Turbulent times at Tottenham Hotspur, indeed. Besides blowing hot and cold in the Premier League, an injury crisis has really struck at the core of the team thus far. At the end of the 3-2 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park, another blow was confirmed by coach Ange Postecoglou: Dominic Solanke will be out for a few weeks owing to a knee injury. And it gets worse than Solanke - 10 injured players. Yes, ten.
Follow Playing for 90 on X (Twitter).
Another crucial loss
Dominic Solanke, who signed in from Bournemouth last summer, has seven goals and three assists in 18 Premier League games. In total, he has been the third most fielded player this season at Spurs, clocking 1,601 minutes in both domestic and continental competitions. With that, there is a desperate need for solutions to fill that void in the attack, which, without key men, is showing evident struggles.
Postecoglou called the incident that led to the injury an "unfortunate" moment in training. "He was just trying to take a shot and twisted his knee. It wasn't due to a collision or anything like that, just one of those things that happens." But, of course, all that is added to because the uncertainty over the full extent of the problem.
For sure, Tottenham is facing an absolutely calamitous situation. Key names among the injured are Cristian Romero, Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Timo Werner; add to that goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and defenders Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie, and the situation surely is now critical with the team first finding it hard to align a consistent starting defense, let alone a balanced midfield.
Richarlison, who recently returned from injury, is still not 100% fit, which limits his appearances on the field. Amid all these absences, Ben Davies returned to the team and took a spot in the defense during the last game, but this is far from solving the team’s structural issues.
Tactical impact and declining performance
It's been hard, if not impossible, to avoid such huge absences. Consequently, that has taken its toll on Tottenham's performance. With 22 points, sitting 15th in the Premier League table, Tottenham's fragility can be seen only eight points above the relegation zone, reflecting not just the injury crisis but also the inability of manager Postecoglou to find some tactical solutions that will keep the team competitive.
The coach has been trying to make changes in formation to compensate for the absences, but one problem has become crystal clear: quality options on the bench are insufficient. The dependence on players like Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski-who have played the most minutes for the team-so far demonstrates the overuse of some athletes. This could increase the risk of new injuries.
A weakened and uninspiring team
With the injuries, even, he has been unable to get a team together that combines competitiveness with entertaining soccer. It has been virtually impossible for an attractive playing style when it was necessary just to survive from match to match.
In this sense, Postecoglou himself also seems to have this in his mind when he talks. Even so, the coach has not found a tactical way to make this team stand out in the league. If the rival clubs show more fluidity and dynamism in their attacking patterns, Spurs show a very predictable game, usually based on individual flashes of brilliance. Without a healthy squad, there is no progress, and the team cannot deliver the spectacle that the fans want.
This is something over and above the present situation. The lack of audacity and flow in the attack reflected negatively on the coach's tactical vision. Even when the circumstances were more in their favor, Tottenham was not doing any good performance.