has been one of the few shining lights in what has been a pretty dismal season for Spurs.

Having played as much as he has - 1,746 minutes in all competitions - the Tottenham supporters can surely look forward to him being even better with a season of such experience under his belt.

There is likely to be change in the summer transfer window, with Ange Postecoglou expected to make changes in the midfield department, as well as up front and in defence.

When injuries have hit the defence and attack this season, the midfield has seemingly got away with it, but for many it has been one of the most worrying areas on the pitch during a poor season.

And Postecoglou sent a clear, pointed message to the likes of Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur both of whom were hooked during the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth having started the match - in his assessment of Bergvall in his post-match press conference.

Postecoglou said: "Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that.

"He's becoming an important part of our team. I thought he made a really big impact when he came on. Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he’s one who takes a bit more care with it.

"He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny made a really good impact when they came on."

Postecoglou saying "he’s one who takes a bit more care with it" is a bit of a swipe at his other midfielders, particularly after such a poor first half performance.

Ange Postecoglou held his press conference on Sunday after Tottenham drew 2-2 with Bournemouth in the Premier League and we've got the full transcript with every word he said.

Postecoglou's side were full of nerves and mistakes in the first half and required some big early saves from Guglielmo Vicario and Bournemouth duly opened the scoring before the interval. A loose Pedro Porro pass was intercepted and Milos Kerkez ran into the space behind him and curled in a cross for Marcus Tavernier to slide home.

In the second half, Pape Matar Sarr missed a big chance at one end before Bournemouth netted a second goal when Justin Kluivert, who had an effort ruled out for offside himself, played in Evanilson and the striker chipped a shot over the onrushing Vicario.

Spurs grabbed their first goal back when Sarr curled in a cross that flew over everyone and hit the left-hand post before bouncing into the net. The scores were levelled when Son Heung-min was brought down in the Bournemouth box by Kepa and the captain stepped up to tap a calm penalty down the middle.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou after the game. Here's a full transcript with every single word the Australian said in the press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

That felt like a chaotic match but you must happy with the spirit shown in getting a point?

Yeah, chaotic game for sure. We added to the chaos and it was a little bit self-inflicted, especially in the first half, just with the ball we were really careless with our passing and that allowed the game to be played on the terms Bournemouth would like with their transition football. So yeah chaotic but at 2-0 down it would have been very easy, particularly with the atmosphere as it was, for the boys to just let the game get away from us, but credit to them, they found a way to get back into the game and we got something out of it.

What did you think about Solanke, Romero and Van de Ven on their Premier League returns and the minutes they got?

Yeah, that's the key thing, they got minutes. Romero just great to get him back out there. He's such an important player for us but you could see he hasn't played for a while. I thought he grew into the game and got a lot better as it went on. Great for Dom to get 90 minutes today, he's such a workhorse for us and I'm sure he'll feel better for that. Brilliant to get Micky out there as well. I think before Thursday night that was key for us to get some minutes into these guys and thankfully they got through it unscathed.

What did you make of Lucas Bergvall's impact on the game?

Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that. He's becoming an important part of our team. I thought he made a real big impact when he came on. Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he’s one who takes a bit more care with it. He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny made a really good impact when they came on.

I guess you wouldn't have been surprised about Romero looking that rusty after so long out?

Not surprised, he hasn’t played for a very long time. He's hardly played this year to be fair. Cuti will be disappointed with that himself but at the same time what was much more important for me was how grew into his game, his defensive work, his aerial ability. I mean he was on the end of almost every cross they put into the box from corners and I think for him he will feel a lot better just having played. The idea was only to play 45 today, but he was keen to stay on for a bit longer and you could see he grew into the game and was really important for us.

How important was it to show that spirit going into such an important match on Thursday?

Yeah, it was, you can imagine the noise around if the players didn’t respond. Thursday is obviously a massive game for us and at least from that perspective, and even for the players themselves, we've obviously got a challenge on Thursday night but they overcame a fairly big challenge today and hopefully we show the same kind of mindset.

There was a lot of anxiety in the crowd and the same for the players, how important is it that that’s not the case on Thursday?

Yeah, look, again I said before, I can't sort of dictate to people how they sort of interact, but, AZ’s crowd certainly helped them on Thursday night and we need our crowd to get behind the boys on Thursday to make it an atmosphere where maybe we lose some of that nervousness and anxiety within our game. But the reality is, we as a team have to respond irrespective of the atmosphere and one may follow the other. If we start the game strong, it’ll get the place nice and loud, which will help us.

How important was experience off the bench?

It certainly helps. It is something we haven’t had for quite a while and they all made an impact, particularly Lucas and Sonny when they came on. It was a big moment for Sonny obviously taking the penalty and he showed for those big moments, he is there. Important goal for the team and he took that responsibility.

What did you make of the performance?

As I said, it was a chaotic game, not a lot of control from our perspective, which is not ideal for the way we want to play. We looked nervous, we looked anxious, especially in the first half, but within that context, to come back from two-nil down, I think the positives of that is the lads showed a really strong mindset to to get something out of the game, which to be fair, that's probably what's been missing this year. I think there's a lot of games we've lost where games have just petered out and if we had turned more of those single-goal defeats into draws like we did today, we’d be in a better position in the league.

You've had a lot of entertaining games, but that was chaotic, what is the difference with that one compared to your other games? Is it about control?

Yeah, I just never felt like we had the control or the momentum or fluency in the game to to be able to sort of still make it as high tempo as possible, but without it having the chaos of what it did today because it ended up becoming a basketball game and that really suits them. That’s kind of their template and you need to control the game more, which we want to do anyway if you want to turn it into a game where it is high tempo but less chaotic as it was today.

Feels like a while since your team played your football due to the injuries and schedule and while it was not perfect today, did the urgency and tempo feel a step in right direction?

Look, I think there was a perseverance there and probably to the angst of our supporters, but they kept trying to play and that’s important. I think that’s the best way to work your way through the struggle we had our there and even when Micky came on, you saw the drive he has and having a left-footed centre-back, it changes the dimension of how we play. There are little things there that certainly from today we can take into Thursday and the rest of the season.

Do you accept that on Thursday night you can't be as open at the back as you were today in the first half?

I think the openness just came from us giving the ball away in really key areas. Most of the time we were giving them the ball in pretty critical areas. Vic had to make some fantastic saves to keep us in it. I don't think it was a case of being open because we were throwing men forward, we just kept giving the ball away. We certainly need to be better in the way that we execute that part of our game.

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Tottenham secured a share of the spoils as they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth in N17 on Sunday afternoon. Coming from behind to secure a draw would normally be seen as a positive, but the performance was anything but.

Captain Son Heung-min summed it up after the game when asked if he thought it felt more like a win. "I am very disappointed and very frustrated not getting the three points. When you play at home, you expect to get the three points.

"Obviously Bournemouth are a really good side, especially this season they have been oustanding. But 2-2, I still feel like it is not good enough for us."

Not good enough were the three optimum words. Let's not beat around the bush, Spurs were lucky, very lucky indeed to come away with a point. Bournemouth dominated the match and could and should have been more than two goals ahead before allowing the home side back into the game.

The Tottenham supporters let the team have it at half-time, with a chorus of boos ringing around the glorious stadium. It is a stadium that deserves so much better from those on the pitch.

Spurs' season rests on Thursday night. A goal behind after a dismal performance against an average AZ Alkmaar side in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 clash, Tottenham have to turn things around to maintain any reason to follow the side for the rest of the season.

Postecoglou "always" wins silverware in his second season. Tottenham are testing that theory to the very max right now, as they have done with title-winning managers of the past like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

Win the Europa League and despite finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table - which looks highly likely - it would ridiculously go down as a success. A trophy and back in the Champions League. Against all odds that would be a good end to a bad season.

But even thinking about winning the Europa League right now looks folly. Tottenham were second best against Bournemouth. They've been second best in lot of matches this season.

Sacking Postecoglou would only serve to send Tottenham careering from one problem to another. But it may be the only way out if the Lilywhites exit the Europa League on Thursday night.

Once again on Sunday, Spurs looked like a side scared of the football. In previous weeks there has been a real lack of desire to show for the ball, to want the ball, to work for your teammate on the ball and under pressure. On Sunday there was a real lack of quality when on the ball in deciding what to do with it.

Jamie Redknapp raged at Posptecoglou's tactics on Sky Sports at half-time and it was hard to disagree with him. Tottenham's problems often came of their own making.

And then, as on too many occasions this season, there was a lack of inventiveness at the top end of the pitch. A cross-cum-shot from Pape Matar Sarr somewhat fortuitously brought Spurs back to 2-1. A penalty levelled the scores.

There were not too many other big chances to speak of. Sarr should have done better with one opportunity in the box but a Lucas Bergvall shot from distance that struck the post and a classic Son curler that also hit the post, there was little else to shout about.

Players have returned from injury, there are more options at Postecoglou's disposal and of course it will take time for the returning players to get up to speed, but Tottenham remain a hard watch this season and at some point you have to look at the head coach. As I'm sure Daniel Levy is, intently.