that’s providing he comes back the same player he was before his injury. As things stand, it’s very hard to drop Biss, Sarr and Maddison. Can he play as a striker?
Bissouma + Sarr seems heavyweight for most opponents. I suspect Sarr will make way, as Bentancur can hold the ball quite well, When all are match fit, it will be interesting to see how the manager rotates these three in the starting XIs
Sarr has a goal and an assist in three games at #8. Bentancur in and Richarlison out has to improve the team. Let Sarr play a free role.
Bit lazy to catch up on all the comments but ange has done a great job so far. Your players look confident so far (you can only show what the opposition have given you) and you have shown the ability and confidence to play out from the back. The midfield 3 of sarr bissouma and maddison look really good, confident on the ball, a lot of interchanging and all working hard and athletic. The inside wingbacks is doing wonders and udogie looking particularly tasty. Think son has been unfairly targeted, not his usual end product (not sure hes been given that many opportunities) but i think he's been playing well. Kulu still hardworking and apart from a tasty finish has been quite wasteful Richarlison is the only positive from an opposition fan, nothings coming off for him and he keeps losing the ball as well and looking miserable in general. Some harder challenges to come but so far so good
Richy's biggest issue ATM is he's stuck inside his own head Either his confidence has been knocked by last season's poor return of goals, or the pressure of stepping into Harry Kane's boots is causing him to overthink things for that half second where he needs to trust his instincts, or possibly a combination of the two, but what he needs is a Perisic cross to reach him on the far post and then things might start to fall into place
Udogie is ballin’ way better than we could’ve imagined so early on. We were excited to see him this season but felt like he’d need a while to settle into the country, team and switching his role from WB to inverted FB but he’s made everything look easy. There’ll be some hiccups down the line I’m sure but proper excited about his potential. Largely agree on Son. Still think he’s not at his best yet but the last two games he’s been a lot more involved with positive play, especially when he switched to CF after Richarlison got hauled off. And as for him… never rated him one bit before he joined Spurs and my opinion of him has worsened since joining! For a Brazilian he’s got shocking ball control and he couldn’t finish a sentence let alone a chance on goal. Hoping the Saudi’s fancy a late punt. I’ll take half of what we paid just to get him off the books.
Son is playing differently than he did in the past. I think he's trying to take a page out of Kane's book and be more of a playmaker. I'm not sure if that's because he feels he can't be the scorer he was, because Ange wants him to play more of a team-oriented role, or some combination of the two. It seems like a commendable effort in any case. It's probably a good idea as well. It seems strange to say a Golden Boot winner hurts his team too often, but if you could have said that about anyone, you could have said it about Son. He lost the ball a lot. I'm not sure he's helping enough now, but he is helping some, and fairly steadily.
He needs a 'Burnley' goal to get his mojo back. I thought he was going to get that against United, but he picked the wrong angle to shoot at the end of the dribble and the effort was blocked. But at least his head is up again and the commitment is there to see.
Ange had something to say about Son playing differently. “Even though they are experienced and really accomplished players, especially in Sonny’s case, sometimes they are the hardest ones to work with. “If they are not open-minded because they will say, ‘I’ve made a career playing this way, why do I need to change?’. So, that can be a real difficult task but Sonny has been really good at understanding the role and the way it is different from last year.”" I think that may help to explain making Son captain as well. With Kane gone and Lloris on his way, Son is in effect the senior star. The fact that he seems to have bought into Ange's system wholheartedly may have been one of the keys to Spurs making the transition to a new style of play faster and better than anyone anticipated...so far.
I think it probably helps that Son had such a poor last season, by his standards. A fresh start, a new approach and more responsibility makes a positive from a negative situation. Lots of pundits are claiming that Kane wouldn't have suited Postecoglou's system. I think that's nonsense and I think Son started to play like him when moved to the middle. The passing, dropping deeper and Lo Celso going up top were all quite similar, to me. He can't completely play that way though, as he's crap in the air and not strong enough overall.
Son has still looked a shadow of his former self. As I said elsewhere, Maddison and Bissouma have been excellent and controlling midfield has been crucial. The absence of Kane and his goals is an issue which needs to be addressed. The defence is still on trial - shaky at times v Brentford and a better team than Utd would have converted those first half chances. But overall, Ange has started very well. Sterner tests lie ahead.
Of course Joke Hole is the sort of douche who acts matey to our faces, then slags us off when in his punditry safe space...
