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Europa

Raziel said:
Game time, not sure re starts ..

We will see if Ange is successful where every other recent Spurs manager hasn't been in managing squad

Spence, Dragusin, Gray, Bergvall, Wilson, Werner, Richi means we can rotate the squad quite heavily vs. 1st 11 starters in PL. Add in opp to give likes of Moore some game time, it's a great opportunity.

8 games in first stage, on paper, 2 difficult sides.
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Well Ange has a head start vs previous managers in that the squad depth is such that in the majority of positions there is no big drop off in quantity. And even with an injury crisis we have some really talented youngsters who could step in.

Of course that doesn't guarantee anything, as when any team makes several changes to the usual team there is a lack of cohesion so if the tournament is taken seriously we might well not see wholesale changes. Great to be back in Europe anyway....
 
Not the worst schedule for our away fixtures.

Manchester Utd (A) - Ferencvaros (A) - Brighton (A)
Aston Villa (H) - Galatasaray (A) - Ipswich (H)
Chelsea (H) - Rangers (A) - Southampton (A)
Everton (A) - Hoffenheim (A) - Leicester (H)
 
Talking of travel... sometimes footballers get criticised for flying around the UK.
But yesterday I drove to Liverpool. For 4.5 hours.
And today I drove home from Liverpool for 3.5 hours.
I did not play a game of football.
It is BOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRING and tiring driving around the UK. So, so boring and tiring.

If I had the cash, I too would fly!
 
I know we had to drop someone from the squad, but thought he would stay in as cover for the full backs.

Hopefully Lankshear and Moore get into these squads
 
Raziel said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1831688877028864198
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Guglielmo Vicario
Fraser Forster (association trained)
Brandon Austin (club trained)
Alfie Whiteman (club trained)

Radu Drăgușin
Destiny Udogie
Cristian Romero
Pedro Porro
Ben Davies (association trained)
Micky van de Ven

Yves Bissouma
James Maddison (association trained)
Archie Gray (U21 but <2 years at club so can't be on List B)
Lucas Bergvall (U21 but <2 years at club)
Dejan Kulusevski
Brennan Johnson (association trained)
Wilson Odobert (U21 but <2 years at club)
Pape Sarr
Rodrigo Bentancur

Son Heung-min
Richarlison
Timo Werner
Solanke

Tough on Spence. We had 17 names for List A plus 4 association trained and 2 club trained totalling 23. We're not allowed to have a 5th association trained.

What do we read into this Ange decision?
First of all, he clearly doesn't trust Austin and Whiteman as he could have had Spence instead of Forster. That would have left 3 senior keepers and access to the U21 keepers as their backup, and Spence included.
Secondly, I think Ange has found a balance between using Spence (league) and Davies (EL) as backups to the main back four. Gray becomes the RB backup in the EL.

Apart from that, there is only 19 outfield List A players. That is realistically supplemented by the U21 List B of Dorrington, Hall, Moore and Lankshear who are closest to the 1st team setup. After that, you're into the next level academy players. Perhaps we could even see Black, Feeney or other young kids get involved.
 
4 keepers for 1 place and 6 defenders for 4?

In my opinion a miscalculated gamble by Ange and i hope he will be ready to admit his mistake when the injuries come at the end of the season with his simplistic high-line panic-defending against all opponents

Spence is versatile across both wings which makes it even more questionable.
 
harr1984 said:
Well Ange has a head start vs previous managers in that the squad depth is such that in the majority of positions there is no big drop off in quantity. And even with an injury crisis we have some really talented youngsters who could step in.

Of course that doesn't guarantee anything, as when any team makes several changes to the usual team there is a lack of cohesion so if the tournament is taken seriously we might well not see wholesale changes. Great to be back in Europe anyway....
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Going solely off the friendlies, that didn't seem to be the case. If anything, the B team actually played better in most games. I think we'll be fine, even with a heavily rotated team. As you said, we have quality backups in most positions. The drop-off isn't that great.
 
alekaras said:
Going solely off the friendlies, that didn't seem to be the case. If anything, the B team actually played better in most games. I think we'll be fine, even with a heavily rotated team. As you said, we have quality backups in most positions. The drop-off isn't that great.
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the drop off in quality is still huge in defence. udogie isn't fully fit and ange doesn't have an alternative.
 
It does scream no trust in Austin. Whiteman is there for numbers balance. Forster would've been the one to sit out IMO, unless it is some seniority thing I am unaware of? I am struggling to understand the logic beyond a severe lack of trust in Austin.
 
metalgear said:
4 keepers for 1 place and 6 defenders for 4?

In my opinion a miscalculated gamble by Ange and i hope he will be ready to admit his mistake when the injuries come at the end of the season with his simplistic high-line panic-defending against all opponents

Spence is versatile across both wings which makes it even more questionable.
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Austin and whiteman are club trained. Including them doesn't exclude another player.
 
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