Tottenham Hotspur were back in Premier League action this afternoon with a short trip across London to Fulham, but Ange Postecoglou and co walked away with a toothless 2-0 defeat.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the game:
No creativity without James Maddison or Dejan Kulusevski
Ange Postecoglou opted for squad rotation after the Thursday night Europa League win over AZ Alkmaar. Heung-min Son, James Maddison, Micky Van de Ven, Pedro Porro, and Lucas Bergvall were all benched from the start against Fulham and it showed immediately. With all the creative players either on the bench or out injured – like Dejan Kulusevski – Tottenham lacked any kind of drive or ingenuity in midfield.
Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur have struggled all season long both on and off the ball, and that was the case once again this afternoon – to the point that the former was hooked at half-time. Of course, Postecoglou will have one eye on keeping his best players injury-free ahead of a Europa League push, but there needs to be some balance to a starting XI.
Archie Gray gets a chance in the Tottenham midfield
I felt a little sorry for Archie Gray today. Surrounded by the inefficiency of Bissouma and Bergvall, he stood little chance of shining in the pivot role, especially considering it was his first start in midfield for months. While he bounced the ball around nicely at times, keeping Spurs ticking over, he struggled to elevate his game to much more than simple passes.
Gray was by far the best of the three who started in the engine room and clearly just needs more minutes to get up to speed in Postecoglou’s system. It will be interesting to see how Gray and Bergvall eventually fit into a midfield together, with both arguably having that pivot role as their best position.
Fulham's Brazilian striker #09 Rodrigo Muniz (R) controls the ball past Tottenham Hotspur's Swedish midfielder #15 Lucas Bergvall during the Engli...
Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images
Bergvall first name on the team sheet
Talking of Lucas Bergvall – he was the one player who really made a difference off the bench again today. Both Heung-min Son and James Maddison created chances after coming on, but it was Bergvall who completely transformed the pace of the game with his driving runs and line-breaking passes.
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Whatever happens this season, one of Tottenham’s biggest victories of 2024/25 is unearthing this gem and fast-tracking his route into the starting XI. He is miles ahead of Bissouma and Bentancur in the pecking order now, and perhaps even above Sarr and Gray when it comes to midfield too. He was perhaps unlucky not to get a penalty to haul Spurs back into the game today too, and would have been a deserved hero. Exciting times are ahead for Bergvall and Tottenham fans!
Mathys Tel looks more comfortable on the wing
Let’s be honest, it was not a career-defining performance from Mathys Tel by any stretch of the imagination. However, he did show more bright sparks against Fulham than in any of his matches in the number nine role at Tottenham so far.
Tel finally got a chance to feel his way into the game and take on defenders with time and space, which is such an integral part of his game. He even went close to scoring with a curling left-footed effort in the second half, which would have been a much-needed boost for the Bayern Munich man. Hopefully, we can see him get some more minutes on the left and right of attack in the coming months, rotated with Son and Wilson Odobert.
Ryan Sessegnon… fair enough
When it rains, it pours at Tottenham Hotspur. Of course, the injury-prone Ryan Sessegnon who spent five years in North London but only ever played 57 times for Spurs came off the bench and scored – assisted by a goalkeeper, no less. And it was a great finish too!
It’s nice to see Sess back on his feet in the Premier League but it is also a perfect representation of where Tottenham are at the moment. With so many of those injured players now back in and around the team, the results simply have to improve. If not, Ange Postecoglou will not be leading the Lilywhites out into the 2025/26 campaign.
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