Ange Postecoglou doesn’t have Tottenham dilemma over Yves Bissouma and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Ange Postecoglou is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to his Tottenham team selection to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Friday night.
Spurs will have Yves Bissouma available again on 27 October after the 27-year-old midfielder was banned for the win against Fulham on Monday (23 October) due to a red card he received against Luton before the international break.
Bissouma was booked twice in the space of six minutes for a foul and then for a dive on the edge of the Luton penalty area while the game was still goalless.
Postecoglou has now revealed how Bissouma has reacted to his ban and also his stance on players being sent off in matches.
“In terms of Biss himself, he was disappointed but his teammates got the job done and he’s appreciative of that and he saw the team win without him,” Postecoglou told the media on Thursday (26 October), as quoted by football.london.
“All these things are lessons. As I keep saying, I don’t need to keep reinforcing anything, the players are well aware of the consequences of actions and I don’t need to make any further point on that.”
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg replaced Bissouma in Postecoglou’s starting line-up for the win against Fulham.
Postecoglou has remained tight-lipped about whether or not the former Brighton star will replace the Dane in his starting line-up to face Palace.
“It’s no different to any other week,” Postecoglou added when asked about choosing between Bissouma or Hojbjerg.
“They’re not really dilemmas, just choices that people in my position have to make and I’ve always made those decisions pretty simply and cleanly about what I think we need.
“Tomorrow night we’ll start with a certain group of players and finish with another and it’s about trying to get the job done. When that game’s done, we’ll look to the next one.
“It’s good to have Biss available, he’s been a big part of what we’re doing. The team did well the other night so that should make us stronger.
Former Spurs right-back Alan Hutton told Tottenham News:
“Yeah, I would have thought so,” said Hutton when asked if Bissouma will return to the starting line-up.
“Hojbjerg came in and did well. I think we were all thought he was possibly going to leave in the summer but it’s obviously not happened.
“He’s still a very quality player who can come in and play his part but at this point, I still think Bissouma’s ahead of him.
“I would imagine he will come back in.
“I know a lot of people didn’t really know Postecoglou before [he arrived at Tottenham] but we obviously knew him really well in Scotland.
“He’s really transformed that team with the style of play they’ve got and I think he can continue this way.
“Nothing changes for him, he’ll always play this style. He’ll always want the same out of the players.
“The signings have been good and he’s getting the best out of players who were already there.“
In other Tottenham news, footage has shown Rodrigo Bentancur impressing in training as he steps up his recovery from injury.