Ange Postecoglou's senior Tottenham players could prove decisive when it comes to the team potentially clinching a place in the last eight of the Europa League. Spurs have it all to do on Thursday evening when they take on AZ Alkmaar one week on from their 1-0 defeat in the Netherlands.
The sides have already met at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the league phase of the competition this term and it was Spurs who prevailed on that occasion with a 1-0 win. AZ were a very tough opponent as Richarlison's second-half penalty proved to be the difference on the night.
Amid all of Tottenham's injury problems over the course of the season, things do appear to be easing up in the treatment room right now following the high-profile returns of Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke to name a few. There was very much a reliance on the club's youngsters during that period and players such as Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall flourished in the absence of the team's leaders.
What the recent injury boost does give Postecoglou the opportunity to do is get his four leaders in Vicario, Romero, Maddison and Son Heung-min on the pitch at the very same time. That was something he mentioned during his pre-match press conference as it hasn't been the case for Tottenham so far in 2025.
"Yeah I think so, but we haven’t had them a lot," he said when asked about relying on experience. "I would include Vicario in that as well. I think Vic was enormous for us in the first leg and he was big for us on the weekend as well.
"You want your big, experienced players to perform in these games, for sure. We have relied a lot on our younger players who have really progressed really well, but I guess a night like tomorrow night, having the likes of Romero, Maddison, Vicario and Sonny out there, they are our four leaders and I don’t think we’ve had them on the park at all this year or very little anyway. Having all four of them, the whole leadership group out there, will definitely be beneficial."
You have to go back to the middle of October for the last time the aforementioned quartet started a game for Tottenham. That was in the 4-1 win over West Ham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Son helping himself to the final goal of the contest.
All four players did play together in November's 2-1 home defeat to Ipswich Town but Maddison did not start the game and was only introduced with six minutes left on the clock. Since then, Postecoglou has only had the quartet available at the same time in the past two games as Vicario injured his ankle in November, Romero has had two separate injuries and Maddison was out in late January and early February with a calf strain.
Vicario and Maddison made their comebacks in February and it wasn't until last Sunday when Romero returned to the pitch against Bournemouth after last featuring in December. It wasn't just Postecoglou in front of the TV cameras on Wednesday afternoon at Hotspur Way as Vicario also spoke to the media and discussed his leadership role.
"Every day we have responsibility on this group. We try to do our best and try to give the good advice to the youngsters, but it’s about the collective responsibility," he said. "Tomorrow, of course, we know the importance of the game is massive and we’re going to do this test altogether as a family.
"It’s so important and everyone has to focus on their game, it’s so important, and then as a collective we go through every situation during the game and try to win this game."
On what his responsibility looks like, the goalkeeper added: "More than talking, the thing that I am most effective at is how you behave, how you show your behaviour to the youngsters. Maybe they are coming into a new team so I think the responsibility is in action, not just in talking.
"Sometimes you need to talk about something. But I think we have the manager that every day is giving us the good words to explain which is the right way to play football, the right way to behave for this football club.
"I think the most important thing is how you act, how you behave into the dressing room and what you show on the pitch. Also maybe the normal stuff we do in the gym, and try to be very professional and committed to this football club."
Looking at a Europa League round of 16 exit as it stands prior to Thursday night's game in north London, Tottenham have to deliver a big performance to keep their Europa League dreams alive. Postecoglou's four leaders are going to be pivotal to that.
Spurs' season-defining game and the big Archie Gray question - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham.