Inside Futbol

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has lauded a Spurs star for his ability to deal with pressure after he impressed in the Europa League against Ferencvaros.

Following a win in their first Europa League game, against Qarabag thanks to goals from Brennan Johnson, Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke, Spurs were in action in Hungary.

Youngster Mikey Moore played the full 90 minutes of his side’s 2-1 victory over Ferencvaros on Thursday night.

He also played a significant role in setting up Tottenham’s opening goal of the night, starting the move with a run down the right-hand side.

The Tottenham boss was impressed with what he saw from the academy graduate and commended him for multiple skills that he showed on the pitch for his team.

Postecoglou also tipped the talent to show significant growth in the future, while delighting at how he handles pressure.

“His ability to just deal with pressure and keep the ball in really tight areas and make really good clean decisions for such a young boy”, the manager said at a post-match press conference.

“It’s not easy out there when defenders fly in and he took one within the first 30 seconds, but he drives on.

“He’s got so much growth and he wants to learn.

“I couldn’t be happier with him and I’m very pleased that he’s part of our football club.”

Moore was one of four teenage players the manager played in his team for the match with the other three being Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Will Lankshear.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has insisted he does not know why Spurs star Brennan Johnson gets criticised and feels he is now ahead of his attacking rivals in terms of numbers.

Johnson has been a standout performer for the Lilywhites so far this season and his influence was yet again felt in the 2-1 win Europa League over Hungarian side Ferencvaros on Thursday.

After coming on in the 65th minute of the match, Johnson became a crucial addition as his goal eventually proved to be the determining factor for Tottenham.

Heaping praise on the winger, Tottenham boss Postecoglou insisted that the player is in a great vein of form right now but this season has not been a one-off for him.

Comparing him with other wingers the manager insisted that Johnson is probably ahead of other wingers with his numbers.

“He’s in a great vein of form right now. He’s really confident”, Postecoglou said at a press conference.

“They thrive on that sort of stuff, but his numbers have always been good.

“I was always curious as to why he was singled out because his numbers were always good when stacked up against the other wingers.

“Now he’s probably ahead of them with his numbers.”

The goal in Hungary was Johnson’s second in-a-row in the Europa League which comes in addition to another two in the Premier League and one in the EFL Cup.

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Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United ‘will hurt’ Rangers if the Gers produce a similar display to that against Lyon on Thursday night, former Gers star Billy Dodds feels.

Following a superb performance and result away at Malmo in their opening Europa League game, Rangers had high hopes hosting Lyon at Ibrox.

The French though were a class act and struck three times in the first half to lead 3-1 at half-time, with Tom Lawrence scoring for the Gers.

Lyon’s dominance was such that they could have scored more than just one more goal in the second period and Dodds is concerned with games against Premier League pair Tottenham and Manchester United to come.

He feels if Rangers play as they did in the first half then the English duo will hurt them.

“I think Man United and Spurs will hurt this Rangers team if they play like they did in the first half, Dodds said post match on BBC Sportsound.

Fellow former Rangers striker Steven Thompson admits that the Gers were simply beaten by the better side on the night.

He explained: “Rangers have been outclassed and outplayed.”

With Manchester United having drawn their opening two Europa League games, there is the prospect the Red Devils could badly need a win when they host Rangers at Old Trafford in January.

Rangers are due to host Tottenham, who have won their opening two games, in the middle of December.

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Tottenham Hotspur loaned out star at Matthew Craig has stated that League One can be challenging at times but insisted that his loan spell at Barnsley has been good so far.

Craig has come through the academy set-up of Tottenham and this season joined League One outfit Barnsley on loan for more regular football.

The 21-year-old defensive midfielder has established himself as a regular starter in Barnsley’s starting line-up and has already made eight appearances for them in the league.

Craig believes that League One is a good league with good players in it and added that so far he is feeling good with his loan spell at Barnsley.

The Tottenham starlet also admitted that the league at times provides him with challenging circumstances but acknowledged that he has experienced some good moments as well.

“It is obviously a good league with good players in and obviously it is going to be challenging at times, but then you also find good moments within that as well”, Craig told Barnsley TV.

“I think so far it has been good and obviously you would hope to see results and would be able to pick up more points than we have done, but I think that is obviously in an ideal world as well.

“We keep building and trying to, like I said, build on the performances and results and hopefully we can pick up more points in the future.”

The 21-year-old Spurs star will be determined to impress this season for the League One outfit to get into Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou’s plans for next season.

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Fixture: Ferencvaros vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: Europa League

Kick-off: 17:45 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has named his team and substitutes to lock horns with Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros in the Europa League this evening.

Postecoglou saw his men overcome an early sending off to get their Europa League league stage campaign off to a winning start against Qarabag and there is the opportunity for more points here.

Ferencvaros lost their Europa League opener 2-1 away at Anderlecht and will hope they can use home advantage to spring a surprise on Spurs.

Spurs though are in good form and comfortably beat Manchester United at Old Trafford at the weekend and they start as firm favourites here.

Vicario starts between the sticks for Tottenham, while at the back Postecoglou goes with Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies and Archie Gray.

Midfield sees Tottenham deploy Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Lucas Bergvall, while Timo Werner, Will Lankshear and Mikey Moore provide the attacking threat.

Postecoglou has a host of options to bring on off the bench if needed, including Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Ferencvaros

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Davies, Gray, Sarr, Bissouma, Bergvall, Werner, Lankshear, Moore

Substitutes: Forster, Austin, Dorrington, Van de Ven, Cassanova, Bentancur, Maddison, Kulusevski, Ajayi, Johnson, Solanke

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Former Premier League star Zoltan Gera believes that though on paper Tottenham Hotspur are the most likely winner against Hungarian giants Ferencvaros, football is beautiful because it is not won depending on which club have the more star players.

The defending Hungarian champions will have a job on their hands when they host the London giants in their league phase Europa League match on Thursday.

Gera, who saw Tottenham at close quarters during his stay in England, knows the quality that Ange Postecoglou’s team will bring to the table on the night.

However, reflecting back on his playing days, Gera insisted that he always considered playing against a bigger team to be a great opportunity.

Though Tottenham have more star players, Gera believes that games are not won based on which club has more star players in their team.

“As a player, I always considered it an excellent opportunity when we played against bigger, ‘star teams'”, Gera told Hungarian outlet M4 Sports.

“On paper, Tottenham is the most likely, but the football is beautiful because it is not certain that the team that has more stars will win, maybe the one that has more value.

“I think the fact that they are playing against such a high-level team boosts the Fradi players.”

Gera also floated the prospect of Ferencvaros springing a surprise for Tottenham.

“In such cases, the game has the “brilliant factor”, Ferencvaros can even surprise the Spurs.”

Tottenham head into the match with confidence having scored six goals, three each in their last two matches against Qarabag in the Europa League and Manchester United in the Premier League.

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Ferencvaros boss Pascal Jansen believes that there are many ways to play against Tottenham Hotspur, but the most important thing is to stay true to their style and not be naïve.

The Hungarian champions will have a daunting task to handle when they host the London giants in a Europa League league phase match on Thursday.

Jansen, who has kept a close track of English football, insists that he knows Tottenham well and can understand the challenges they can bring.

According to the 51-year-old, staying true to their style of play and not being naïve will be key to success against the visitors.

“I know the opponent well because I follow the Premier League quite intensively”, Jansen said at a press conference.

“There are many ways to play against Tottenham, but the most important thing is to stay true to our style of play and not be naïve.”

Highlighting Tottenham’s tendency for playing attacking football, Jansen insisted: “Because Spurs are known for their attacking football.

“So we will be under a lot of pressure when we don’t have the ball.”

Ferencvaros were beaten 2-1 in their first match against Anderlecht while Tottenham beat Qarabag 3-0 in theirs.

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Tottenham Hotspur star Lucas Bergvall’s former club Djurgardens are set for a cash windfall whenever the teenager makes his full Premier League debut.

The 18-year-old Sweden international is considered a top prospect and the north London outfit paid initially £8m for him, beating Barcelona to his signature.

He has signed a five-year deal at Tottenham and has started one match in the Europa League and one more in the EFL Cup.

In the league, though, Ange Postecoglou is yet to start Bergvall as the teenager has been mostly used as an impact substitute.

However, once he starts a match in the Premier League, his former team Djurgardens are set to make a significant profit from that.

According to Swedish outlet Fotboll Direkt, the Allsvenskan outfit will receive around £2.5m as a bonus whenever Bergvall is handed his full debut in the English top-flight.

The 18-year-old has shown glimpses of his talent and whenever he comes on pitch he has been given set-piece duties as well.

It is now only a matter of time for Djurgardens to secure a £2.5m cash windfall from the Tottenham star’s sale.

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Tottenham Hotspur new boy Archie Gray has revealed that the only change since moving from Leeds United to the Premier League club is learning the roles of a different team and a different manager.

The Lilywhites snapped up Gray on a deal worth up to £40m, with centre-back Joe Rodon moving the other way, to Elland Road.

Gray is now five matches old at Tottenham and is enjoying life at his new club, where he feels that he has amazing team-mates, who have helped make his transition easy.

“It has been amazing so far, I’m really enjoying it. I’m lucky to have the team-mates that I’ve got,” Gray told the BBC.

“How they’ve helped me settle into the group has been amazing and I’m really grateful.”

On the changes that he has undergone since moving to a new club, the 18-year-old insisted that it has just been about learning his new role in a different team under a different manager.

“I don’t think too much has changed [since moving from Leeds], it’s just learning the roles of a different team and manager.”

Once those lessons were learnt Gray believes that it has been more of the same.

“Once you’ve learned that it’s quite the same, trying to do as much as you can on the pitch.”

Gray showed impressive form for Leeds United last season in the Championship and was an ever-present figure in Daniel Farke’s team playing different roles.

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One of Tottenham Hotspur’s stars has admitted he is always keen to post the ‘how hard are you working’ question to opposition midfielders by never stopping.

Ange Postecoglou’s side scored a fine 3-0 win at Manchester United at the weekend thanks to goals from Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke.

Kulusevski was in especially good shape, creating a record nine chances as his side won at Old Trafford.

Giving an insight into his new role in the attacking area, the 24-year-old insisted that it is his position.

Giving an insight into why he had not been used in that role before the Swedish international insisted that he was not mature enough.

Now though he thinks that he has changed and is shouldering more responsibility.

“It’s my position”, the winger told Tottenham’s Review Show.

“Before, maybe I didn’t play so much in this position because I didn’t defend enough, but now I’m a man. I’m taking more responsibility.

“Like I said, outside the pitch, I’m taking more responsibility and that helps me on the pitch. I know I have to play for the team.

“I have to defend much more.

“So, now the coach can put me in the middle and it’s offensive, but it’s working and playing with Rodrigo [Bentancur] and Maddison… they’re really good players, it’s easy.”

He added that he is always keen to go forward in games and make it difficult for opposition midfielders, asking them the ‘how hard are you working’ question.

“I always want to go forward”, the Swede said.

“I train to never be tired so, I can do it all game and it’s hard for midfielders if they have to track me back for 90 minutes.

“You know, I really want to question them and ask them, ‘how hard are you working?”

Tottenham now have Hungarian side Ferencvaros ahead of them in the Europa League before facing Brighton at the weekend.