Time marches inextricably onward, or at least as we perceive it as three-dimensional beings who perceive time as a linear phenomenon. Sometimes I wish that were not the case, as it’d be so tempting to just skip ahead to when Tottenham Hotspur inevitably win a trophy.
Alas this is not to be, so we must content ourselves with injury news as it comes in. And it has come in. Ange Postecoglou held a press conference ahead of Sunday’s home match against Aston Villa, and while there is good news about Son Heung-Min, the news is a little less good for Micky van de Ven.
But let’s start with the good news — Sonny is back! After being held out as a precaution in Tottenham’s midweek League Cup victory over Manchester City, Big Ange has confirmed that he should be ready to return from a hamstring injury vs. Villa, a pernicious little soft tissue injury that’s kept him out of the lineup for a couple of weeks. Van de Ven’s news isn’t good, but it falls squarely in the “could be a lot worse” category — he picked up a minor hamstring injury that Ange says “is not too serious” but will likely keep him sidelined through the upcoming international break.
“Main one is Micky, he has sort of strained his hamstring. its not too serious, but probably after the international break for him. [Cuti] Romero, [Timo] Werner - at the moment, still a chance for the weekend. Sonny has trained today, so if he gets through training tomorrow he should be okay.”
Postecoglou also had a brief update on Wilson Odobert, who sustained an injury setback in training this past week; Ange implied that we won’t be seeing him on the pitch for a while yet, likely at least another month.
“It’s a re-occurrence, we’re going to have to be conservative. I’d say a similar time to his last one.”
Sonny coming back is huge, as Spurs are suddenly thin at the left wide forward position assuming Timo Werner isn’t fit enough to play or start. Speaking of Timo, that’s also unexpectedly good news for him — he left the City match limping and holding his groin, and that’s never a good sign. But if he’s in line to potentially play this weekend even as a reserve, it’s a better outcome than I had anticipated in the moment. Romero’s substitution always had the feel of something planned as opposed to something reactive, so it’s also good that he got a bit of a rest in that match with Ben Davies putting in a very good shift.
I think we can probably pencil Sonny into the starting lineup, along with Radu Dragusin, who will replace Micky in the back line. That might result in some minor defensive tactical tweaks; Radu is a solid on-the-ball defender but doesn’t have Micky’s recovery pace in the high line.
There was no word on Djed Spence’s recovery either — Destiny Udogie has put in some significant minutes lately and could probably use a breather, and Djed has more than earned the opportunity to play Premier League football if he’s healthy. We’ll see about that.