please log in to view this image Wednesday 31st January 7.30pm Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Son, Bissouma and Sarr are still on international duty. Veliz, Solomon and Lo Celso are probably absentees through injury. Neither side has any suspensions, unless you include Reguilon's loan blocking his inclusion. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Vicario; Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Skipp, Bentancur, Hojbjerg; Johnson, Richarlison, Werner. Subs: Forster, Austin, Emerson, Dragusin, Dorrington, Gil, Santiago, Donley. League form: WWWLWD. Brentford: Flekken; Collins, Pinnock, Mee; Roerslev, Damsgaard, Janelt, Jensen, Lewis-Potter; Maupay, Toney. Subs: Strakosha, Jorgensen, Ajer, Reguilon, Dasilva, Peart-Harris, Baptiste, Yarmoliuk, Olakigbe. League form: LLLLLW. Ref: David Coote. VAR: Michael Salisbury. TV: TNT Sport 2. How would you like to line up for this one and how do you think we actually will line up?
Hopefully Maddison is ready because we’ll need his ability in tight areas to get through Brentford for this game. Vic Porro Romero VdV Udogie Skipp Bentancur Maddison Kulu Richy Werner
Unlikely due to only a days rest but Slim chance of seeing Sarr maybe on the bench if Senegal go out tonight?
Next 5 games 4 of them at home , a win on Wednesday sets us up nicely for a good run at the top 4 ,nothing else to play for and the team getting stronger 13 or 15 points hopefully
I doubt it tbh but there’s always a chance. I’d be surprised if Senegal lost but they are up against the hosts. Mali play tomorrow and assuming they get past Burkina Faso they then play Senegal over the weekend IIRC so we’ll get one of them back in the squad for the Brighton game, you’d think.
Hoping we change up both wingers, though the problem is we don't really have many to change too. Werner and Johnson's performances have been as bad as any Gil has put in and the Spaniard rarely gets a chance to start (or play for that matter). It'll never happen as Ange has little faith in our youth but I'd be more than open to a front three of Donley, Scarlett and Richarlison, the two academy lads almost certainly can't be any worse than what the other two have been churning out. I'd even prefer playing Emerson (!!!) at RB and push Porro to RW to force one of the others to the bench, Emerson can at least defend if nothing else, the two wingers can't do a damn thing. Can Son just hurry up and get knocked out of the Asian Cup and can Solomon fix his meniscus, please?!
Johnson certainly needs some time out of the spotlight. I think we’ve probably had to start him more than we would have liked and it’s putting him under the microscope at a young age when he’s made a big step up. He’s on par for a not dissimilar season stats wise to Son’s first season and we all remember the discourse around Sonny when he first arrived. I don’t see your beef with Werner on current showings though. I know it was a bit of a Tom Carroll assist but he still got one on debut and he was lively against City and could have had more of an impact if Kulu and Udogie and others hadn’t missed some of his runs. Jury is obviously well and truly out as to whether he’s a permanent signing in the summer but I’m not upset at his showings so far. Wednesday will be a good barometer for where he’s really at.
Sonny is more an exception than an example though, plus he was also coming to a new league and country. Plus he had a very solid pedigree from the Bundesliga. As for Werner, because he's dog ****, mate lol. His performances have been exactly the same as Johnson's, only difference is Johnson's been underperforming for the most part for 6 months and fans are getting a bit fed up, whereas Werner's done it for two games for us so are giving him leeway but having seen Werner for two years in England with Chelsea and then seeing Leipzig have barely played him this season, it shows me we really shouldn't be expecting him to improve. I'd even have a forum wager of some sort on Werner with anyone that fancies it - guarantee he gets sent back to Leipzig in the summer having done close to nothing for us. Avatar/ Temp Name change to anyone that thinks otherwise, lol. That's how confident I am in him being a pointless and poorly thought signing for the club.
Tbh I have no idea what our long term plans are for Werner. I think it’s a free hit of a transfer - he’s cover for Son while the latter is away and competition afterwards. He could do well and we still don’t take up the option if we have a more long term player in mind and we can get him. His future here doesn’t depend fully on his performance for the rest of the season. What level of return would you consider acceptable for him, out of interest? In terms of goals and assists.
I do wonder if we were looking to send him straight back after we made the Nusa bid. Because if Nusa arrived in the summer to a position already filled with Son and Solomon, someone would surely have had to give way and I'd be bitterly disappointed if that were Solomon as I think there's a baller in there. As for return, I honestly don't know because my expectations for him are that low and I think/ hope that when Son and Solomon are back we won't be seeing him much. If i had to pick - assuming he plays enough - then if he can get around 7-8 goal contributions in the final 17 league games I'd consider that acceptable and better than I'd expected from him. I'm predicting him to get around 4 at best though, with most coming by way of assist as his finishing makes Richarlison look like prime R9.
I think we’ll see Solomon play left and right as we also need Kulu to rotate into the midfield as GLC is rarely fit lol. I actually like Son down the middle as I think he’s the best finisher we have right now and wouldn’t mind seeing a Werner/Son/Kulu front 3 as I think that gives you a bit of everything - both in transition and in tight spaces. As for Werner I agree with your benchmark for success and think he’ll do better than you expect, though I’m happy to revisit that at the end of the season and I hope it goes better than my advocacy for Winks and Gio
Naturally I’d rather it be Solomon (or Johnson if he sorts himself out) and not Werner in that front three but I get your point. We’ve all been there to be fair. I was adamant Bryan Gil was basically gonna be our own version of a David Silva, not my finest prediction, lol. Do still think he has serious talent though but it’s not gonna happen for him here.
Yeah I’d be amazed if Werner is signed permanently too. He’s a short term option who will be benched once Son comes back and hopefully we won’t see much more of him after that barring injuries.
I doubt he’d return in time for Wednesday but Sarr and Senegal are out of AFCON, lost on pens to Ivory Coast. Commiserations, Pape but……
He scored his pen at least. Good on the lad. Serge Aurier of all people captained Ivory Coast and scored his pen. Doubt we’ll see Sarr against Brentford but imagine he’s bang in the frame for the weekend. Good for us.
