Football.London

Tottenham's best and worst Carabao Cup fourth round draw scenarios

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Tottenham will discover their Carabao Cup fourth round opponents on Wednesday evening when the draw for the next stage of the competition is made. Taking on Coventry City in round three one week ago, Ange Postecoglou's side prevailed at the CBS Arena after late goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson spared their blushes.

Round four is going to be dominated by Premier League clubs with very few EFL sides progressing from their respective ties. Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City will be representing the Championship in the draw, with League Two outfit AFC Wimbledon taking their place in the hat only as a result of the postponement of their home clash against Newcastle United due to flooding around the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Arsenal and Bolton face each other at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening and the same goes for Liverpool and West Ham at Anfield, with the draw taking place after 10pm following the conclusion of the game on Merseyside. Carabao Cup round four games are due to be played week commencing Monday, October 28.

So what exactly are the best and worst case scenarios for Tottenham in the draw for the fourth round? football.london takes a look below.

Potential Carabao Cup round four opponents: AFC Wimbledon or Newcastle, Arsenal or Bolton, Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Liverpool or West Ham, Manchester City, Manchester United, Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Stoke City.

Best case scenario

Drawn away in their past three Carabao Cup fixtures, Postecoglou and Tottenham would love nothing more than a home tie in round four. Looking at the teams in the hat, Championship sides Preston, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City seem the obvious choice but, as we all know, nothing is ever straightforward for Spurs when it comes to facing teams from England's second tier.

Sheffield Wednesday are the lowest ranked side from the Championship trio at present after only winning one of their first six league fixtures. AFC Wimbledon at home would also be seen as a favourable tie but that would mean the south west London club causing a major upset when they face Newcastle United at St James' Park next week.

Of the Premier League teams involved in the competition, Southampton or Leicester City would be the sides you'd probably want to be paired against with both yet to register a win since returning to the top flight at the first time of asking.

Worst case scenario

There are certainly a few nightmare scenarios on the agenda for Tottenham in the round four draw. Last season's top four of Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa all advanced from their round three ties, with Chelsea another one to secure their place in the last 16 after a 5-0 triumph over Barrow on Tuesday night.

Spurs would ideally like to avoid the Premier League's best so early in the competition, although they are going to have to beat the top ranked sides at some stage if they are to go all the way and lift the trophy at Wembley in March.

Whether it's at home or away, fans will not want to see Tottenham drawn against one of Arsenal, Man City or Liverpool. Arsenal have had the upper hand over Spurs in recent meetings and have won the last three meetings between the sides at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs also don't fare very well at all when coming up against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Enzo Maresca's side do appear to be making notable strides at present amid so many questions going into the season and they can name a very strong XI even if they make a host of changes due to the sheer size of their squad.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Every word Son said on his Tottenham contract, Bentancur's emotional text to him and Mikey Moore

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

You're one of the few left from the Champions League final squad, how determined are you to captain Tottenham to a European trophy?

Yeah, it's a dream. There is no hiding this. That's what we work for. Obviously, we are looking for another big competition that everybody wants to win. It's going to be tough, a tough competition, a lot of games and a lot of travelling, which makes it even harder. We've just got to be ready and take it seriously the competition, because it's a massive competition.

It's a bigger competition now and is there a danger of losing the quality of the matches with so many games for players in the schedule?

A lot of players came out and said the right things. It was very important for someone to say the right things. Sometimes players are the main guys to have to say something. There's definitely a lot of games and as a football fan who loves football you want to see quality games not as many as possible.

You don't want to see players struggling with injuries. No one wants to see it. A lot of games, a lot of travelling. We've got to look after ourselves, which sometimes it's very hard. Mentally, physically you're not ready then going on to the pitch and then with the risk of injury is massive. We're not robots. We have to look after that and reduce the games definitely - better quality definitely should be the aim.

The problem is though, what tournaments don't you want to play in?

Don't get me wrong, we love playing football. That's clear. But the travelling and how much games we play. It's not just the games. It's preparing, mentally and physically. It's a lot of work. It's about adding more games. City played Sunday and Tuesday and it wasn't even flexible. It could be moved probably to play Wednesday in stead of Tuesday. It's not flexible. That's what we're talking about. It's normal that everyone is at high risk of injury. It's not fair. Rodri said the right things. We play 50, 60 games and not more than 70 games. It's not fair.

Would you go on strike?

You want to get to the finals and play a lot of games. That's a different scenario. But the platform [format] is to play more games. That's not right to look after players. That's what we're talking about. What we can do is definitely change it and definitely go in a good way that people can look after the players.

Is it the players' responsibility to sort it out?

Definitely not the players. When the fixtures come, the players have to play. There's a lot going on. You have the FA and FIFA. Everyone has to take this really seriously. It's not just random and a few players coming out. There's way too many games and what you want to see is the quality of the games. High quality games with top players. This should be the aim. Injuries sometimes come with less games but the possibility of lots of travelling, lots of games, injuries will be higher.

What's the latest on your contract situation?

We haven’t talked (about) anything yet. It was very clear for me, I’m very focused for this season. At this age, every second is like a goal. Especially this season, we are in a lot of competitions, it feels like I’m taking even more care about this.

I’m just fully focused on this situation and this year. I just want to win something that everybody in this club and these players and all around deserves. That’s what I’m working for.

In the future, you never know what’s going to happen. But I will make sure I give everything for this club. It’s almost ten years that I give everything. We’ll see what happens. I still have a contract with the club which is the main important thing. I just want to give everything while I have my contract.

What's the difference between the young players now compared to when you were young?

When you are young, you don’t realise how massive the responsibility is. But when you’re the oldest player in the squad and you see the young lads, you just want to help them. What this means in the Premier League or playing in these big clubs. It changes so much in ten years’ time.

I just want to be good friends, good team-mates and showing I’m doing the right things on and off the pitch. It takes a lot of responsibility but it’s a joy. We have some unbelievable players. Ten years has gone way too fast which sometimes makes me a little bit sad. But what can I say, do the right things, be a good example to every young player to be a top professional.

Speaking of young players, you've got a talented young team-mate in Mikey Moore who the fans are hoping to see play tomorrow. How good can he be if he continues to work hard and do you feel a responsibility as a captain and a winger to help mentor him?

Yeah, he's a fantastic boy and obviously, I mean, he's coming from the academy. You as a club, you look after him even more. Everybody is so welcoming and looking after him, so do I, because he's such a lovely kid and working hard every single day, coming with the first team with that age it's not easy, you know, like sometimes you're very shy.

But he's showing good personality and working hard, which is very important to me. When you see the young players are working hard in the first team and you just want to help, you just want to help him. When I was young, and now he's coaching at Manchester United, Ruud van Nistelrooy, he was helping me a lot in my Hamburg time.

Now I want to be that guy as well, you know, just having him around me and just talking about things, because we are playing in a similar position that if I can help him a little bit with advice, then I'm always open to it.

Mikey is also coming to me most of the times and asking questions, which is very fun. I enjoy talking to him. He's a fantastic boy and then I'm definitely sure that he can be a fantastic player. There's no doubt because he has such amazing quality.

As we always say about young players, let's don't give him too much pressure on his shoulders. Just let's enjoy how he develops, how he improves every single day, every single season and as a fan, as supporters, we should just enjoy watching him and he will be, I think, one of the top players.

When I spoke to Dejan Kulusevski in the summer, he said he to really adapt his game as a winger to play under Ange, and he's now a midfielder. Have you had to adapt as a winger because you like to cut inside like Deki and Ange prefers high and wide wingers?

No, I think it's all about the the manager's system, and then you just also have to adapt, which is very, very important, but it doesn't mean that I have to stay all the time in the wide areas. Sometimes in the last game I was cutting inside, making these inside runs and when Dom [Solanke] comes into a deep position when he dragged the centre backs out of the position then I'll make the runs into this space.

I think it's all about depending on the situation, but Deki is the kind of guy who wants to be more in the middle so that he can handle the ball really well with his back to the opponent and I think that's his game and he's a joy. At the moment, he's having a great season.

One thing that not everybody is talking about is that Deki's workrate is unbelievable. He's everywhere on the pitch, you know? I think people don't always see that, you know, but like, he works really hard that I think so hard that I when I see all the data and sometimes I get shocked, you know? So it feels like he never stops running.

I think players all appreciate what he does and with the ball, with the quality that he has there is no doubt that every position he can do. I think as a manager, I think he can put him anywhere and he'll do the right thing for what he what he asked to. So, yeah, there is no doubt about what he does, and he's doing amazing at the moment.

I wanted to ask you about your relationship with Rodrigo Bentancur after what happened in the summer, and your reaction now that he's been charged by the FA?

At the moment, there's a process from the FA, that's why I can't say much about it. But I love Rodrigo, I love him. I love him. We have a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined. He apologised straight afterwards when we [were on] holiday. I was at home, I didn't even realise what was going on. He just sent me a long message, and you could feel it was coming from his heart. When we came back to the training ground for pre-season, he was really sorry and he almost cried.

He apologised in public and personally as well. It felt like he felt was really sorry. We're all human, we make mistakes, we learn from it. I love Rodrigo, I love him, I love him. He knows he made a mistake but I have no problem at all. We move on as a teammate, as a friend, as a brother. We move on together. We just have to wait what the FA says in the process, I can't say much. But one thing is I love Rodrigo. So there is nothing more to say.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

min delivers amazing Mikey Moore verdict and how Dejan Kulusevski has shocked him

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min has hailed Mikey Moore's "amazing quality" and believes that the teenager will become "one of the top players". The 17-year-old is rated extremely highly at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and is already part of Ange Postecoglou's plans despite his tender years.

Making two appearances off the bench for Spurs' senior side last term, the attacker came on for the closing few minutes of last weekend's win over Brentford and he could potentially be given some more playing time in the Europa League. Moore has clearly made a big impression on Son on the training pitch at Hotspur Way, with the left-winger regularly going to the Spurs captain for advice.

"Yeah, he's a fantastic boy and obviously, I mean, he's coming from the academy. You as a club, you look after him even more," said Son when speaking to football.london in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Qarabag fixture. "Everybody is so welcoming and looking after him, so do I, because he's such a lovely kid and working hard every single day, coming with the first team with that age it's not easy, you know, like sometimes you're very shy.

"But he's showing good personality and working hard, which is very important to me. When you see the young players are working hard in the first team and you just want to help, you just want to help him. You know that as well when I was young, and now he's coaching at Manchester United, Ruud van Nistelrooy, he was helping me a lot in my Hamburg time.

"Now I want to be that guy as well, you know, just having him around me and just talking about things, because we are playing in a similar position that if I can help him a little bit with advice, then I'm always open to it.

"Mikey is also coming to me most of the times and asking questions, which is very fun. I enjoy talking to him. He's a fantastic boy and then I'm definitely sure that he can be a fantastic player. There's no doubt because he has such amazing quality.

"As we always say about young players, let's don't give him too much pressure on his shoulders. Just let's enjoy how he develops, how he improves every single day, every single season and as a fan, as supporters, we should just enjoy watching him and he will be, I think, one of the top players."

A key figure in Postecoglou's Tottenham team, Son has played both from the left wing and also as a striker when required. The head coach's demands of his wingers may differ slightly to others and that has meant that the South Korean and Dejan Kulusevski previously have had to adapt their game.

"No, I think it's all about the the manager's system, and then you just also have to adapt, which is very, very important, but it doesn't mean that I have to stay all the time in the wide areas," he told football.london. "Sometimes in the last game I was cutting inside, making these inside runs and when Dom [Solanke] comes into a deep position when he dragged the centre-backs out of the position then I'll make the runs into this space.

"I think it's all about depending on the situation, but Deki is the kind of guy who wants to be more in the middle so that he can handle the ball really well with his back to the opponent and I think that's his game and he's a joy. At the moment, he's having a great season.

"One thing that not everybody is talking about is that Deki's workrate is unbelievable. He's everywhere on the pitch, you know? I think people don't always see that, you know, but like, he works really hard that I think so hard that I when I see all the data and sometimes I get shocked, you know? So it feels like he never stops running.

"I think players all appreciate what he does and with the ball, with the quality that he has there is no doubt that every position he can do. I think as a manager, I think he can put him anywhere and he'll do the right thing for what he what he asked to. So, yeah, there is no doubt about what he does, and he's doing amazing at the moment."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou drops Tottenham Europa League team news hint and issues fresh injury update

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Ange Postecoglou has indicated that Tottenham "do not really want to rotate hugely for each game" as they get set to play their first Europa League fixture. Spurs begin their 2024/25 European campaign on Thursday evening with a clash against Qarabag at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The fixture against the side from Azerbaijan is the first of eight games on Tottenham's calendar in the newly-formed league phase of the competition, with Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg all to come before the knockout stage commences in February. Very much a competition Tottenham can go far in, Postecoglou's side are the current favourites with the bookmakers to lift the trophy in Bilbao come May.

The Australian does have the opportunity to rotate his team in Europe after bolstering his squad in the summer with a number of signings. After making wholesale changes for last week's Carabao Cup tie at Coventry City, the 59-year-old has hinted that there may not be so many alterations this time around.

"We've got a squad, a squad of players that we went into the season hoping to play 50-plus games in a year and you're not going to expect players to play all of them. You're hoping for around 35 games," he said when speaking at his pre-match press conference. "We don't really want to rotate hugely for each game."

This year's Europa League will be operating with a new format after UEFA decided to change the traditional group phase. A total of 36 teams will now take part in one big league table, with all sides playing each different opponents in the league phase.

The new approach may have come in for criticism from some quarters but Postecoglou is certainly happy with it.

"I think I said before that in the old format there were some dead rubber games because teams knew who was going through," he explained. "This way there could be more in games and eight different teams with eight different styles. The main thing is that we're in it."

Ahead of the Qarabag game, Postecoglou revealed that Spurs have no fresh injury issues from last weekend's 3-1 win over Brentford. Attackers Richarlison and Wilson Odobert remain out, with Cristian Romero suspended for the match and Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon ineligible.

"We're looking good," he told Tottenham's official website. "Nothing from the weekend in terms of injuries, everyone pulled up really well so no issues there.

"Apart from the obvious absences [Cristian] Romero, [Djed] Spence and [Sergio] Reguilon who trained today but who, for different reasons, are ineligible."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Who missed Tottenham training, why Pedro Porro told off Pape Matar Sarr and Romero's new nickname

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Tottenham Hotspur held their final training session on Wednesday ahead of the Europa League opener against Qarabag.

Spurs begin their involvement in the expanded Europa League competition this season on Thursday against the Azerbaijani side, in the first of eight group games against different teams.

Ange Postecoglou led his team out to train at Hotspur Way on Wednesday morning for their final session ahead of the return to European football and football.london were among those watching the first 15 minutes of the session.

Here are five things we spotted during the session at the Enfield training complex:

Who was missing

Richarlison and Wilson Odobert were both absent due to their respective calf and hamstring injuries. The Brazilian could be seen in the gym next to the pitches working with a fitness coach.

Cristian Romero is suspended from the match due to his red card against AC Milan in the Champions League two seasons ago. Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon were not registered for the Europa League this season due to squad restrictions, but all three players were still involved in the training session.

Other than the two injured players, there was a full complement of Tottenham players available to Postecoglou.

Which youngsters took part

With 12 substitutes on the bench in Europa League matches, Postecoglou is likely to have to call upon three or four of the club's development squad if he wants to fill those spots.

With Tottenham's U21s in action on Tuesday night in their 2-0 Bristol Streets Motors Trophy defeat at Exeter City, those players were always unlikely to be involved in this session even. Some could well end up on the bench to either fill it or potentially be used in the final minutes.

The two youngsters involved were the two teenagers who have mainly been involved in first team sessions this season - Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear. The latter was paired up with fellow striker Dominic Solanke for a couple of the early drills.

What they did

The media only had access to the first 15 minutes of the session which mainly involved warm-up exercises and quick passing drills. The players were paired up, with the likes of Romero and Porro, Lankshear and Solanke, Maddison and Udogie, Van de Ven and Werner, Son and Kulusevski all working with each other.

They then moved on to sprints, which showed the competitive nature of the players as they even cheered and celebrated winning the small sprints against each other.

The Tottenham players then moved over to a pitch in the distance at Hotspur Way and began undergoing some spirited rondos with plenty of noise.

Pape the joker

One player to always keep an eye on during Tottenham training sessions is Pape Matar Sarr. The young midfielder was a constant ball of energy and laughing throughout. Pedro Porro, only half-seriously, told him off when Sarr lost control of his ball and it rolled across the Spaniard's passing drill with Romero when they were about to start.

Sarr also slipped as he tried to do an athlete's starting pose for the sprints and ended up losing his match-up. It's clear why Sarr is a popular member of the squad and he's got the energy to just run and run...unless he slips over first.

Yves Bissouma was also the target of James Maddison's mocking as he kept asking the Mali international why he had chosen to do his drills right in front of the watching media and camera operators.

Romero not a fan of a new nickname

The enthusiastic fitness coach leading the start of the session had some slightly different nicknames for a couple of the players which were met by various responses.

He kept calling Destiny Udogie by the name "Desty", which had the group of players laughing and all repeating it.

Romero felt he had to correct the fitness coach when he kept calling him "Coots", the Spurs vice-captain turning to him and saying light-heartedly "Cuti".

The Spurs defender will be watching from the sidelines on Thursday night. If you're sitting near him, whatever you do, don't call him Coots.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Tottenham boss on Mikey Moore, injury news and Werner

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Ange Postecoglou and Son Heung-min are speaking to the media on Wednesday ahead of Tottenham's return to European competition this week.

The Spurs head coach and his captain are taking part in a press conference ahead of their first group stage match in this year's expanded Europa League with Qarabag coming to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening in the first of eight games in the group over the coming weeks.

The north London side come into the encounter looking to make it three wins in a row ahead of their Premier League trip to Manchester United this weekend. The wins against Coventry in the Carabao Cup and then Brentford in the Premier League have gone some way to turning around some murmurs of disappointment in the previous results.

Postecoglou will deliver an update on injuries with Richarlison and Wilson Odobert his previous absentees and he will provide any fresh news on players from the Brentford game and subsequent training sessions.

Son will also speak about his and the team's season so far and what to expect from Spurs in the Europa League as well as the effects on players of having so many matches in the packed fixture calendar.

Our Tottenham reporter Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Postecoglou and Son. Scroll down for his latest updates from the press conference at Hotspur Way.

I watched Tottenham wonderkid imitate Micky van de Ven

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Ange Postecoglou is undoubtedly helping Tottenham create a very exciting squad for the future. With Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gary, both 18, among the summer arrivals into the first-team, Spurs have brought an array of young talent to their squad and that is without even mentioning those coming through the academy.

Mikey Moore has been touted as the next big thing coming out of Hotspur Way with Will Lankshear as another to have impressed. The likes of Alfie Devine and Jamie Donley are at different stages of their progress with the young duo both out on loan at Belgian outfit Westerlo and League One side Leyton Orient, respectively.

Central defender Luka Vuskovic is also playing and thoroughly enjoying his football at Westerlo having been signed by Spurs from Hadjuk Split when he was just 16. The teenager enjoyed a temporary spell at Radomiak Radom in Poland but moved over to Belgium to secure more minutes before officially being eligible to join Tottenham next February when he turns 18.

One centre-back who has seen his development interrupted through injury though, is Alfie Dorrington. A plaguing hamstring issue has seen him miss a large portion of 2024, though he returned to action last week against Valencia in the Premier League International Cup.

Around the hour mark, Dorrington was substituted with it being his first taste of action in some time. The following week, the 18-year-old was back in the starting XI for Tottenham's under-21s for the Bristol Street Motors Trophy clash against Exeter City.

The League One side have made a bright start to the season and it was clear to see they were high on confidence with Dorrington required to be alert from the very off. Inside the opening 15 minutes, the teenager cleared a number of dangerous crosses with his defensive positioning spot on.

As Spurs dominated possession in the early exchanges, Exeter were attempting numerous long balls over the top, but the high line, which was marshalled by Dorrington, saw their attackers caught offside a combined eight times in the first half.

Considering how Postecoglou likes his defence to set up, it was quite clear pretty quickly how easily Dorrington would fit in. During the clash at St James Park, Dorrington also showed he may well be the perfect blend of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.

A clever Exeter pass in behind beat the offside trap but over five yards he showed superb recovery pace to mop up the danger, something that Van de Ven has become synonymous with. While also showing his defensive capabilities, in possession, Dorrington was very comfortable and showed signs of his passing ability.

In the second half, he expertly launched a first-time pass across the pitch and perfectly into the path of Oliver Irow which drew significant applause from the away end.

However, when those options weren't on, he was more than happy to drive forward with a number of jinking runs seeing him go past several Exeter midfielders, something Spurs fans will have seen both Van de Ven and Romero do countless times.

The hosts did open the scoring from a corner while Dorrington was still on the pitch but it was an excellent set-piece routine from Exeter that not many teams would have stopped. As was the case the previous Tuesday, Dorrington was withdrawn around the 60-minute mark.

At full time, he received significant applause and a chant from the travelling contingent with his response being to smile and offer a thumbs up in their direction. On the day, Dorrington clearly showed why he is highly rated at Spurs and also why Postecoglou has taken a keen interest.

Injuries have impacted him but if he continues with performances like that, which show him as the perfect Postecoglou defender, it won't be long before he is making his mark in the senior team.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Johan Lange insight into Tottenham role away from transfers and reveals Daniel Levy relationship

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Johan Lange was certainly active over the course of the summer at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the club sanctioned a number of transfer deals. Not only adding to Ange Postecoglou's squad with a host of new faces signing on the dotted line in N17, Tottenham managed to move on some established first-team players as part of the much-needed squad overhaul for the head coach.

Even though the transfer window has closed for business and will not reopen again until January 2025, the club's technical director will already be looking ahead as he plans Tottenham's future. One of the key figures taking part in Tottenham's fan forum on Monday evening, Lange was asked about his work outside of the transfer window and explained all.

"First and foremost as a technical director obviously the transfer window is the most important thing, but for me as well it's about building the club's technical strategy, meaning we have a clear alignment in all the technical departments," said the Dane. "So in this case it is scouting at first-team level, scouting in the academy, it's all the performance analysis, it's the style of play.

"So all these details when we educate players for their future everything is aligned and we have the style of play in the centre of everything we do."

So what exactly is it like for Lange to deal with chairman Daniel Levy? That was the question put to Tottenham's technical director by Spurs' fan forum host Nihal Arthanayake.

"First of all I don't deal with Daniel as Daniel and I work together in the market when it comes to representing the club and dealing with agents of other clubs," explained Lange. "Again, before I arrived here, we had many long conversations about the squad we want to build, we want to reduce the age of the squad, we want to return to a certain style of play which means there are certain players that we are interested in.

"We're doing this together. I of course have the technical view and Daniel is a top negotiator as well so it is a team effort, but it is not only Daniel and myself as it's the whole club together in the transfer window."

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

Ange Postecoglou sparks telling reaction with brutally honest statement on Tottenham plans

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Ange Postecoglou has stated "it will be glorious" when success comes to Tottenham Hotspur as "it will be exactly the way the club wants it". With Spurs last winning a piece of silverware in 2008, the Australian is now the head coach tasked with bringing the good times back to N17.

Postecoglou has a wealth of experience of guiding his former clubs to trophies and everyone connected with Tottenham will have their fingers crossed that he can do likewise with the Lilywhites. As important as success is to Spurs, fans also want to see the attacking brand of football that the club is known for on show week in, week out after their previous styles of football that were not exactly easy on the eye prior to Postecoglou's arrival.

The Australian is well aware of Tottenham's football philosophy and he made it clear when speaking at Tottenham's fan forum on Monday evening that he will not deviate away from that. The 59-year-old knows that success will come to Tottenham and the answer he provided sparked a round of applause from those Tottenham fans in attendance at the forum.

"I guess there's nothing I would do differently and I'll tell you why because every decision I have made I have made in a moment where I believed it was the right one for the club," said Postecoglou when asked if there was anything he would do differently from his first 15 months in the hotseat. "Maybe later on you find out more information or you think you would have dealt with things a bit more differently, but I've always believed that if you have a really strong anchor in your beliefs in what you want to do, no decision you make is a mistake.

"All it is is a misstep going in the direction you want to but there's no decision I've made or anything I've done in the last 15 months that I regret or I think I would have done differently given the information I had at that time. As you go along, you get a better idea of the way forward and you adjust the way you maybe work or the things you say or the way you behave in certain aspects.

"But I keep coming back to the same thing with me and it was mentioned already when I came here 12 months ago and Daniel [Levy] the first words that came out of his mouth were 'we've got our club back'. I hadn't won anything by then certainly and it's really important for this club in the way it plays its football.

"As much as we crave success and we want success and we want to win things, no one greater than me, what comes first is the way we play and I won't deviate from that. That means it won't be an easy road and it may mean along the way we're going to get tested and questioned, but when success comes to this football club, and it will come, it will be glorious because it will be exactly the way the club wants it. "

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.

The Tottenham team Postecoglou should pick vs Qarabag

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image
Description

Tottenham start their Europa League campaign on Thursday evening with a home clash against Qarabag. The game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the first of eight fixtures for the north London club in the newly-formed league phase of UEFA's second club competition.

Following this week's home encounter against Qarabag, Ange Postecoglou's men have further games to come against Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg as they look to secure their place in the knockout phase of the competition. Due to the significant increase in matches on their calendar after not playing in Europe at all last season, the Spurs boss has the opportunity to make full use of his squad by rotating his players for their European games.

So how exactly should Tottenham line up on Thursday night against Qarabag? Our Tottenham writers at football.london have had their say below.

Alasdair Gold - Tottenham Hotspur correspondent

There's a real chance here for Ange Postecoglou to give plenty of players minutes and that could come in useful in the weeks ahead. Spurs face a game every three or four days but in this match against Qarabag, the first of eight league phase games, the risk is minimal. Even a draw or a defeat is not the end of the world and can be fixed in the months to come.

That means he can bring in players, including younger ones, who can play without the pressure of a one-off knockout game away from home like the game at Coventry.

He could use most of the team that played that night. They should at least be more familiar with each other now. I would go with Fraser Forster again because otherwise what was the point of leaving Djed Spence out of the squad for the experienced goalkeeper?

Dominic Solanke could probably do with more minutes to get sharp with teenager Will Lankshear able to come on for the second half at some point. There could be a first start for Mikey Moore to hand Brennan Johnson a rest ahead of the trip to Old Trafford.

Yves Bissouma could get an hour into his legs after returning on Saturday from injury while a decision has to be made in defence over who plays three games in a week. Cristian Romero is suspended but potentially two of the other three could play 45 minutes each.

Gold's team: Forster; Gray, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Davies; Sarr, Bissouma, Bergvall; Moore, Solanke, Werner.

Rob Guest - Football writer

Qarabag gave eventual finalists Bayer Leverkusen an almighty fright in last season's Europa League and they are certainly an opponent Tottenham cannot underestimate on Thursday evening. Following all those changes at Coventry City last week, Ange Postecoglou once again has the opportunity to rotate his team but he may not want to do as many this time around as Spurs need to start strong in Europe.

Guglielmo Vicario should start in goal rather than opting for one of Fraser Forster or Brandon Austin in his place. In defence, Pedro Porro starts after getting a breather at Coventry as Destiny Udogie this time drops out of the team for Ben Davies to come in.

Radu Dragusin then plays in the place of the suspended Cristian Romero, joining Micky van de Ven at centre-back in the process. In midfield, both Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr could do with starts and it looks a good opportunity to give Lucas Bergvall another go from the off once again.

Dominic Solanke will benefit from the chance to play again and also add to his first Spurs goal that he scored in last Saturday's 3-1 win over Brentford. Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner start either side of him, with Mikey Moore and Son Heung-min the attacking options from the bench to begin with.

Guest's team: Vicario; Porro, Dragusin, Van de Ven, Davies; Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall; Johnson, Solanke, Werner.

Lee Wilmot - Head of football

Spurs will be looking to get their Europa League campaign off to a good start as they host Azerbaijan league leaders Qarabag in N17. And to ensure they get off to the best possible start, Ange Postecoglou needs to pick a strong team.

I didn't understand Fraser Forster being part of the league phase squad, I thought Djed Spence should have got the nod because the Europa League is tough and important and for me Guglielmo Vicario starts every game, or at least until we've qualified for the knockouts.

Pedro Porro plays at right-back, with Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin as the centre-back pairing. I would have rested one of the first-choice pairing anyway and Cristian Romero's suspension makes the decision for me. Destiny Udogie takes the left-back berth.

Then I'd give Archie Gray a runout in the midfield, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski. Up top, there's not much to change. Brennan Johnson and Son Heung-min support Dominic Solanke. That leaves the likes of James Maddison, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma to come off the bench if necessary.

Wilmot's team: Vicario; Porro, Van de Ven, Dragusin, Udogie; Gray, Bentancur, Kulusevski; Johnson, Solanke, Son.

Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham! Click here for in depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.