When Tottenham Hotspur were wobbling on Monday night at Leicester City and Rodrigo Bentancur was receiving treatment for a head injury, Ange Postecoglou made a bold move: a quadruple substitution.
Bentancur and the two players who had started the match in midfield alongside him, James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr, were replaced. On came Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall — two 18-year-olds making their Premier League debuts — and Dejan Kulusevski, not out wide but as a No 10, and Timo Werner replaced Brennan Johnson on the right wing instead.
It was a move that showcased Spurs’ depth in the middle of the pitch, especially as Yves Bissouma was not considered for this game after his laughing gas misdemeanour.
The substitutions worked fairly well. Spurs re-established their foothold in the game, which had been completely lost as they panicked after Jamie Vardy’s equaliser. Bergvall showed what most had only seen in YouTube compilations — namely, the technical ability to play in small spaces — and linked well with Kulusevski. They created a few openings, although not enough for Spurs to find a winner.
Watching this alternative Spurs made you think: do Tottenham actually still need another midfielder?
Tottenham have been looking for a new midfielder — not necessarily a holding midfielder, which is what many fans wanted, but someone to provide more forward-thinking energy and experience.
That is why Spurs worked hard in June to try to sign Jacob Ramsey at Aston Villa. This was when Villa still had to sell players to satisfy the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), but they sold Omari Kellyman to Chelsea for £19million ($25m) and Douglas Luiz to Juventus for £42m. Ramsey would have cost Spurs £50m and while they tried to throw in Giovani Lo Celso, no deal was done. For the second window in a row, Spurs had to park their interest in Ramsey.
There was plenty of other business for Spurs to do — they brought in Gray before moving on to a centre-forward (Dominic Solanke) and then a winger (Wilson Odobert) — but through it all, fans have wondered whether Tottenham would go back in for another midfielder.
Postecoglou has been a big admirer of Conor Gallagher for a long time and Spurs had enquired in previous windows about signing him from Chelsea, but there was no formal approach this summer. It would have been difficult for Chelsea and Gallagher for him to go to a London rival and this week, he moved to Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile, Tottenham continued to move on players — including in midfield. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg played 184 times for Spurs over four years at the club but it was clear last season that he did not fit with Postecoglou’s style. He was a good substitute for managing the game but in his rare starts, he never looked fully comfortable with what Postecoglou expects from a holding midfielder. He left to join Marseille.
Similarly, Oliver Skipp, who struggled for opportunities last season, joined Leicester City.
Postecoglou said at the end of last season that first-team players would have to go this summer to create space for new young players in tune with his style of play.
“I’ve got to change this squad,” he said. “I’ve got to build a squad I think can play our football. For that to happen, there have to be exits. Sometimes, you let people go who you think: ‘He’s a good player’. But how am I going to change if I don’t do that?”
And with the departures of Skipp and Hojbjerg, and arrivals of Gray and Bergvall, that is seemingly what has happened. This is a younger squad now, with more technical ability, more ready to learn the Postecoglou way. Spurs learned 10 years ago that if you have a new manager with fresh ideas about attacking football it is easier for him to teach younger players rather than old ones already set in their ways.
The question is whether the current set of midfielders is enough. After the departures of Skipp and Hojbjerg, it would be tempting to think that what Spurs need is a bit of physicality, someone to put their foot in when needed. Even Spurs’ experienced options at No 6, Bentancur and Bissouma, are better at moving the ball forward rather than winning it back.
Yet the view at Tottenham is that Gray and Bergvall have impressed so much — in training and pre-season friendlies — that adding an all-action scurrier next week is no longer a priority. Bergvall and Gray are very young but come to Tottenham with experience of senior football. They can make a positive impact now.
While Bergvall looks set to be Maddison’s understudy as the creative central midfielder, Gray might offer Spurs something different. He played as a centre-back in pre-season and on Monday night, he took Bentancur’s place at the base of midfield. Gray may look like a choirboy but you do not win Championship Young Player of the Year without learning how to handle yourself.
So if Maddison and Sarr are the first-choice central midfielders, with Bentancur and Bissouma alternating as holding midfielders, then maybe Gray, Bergvall and Kulusevski as the alternatives will be enough.
Maybe driving through the middle of the pitch is the best role for Kulusevski as Johnson looks to nail down the right-wing role, especially with Odobert at the club.
The two new teenagers will get minutes, especially with a long European campaign to add to their Premier League commitments. Spurs will have to hope that Bergvall and Gray are ready to fulfil that trust.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)