Tottenham Hotspur fans have weighed in on who they want to see start on the right wing in the Europa League quarter-final clash against Eintracht Frankfurt and their verdict is far from unanimous.
Ange Postecoglou is sure to have a selection headache when his side takes on Eintracht Frankfurt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday night.
The wing options are fairly stacked at the moment, with Dejan Kulusevski the only major doubt for the midweek clash, though there’s a chance he could be available for the return leg.
We’ve done our best to predict the Tottenham XI to face Frankfurt in the first leg, and the front three we’ve landed on is Heung-min Son, Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.
Tottenham fans split on Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert for Europa League tie
Of course, given Johnson’s impressive showing against Southampton, you’d expect the wide man to keep his place again this Thursday.
But it’s not that straightforward — Wilson Odobert made a serious case with his performance against AZ Alkmaar in the round of 16, bagging a brace, and then added two assists during the international break against England’s U21s.
We put the question to social media: who do Tottenham fans want to see on the right wing this Thursday? Let’s just say, the responses were far from unanimous.
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One fan said: “Tel Johnson Odobert I really want to see this.” Another weighed in: “Tel Solanke Odobert, 60 bring Son and Johnson.”
A different take was: “Play Johnson as a 9.” One more said: “Odobert has to start don’t care which side just start him.” Someone else added: “Johnson right, Odobert left. Son needs to go.”
And another summed up the scepticism: “Johnson plays well against the worst Prem team of all time and people think he should start…”
Odobert gets the fan backing, but Postecoglou remains key
On the whole, it seems a majority of Spurs fans do want Odobert in their front three, even if there’s less consensus about Brennan Johnson.
But if Odobert is to start, he’ll need to take Postecoglou’s advice seriously — Postecoglou wasn’t exactly impressed by Wilson Odobert’s cameo off the bench against Southampton.
Postecoglou said: “I thought Wilson today didn’t look ready when he came on and only came to life the last 10–15 minutes but sometimes these guys coming on are going to be really vital for us in Europe because you know the ties are going to be really intense and you’re going to have to make changes, not just because players are not performing, but because we need that extra energy.
“Guys like Mathys and Wilson are young guys and we’re going to need them. They have the quality for sure. I thought Archie and Biss came on and helped us a bit in terms of getting a bit more control of the game. For all those guys now that we’ve got a healthy squad that they’re ready to play.”
And for those who may not start, Postecoglou will be hoping they’re ready from the off — because a slow start against Frankfurt would be a dangerous gamble.