Tottenham Hotspur open their 2024-25 Premier League season this Monday against newly-promoted Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. Ange Postecoglou gave his pre-match press conference and had plenty to say about his team and the preparations for the start of the new season.
But one player will not be involved on Monday, and it’s not because of injury. Postecoglou said that midfielder Yves Bissouma has been suspended by the club for Monday’s match after the player posted a video of himself inhaling nitrous oxide at a club on his social media feed. Bissouma has already apologized to the club calling it a “severe lack of judgment,” but Postecoglou’s and the club’s actions here are a direct message to the player (as well as likely trying to potentially stay ahead of any future FA fines or suspensions).
Ange was asked about Bissouma in the presser, and he announced the suspension here in pretty strong terms.
“[I’ve] been in the game for a long time, when a situation like this arises, I’ve tried to look at them in a couple of ways. First there’s a person and it’s Biss and he’s made a poor decision. There are still sanctions involved, and some of those are educational. He is a footballer with responsibilities.
“He won’t be available on Monday. We’ve suspended him from Monday’s game. He needs to build that trust back with both me and the group. The door is open for him and we can help him realize the decisions he makes impact the group.”
And how does Bissouma earn back the trust he’s broken with Ange and the club?
“Behaviour mate. It’s that simple. It’s about making better decisions. He was very apologetic to me, the club and everyone involved but that’s just part of it.”
I’ve said on here previously that the nitrous oxide use doesn’t bother me, and I hold to that opinion — private recreational drug use (including abuse of alcohol) is I’m certain very, very common among professional athletes and footballers. That said, what Bissouma did was in fact illegal according to UK law and it was incredibly stupid for him to post that publicly, which is the real issue here. I’m fine with him being suspended for one match for being a big ol’ dummy, and it sounds like he’s in Big Ange’s doghouse for the time being. Fair enough.
Elsewhere, Postecoglou gave a strong hint as to who will be starting up top for Spurs on Monday afternoon. When asked about new record signing Dominic Solanke and Richarlison, Tottenham’s two striker options, Ange confirmed that both players are available, but that Richy will take some additional time to get up to fitness.
“Thankfully, it’s what we expected. [Dominic] is a top pro and he’s settled into the dressing room really well. Football-wise, you can see how he’s going to fit in. So far he’s fitted in really well with the group in training.
“[Richy] needs game minutes, but has trained well and doesn’t feel any effects of the injury which is great.”
Based on that answer I think we can assume that Solanke will start up top for Spurs on Monday, with Richarlison likely coming in as a late match substitute depending on game state. It could be the best thing for both players, with Solanke getting a chance to bed in with the team and Richy getting minutes in his legs for the first time in a long time.
Tottenham kick off against Leicester at the King Power this Monday at 8 pm BST, 3 pm ET. The match will be televised on Sky Sports in the UK and USA Network in the United States.