Spurs may have to enter the January market after injuries and suspensions interrupted their season.
Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham’s January transfer business will depend on the state of his squad after revealing he has already held “a number of meetings” with technical director Johan Lange about the winter window. Postecoglou’s squad is currently stretched by the Thursday-Sunday schedule and long-term injuries to Richarlison, Wilson Odobert, Micky van de Ven (all hamstring) and Guglielmo Vicario (ankle surgery), as well as Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-match domestic ban.
Mikey Moore is still out after suffering a serious viral infection, and Cristian Romero is “unlikely” to return from injury for Sunday’s visit to Everton after missing the previous two games due to foot and hamstring niggles.
Postecoglou responded, “We’re always planning, planning for every scenario,” when asked about the club’s January transfer ambitions.
“A lot of it will rely on our squad’s current position. Romero and Van de Ven are the two people who will actually be returning during that time range.
We’ll only evaluate our squad situation when Richy returns in the new year, but I’ve already met with Johan several times in January to develop a plan.
“I think last year we did a little bit of business which ended up helping us, but nothing concrete now because January is always tricky and it depends on where we are squad-wise.”
According to Postecoglou, teams now require larger rosters to handle the ever growing schedule, meaning that the days of having streamlined squads are coming to an end.
“It is not just the fixtures, it is the attrition rate, we’ve got a lot of injuries but a lot of clubs have,” he continued.
There is too much evidence to disbelieve that gamers are being overloaded, therefore even if we have been discussing it for a long, it will eventually come home to haunt all the authorities.
“You’ll either have to carry larger squads to meet the demands of it, or you’re going to get a diminished product with the best players out there.”
For Thursday’s Europa League 2-2 tie with Roma, Spurs had five adolescents on the bench. On Friday morning, 16-year-olds Malachi Hardy and Luca Williams-Barnett returned to school.
Spurs are in a solid position on several fronts, according to Postecoglou, even though their season has been affected by “limiting factors” thus far.
“We’re in an OK position in the league,” he stated. “We’re still there or close to it, but it’s safe to argue that we might be in a stronger situation.
At this time last year, we were eliminated from the Carabao Cup, but we are currently in it. Despite facing challenges, we are still in a strong position to go to the next round in Europe. Our season has been going well so far.
“Obviously, there have been some extremes, which usually distorts people’s perceptions of where we are, but I make an effort to take a step back and see things more broadly. Once more, two of the four schoolboys who were on the bench last night were present at school this morning.
“Despite some pretty limiting factors, we’re working hard and staying competitive in the competitions we’re in.” We are in a good place.
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