Ange Postecoglou left ex-Tottenham employee ‘Shocked’ with his decision v Nottingham Forest
Bryan King claims he was “shocked” Ange Postecoglou decided to start with Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma in midfield against Nottingham Forest.
The ex-Spurs scout believes Sarr and Bissouma don’t work well alongside each other as a midfield pairing and shouldn’t have started together against Forest.
Postecoglou shuffled things around in the middle of the park at half-time during Spurs’ 3-1 victory over the Reds at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (7 April).
Both Sarr and Bissouma were replaced by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur, with the substitutions working wonders as Tottenham scored twice in the second half to seal all three points after a disappointing first 45 minutes in North London.
King – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – believes that Postecoglou made the correct call at the break.
“I couldn’t believe he started with Bissouma and Sarr, I was shocked.
“Something is missing when those two play together, a lack of buzz perhaps. Bissouma had some shots and they both ran around a lot, but not very much happened in that first half, Spurs were losing things in midfield.
“I was definitely waiting for changes to be made at half-time.
“It was a completely different game after the break, and I think it would have been a different game in the first half if he had started with Bentancur and Hojbjerg.
“Especially Bentancur, he is a better footballer than Sarr and Bissouma put together, while Hojbjerg adds a bit of steel.”
Ange Postecoglou has a midfield decision to make when Tottenham travel to Newcastle United
It is set to be a testing few weeks for Postecoglou and his players.
With games against Newcastle United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool to come, with the small matter of a clash with Manchester City still to be rearranged, Postecoglou has some decisions to make.
Spurs were poor in the first half against Forest and on a different day might have been punished, and with the standard of opposition set to improve, Postecoglou cannot afford another lacklustre first-half display.
He must get his team selection right from the first whistle between now and the end of the season as the race for UEFA Champions League football heats up, which leaves him with some real thinking to do.
In other Tottenham news, Postecoglou must have words with one 50 per cent Spurs ace after what he did against Nottingham Forest.
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