Another day, another injury for Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur.
Today, it was revealed that Richarlison, Pape Matar Sarr, and James Maddison could all be out injured for their mid-week European clash against IF Elfsborg. Postecoglou said in his post-match press conference after Spurs disappointing 2-1 loss to Leicester City that at least two players “shouldn’t have been out there,” referring to Sarr and Richarlison.
Whether or not these three players will be unavailable will become clearer as the week goes on. Regardless, Tottenham Hotspur now has approximately 14 first-team players out injured, leading them to rush back players sooner than expected only to have them pick up even more injuries in the process.
This crisis is reflected by Tottenham’s position in the table, currently sitting 15th and perhaps a bit closer to the relegation spots than their fans are comfortable with. They were unable to name a full bench of substitutes at Leicester due to the lack of players.
Spurs have now lost their last four Premier League matches in a row, and even worse two of them came against Everton and Leicester — two teams below them in the table. These criticisms could all vanish in the first week of February when they face a defining Carabao Cup semifinal away to Liverpool. Spurs have a 1-0 aggregate advantage and if they manage to advance, it would put Spurs in a position to win their first trophy since 2008.
If they get dumped out of the Cup, however, Ange’s job security will look even more bleak. Frankly, it would be foolish for Spurs to sack Postecoglou in response to this despondent run of form. It seems even the fans themselves have recognized this, with them chanting chairman Daniel Levy’s name in frustration as opposed to their manager. The fans point to the fact that Tottenham have not signed any players to cover their injuries outside of goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, hardly an inspiring vote of confidence from the board.
These injuries have been mounting up since at least November, so what was the Spurs board doing to relieve the pressure? Not much. In the 2020/21 season, Liverpool suffered a defensive crisis when nearly all of their starting back four were out with long-term injuries. In response, Liverpool took to the January transfer to sign defenders Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies, while also calling up Rhys Williams and Nat Philips from the academy. Not world-class signings by any means, but it allowed Liverpool to fill the gap and they ended up finishing in the top-4 and won the Carabao Cup that season, ultimately preventing total capitulation.
So what now? It seems signing more players in January is too little, too late. Spurs must put their full focus on winning the Carabao Cup to salvage what has been a disastrous season. If the Spurs board has failed to learn any lessons, they will sack Postecoglou and start from square one yet again this offseason.
