Enzo Maresca shed some light on the semi-mysterious absence of Mykhailo Mudryk from the last matchday squad, revealing in Friday’s press conference that our winger has been dealing with some sort of illness, which will continue to keep him out this weekend as well.
“[Reece James and Wesley Fofana] are both slowly getting better but as we said the other day, it is a matter of weeks. The other one [to miss out] is still ill is Misha Mudryk and the rest are okay.”
-Enzo Maresca; source: Football.London
Mudryk’s absence was a bit mystifying coming on the heels of his excellent goal against FC Heidenheim in the UEFA Conference League, though we do have an overabundance of attacking options at the moment so some will inevitably miss out on occasion.
Even if he were fit, Mudryk’s would’ve been quite unlikely to start this weekend against Spurs. He’s not exactly top of the depth chart, and Maresca had spoken repeatedly about the 23-year-old being a bit slower than others to pick up his tactical concepts.
All that said, given Ange Postecoglu’s ridiculous defensive setup, it might be fun if we could get Mudryk running out there against that high line.