11th in the Premier League table and still without senior defenders, Ange Postecoglou isn’t exactly loving life in north London.
Tottenham certainly entertained themselves and did so again in a 6-3 defeat at league leaders Liverpool, but Postecoglou’s idealism in the absence of an optimal XI is starting to see the Lilywhites emerge as a parody.
They can be remarkable to see in full cry and admirable performers against the best in the division, but how far can Postecoglou take this Tottenham team? Cup performances will be key for the Australian this term.
Festive cheer is in short supply in the white half of north London, and Spurs could be in for a tough Boxing Day as they travel to the red-hot area. Nottingham Forest. Here’s how visitors could queue at Camp de la Ciutat.
GK: Fraser Forster – Forster had done fairly well after Guglielmo Vicario broke his foot at the Etihad but has had a nightmare few days at home. Maybe he’ll do better away from the N17 on Christmas Day.
RB: Djed Spence – Deactivating Pedro Porro’s Instagram didn’t have the desired results on the pitch, with the Spaniard continuing to struggle. Spence has been excellent since joining and could get Porro’s opinion at right-back.
CB: Radu Dragusin – An impressive box-to-box defender who performs haplessly in possession, Dragusin could have excelled under previous regimes in north London. The Romanian remains Spurs’ only available senior centre-back.,
CB: Archie Gray – The teenager has played everywhere but his preferred position since joining the club, but Gray has shown in recent outings that he is certainly an exciting building block for the future.
LB: Destiny Udogie – The Italy international was back on the bench at the weekend after picking up a knock Southampton. Postecoglou will have to rotate on Thursday and Udogie could return to the side.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – Yves Bissouma has been forced to play a lot over the past month, but Bentancur has returned from his seven-match ban. There may be some rust, but the boss might be tempted to offer the Mali international some respite.
CM: Pope Sarr – The relentless Senegalese star is a pivotal cog in Postecoglou’s engine room, with his withdrawal as the game drew to a close on Sunday suggesting preservation for the trip to the City Ground.
CM: Dejan Kulusevski – The Swede has shown he can still be effective when operating out wide, but Postecoglou is likely to return Kulusevski to the middle of the park. Much of his good work has come from a central position this season.
RW: Brennan Johnson – Johnson has appeared more sporadically of late and there has been a dip in production. The Welshman has scored 13 goals this season but has not scored in his previous six games. However, the rotation should see the winger return to the team for his first start since the 4-3 defeat at Chelsea.
ST: Dominic Solanke – Solanke is pulling his weight, there’s no doubt about that. The big-money summer arrival has contributed four goals in his previous two games, and while there may be fears of overuse, the boss has no choice but to start Solanke again on Christmas Day .
LW: Son Heung-min – The Spurs skipper is struggling with the workload and was poor at the weekend. He could do with a breather here, but Timo Werner has fallen so drastically down the pecking order that Postecoglou will likely stick with the fading South Korean superstar.
