Chadder View: Tottenham can benefit from midfield reshuffle against West Ham
Matthew Chadder is a lifelong Tottenham fan who grew up just down the road from his beloved club in North London. He’s now putting his passion for Spurs into words with a daily fan view for Tottenham News…
For the first time this season, I believe that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg should start in a Premier League match for Tottenham.
It is fair to say that the midfield is where Spurs have been most affected by this unfortunate injury crisis.
While Micky van de Ven’s absence is probably the most detrimental loss for the team, Tottenham still have other defenders in the squad, with the club also set to be boosted by the return of Cristian Romero against West Ham.
It is in the middle of the park where Spurs seem to have practically no bodies left. James Maddison is of course the obvious absentee, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar-Sarr also out injured.
These aren’t squad players either, these are key men central to Ange Postecoglou’s side and style of play, and considering the recent form of Yves Bissouma and his woeful performance against City, he might as well be unavailable for selection too.
The Mali international has picked an awful time to experience a dip in form, and in truth, he hasn’t been the same since his red card against Luton Town almost two months ago. If you had told me in matchweek six that I would be questioning Bissouma’s credentials in matchweek 14, I would have laughed at you.
Luckily for the 26-year-old, there simply just aren’t enough players left in the squad for Postecoglou to drop him to the bench, a place he deserves to be after his recent displays, meaning he will have the opportunity to play himself back into form throughout December.
It is elsewhere where I think Tottenham could benefit from a midfield reshuffle. Against City, Postecoglou started with Bryan Gil out wide, Dejan Kulusevski in the number 10 position and Giovani Lo Celso and Bissouma behind him.
That was a mistake, as the balance of play in the first half quickly revealed. That is by no means a dig at Kulusevski, I quite like the Swede in the number 10 and feel he was brilliant in that position against Aston Villa.
Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work in terms of a balanced midfield. Lo Celso is quickly beginning to turn his career in north London around with two goals in as many games, and to get the best out of the Argentine, we need to move him further forward.
For this to work, just like in the second half at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, Hojbjerg needs to come into that central midfield role, with Kulusevski pushing out wide, so that Lo Celso can move up the pitch.
Just as Postecoglou did at half-time, I would axe Gil against West Ham and play a front three of Brennan Johnson, Son Heung-min and Kulusevski – with Lo Celso, Hojbjerg and Bissouma behind them.
I believe this makes for quite a balanced midfield three, and although I am not the biggest fan of Hojbjerg in a Postecoglou team, he did bring a sense of much-needed composure when he came on.
Upon Sarr’s return from injury, he can take Hojbjerg’s place in the team, but for West Ham, to get the best out of what is left available, and further fuel this unexpected Lo Celso resurgence, that is the team I would go for.
In other Tottenham news, one Spurs star passed his biggest test yet against City, limiting one opposition player to a joint-lowest Premier League stat.