Ange Postecoglou is not opposed to trying something out of the box in the number ten role against Aston Villa, admitting that the game could be used as a dress rehearsal to experiment ahead of Tottenham’s Europa League final.
The big question on everyone’s lips is how Postecoglou gets around the lack of a creative midfielder at his disposal after Dejan Kulusevski joined Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison on the treatment table.
Tottenham have the option to make some tactical tweaks for the final, but the Spurs head coach is seemingly keeping his options open.
With the Lilywhites set to travel to Villa Park this evening, the Australian has not ruled out the possibility of playing two players out of position as a number ten.
Pedro Porro
(Credit @thefrederikkejensen / Instagram)
Ange Postecoglou open to using Pedro Porro or Dominic Solanke as a number ten
The 59-year-old admitted that having three injuries in the same part of the pitch poses a challenge, but pointed out that Tottenham Hotspur have had to overcome much bigger challenges over the course of the season.
When asked about losing three creative midfielders at the same time, Postecoglou responded (via Football.London): “It gives you more of a challenge because they all play in that area, not exactly the same players but they’re all creative types in midfield and have filled that role really well for us this year at different times.
“So, yeah, another challenge but that’s been a constant for us. We’ve always had to try to find creative ways to cover the absences we’ve had and we’ll find a way to do that again.”
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It was then put to Postecoglou that he could experiment with either Dominic Solanke in a deeper role or perhaps use Pedro Porro as an attacking midfielder, given the Spaniard’s vision and passing range.
When asked if these kinds of solutions were too out of the box so late in the planning stages before a big game, he responded: “No, I think it’s all in the realms [of possibility]. When you’re in this position, you go through all the different scenarios. A lot of it will depend on seeing how we get through tomorrow night [at Aston Villa], and see how people get through the game.
“There are obviously a few players who will play tomorrow night who haven’t played regularly or a lot lately who will get an opportunity. There could be a performance tomorrow night that convinces me to go one way or another. You consider it all. At the same time, even if you do something radical, whether it’s a positional change, it’s always better done in the confines of having a real solid foundation there.”
Tottenham will not change their approach irrespective of selection
However, Postecoglou made it clear that no matter what solution his side opts for at Bilbao against Man United, their style and principles of play will not change. He reiterated that he will take learnings from the results of any selection experiments at Villa Park this evening.
Postecoglou added: “Foundationally, we’re not going to change anything there in terms of the way we play, the way we set up for the most part. If you do that, if it’s one positional change for a player, then it still has a possibility of working.”
“You factor it all into it. I doubt you’d do a serious departure from what we have been doing in terms of our overall structure, but at the same time, you have to find solutions within the context of what we have available to give us the best chance of success.
“We’ve got to get through the game (against Villa) to see what the wash-up from that is. We can try a couple of things tomorrow night to see how they work, and we’ve got to make our decisions from there.”
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