This morning, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou gave a press conference where he announced that new club record signing and striker Dominic Solanke will miss tomorrow’s home opener against Everton after picking up an ankle injury in the opening stages of Spurs’ 1-1 draw vs. Leicester. However, he gave further comments, embargoed until this evening, where he provided additional clarification on Solanke’s injury, and gave some hints about Richarlison’s fitness.
First, Solanke’s injury isn’t as serious as it could be, and Postecoglou said he fully expects he’ll be ready to go after the international break, when Spurs host Arsenal in the first NLD of the season on September 15. And possibly earlier.
“It’s not serious enough to keep him out for five weeks, he’s still got a chance for the Newcastle game. That’s the extent of it, it’s just about how quickly he recovers. Every story is written differently. They’re not all fairy tales where you come and make your debut and score a hat-trick. He was very good for us at Leicester and we’re disappointed because it was really exciting to see that he is going to fit in really well with what we’re doing.
“I’ve no doubt about that. It’s just a small hiccup. He misses a game or two, it’s game one of 50-plus games. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to recover from that. For me the exciting bit was just watching him in the team last week. I can just tell he’s going to be a really good fit.
“It’s all good. We didn’t sign Dom for one match and he knows that. He’s here hopefully for a long time to have a real impact at this club and bring success to it. I was excited with what we saw last week and this is just a small bump in the road. I’m sure he will be looking forward to getting back out there.”
Postecoglou also spoke highly of Solanke’s likely replacement in the lineup, Richarlison, and stressed the importance of having two solid strikers at his disposal for just this sort of situation.
“Yeah, absolutely. Richy is not going anywhere but if he did leave, I’d definitely sign another striker,” said Postecoglou. “We had that issue last year where we were really short in that area. To be fair, the whole pre-season we played without a striker. I was playing Deki Kulusevski through there the whole pre-season because we hadn’t signed Dom and Richy was out.
“It makes a difference to how we play having a striker in there. It’s really important to us to have two recognised strong strikers in the team.”
But that brings up a big question — Richarlison clearly isn’t fully match fit after missing the entire preseason while recovering from a surgical procedure; the first we saw of him was his brief cameo against Leicester where he flashed a potential game-winning header wide of the post. So what’s the plan?
“That’s the thing with Richy, it’s trying to get him fit. Obviously we have to be a little bit careful with him because he hasn’t played for quite a while. I’ve said before, whenever he’s been fit and available, I’ve always chosen him because he’s a handful for oppositions. He’s a real physical presence in the box, he’s a good finisher, he works hard for the team.
“But hopefully now getting Dom in, the whole idea is that we can share that workload and not be so reliant on one player. I think he’s still at a good age, Richy, where he can still play some fantastic football for us and we’ve got to make sure we keep him fit and manage his workload so we can get the best out of him.
“He’s fit to start the game [against Everton] because he’s training but can he play 90 minutes? No. So that’s where the decision lies. He came on last week, but match fitness is different and he hasn’t played a minute in pre-season. It’s where we give him his minutes.”
With Will Lankshear also out for a couple of weeks with a minor hamstring injury, that leaves Spurs once again thin up top. Previously, Postecoglou had said he had no plans to revisit the idea of playing Dejan Kulusevski as a false nine, despite playing him there all preseason. Big Ange seemed to walk that back slightly.
“It’s an option. I don’t think it’s his best area but through pre-season and at least one game at the end of last season, he’s such a hard worker, he runs the line really well, can link up with the rest of the team in the build-up. I think he can do a job for us there, but I don’t think it’s his best position.”
This makes me think we might see Richy start the match, but make way in the second half for Deki, or perhaps Son Heung-Min or even Brennan Johnson, will deputize at striker for a bit tomorrow.
Finally, Postecoglou addressed the other elephant in the room — Yves Bissouma. The Malian central midfielder is set to return from his one match club-enforced suspension for posting a video on social media of him inhaling nitrous oxide. Postecoglou suggested that Bissouma is now available to start, but that the culture of trust he referenced in his earlier comments is very much still a work in progress.
“You know what it’s like when you punish your child and they do everything right for the next two days? He’s first in the meetings, he’s doing everything right but there’s always temptation down the road, so we’ll see. I’ve always believed in opportunity for redemption and learning. We’re still in that space at the moment with Biss.
“But obviously that door closes after a while if there’s repeated (indiscretions). He’s been good but I would have been surprised if he wasn’t. It’s always the key with Biss is consistency. The consistency of behaviour, what he does… it’s not that he’s doing a lot of bad things.
“Obviously the last transgression was very serious but it’s the little things along the way also. I think sometimes that manifests in his game where he’s really good and he’ll have a moment when he’s not. I think it all correlates. From our perspective it’s about trying to continually guide him, but it’s up to him. He’s got to continue to try to be the best version of himself that he can possibly be.”
I’m not especially wild about the tone of Ange’s comments here about Biss — it feels a little purile, as though Bissouma really is a small child caught with his hand in the cookie jar instead of a grown-ass man who is fully able to make his own choices, or the suggestion that Yves needs hand-holding to make sure he stays on the straight and narrow. That said, I do appreciate Ange’s willingness to be redemptive and forgiving of transgressions and do believe he has all of his players’ best interests at heart. I also hope that this is the last we hear of any issues surrounding Bissouma’s behavior this season.