Alasdair Gold believes that Ange Postecoglou may have shown his hand ahead of the Europa League final with the formation Tottenham deployed at Villa Park.
The biggest decision awaiting the Tottenham boss ahead of the Europa League final is who to play as a number ten, with Dejan Kulusevski being the latest to succumb to an injury following James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall.
Ahead of the game against Aston Villa, Postecoglou refused to rule out experimenting with Pedro Porro or Dominic Solanke as a number ten.
However, the Australian persisted with Odobert in the role against Unai Emery’s side, and the Frenchman gave a decent account of himself, particularly in the first half despite Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat.
Dominic Solanke
(Credit: @thefrederikkejensen / Instagram)
Alasdair Gold expects Dominic Solanke to start as Tottenham ten
Speaking after the 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa, Postecoglou hinted that Tottenham may have to rely on Odobert as the number ten at Bilbao.
However, Football.London’s Alasdair Gold noticed something interesting about Spurs’ formation at Villa Park, pointing out that they were shifting from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 at times.
The journalist believes this could be evidence that the Tottenham boss is planning to slot Richarlison into the starting eleven against Man United and use Dominic Solanke as the number ten.
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Gold wrote: “Postecoglou must formulate a game plan for United that does not involve creative central midfielders, and his formation on Friday night was a chance for him to look at some of his players, albeit different ones, working within one potential tactic.
“Spurs were set up in what looked like a 4-4-2 at times that became a 4-2-3-1, depending on where Odobert positioned himself as he spent long periods alongside Tel rather than behind him.
“You could easily imagine the system with Dominic Solanke playing a little deeper off Richarlison, Son and Brennan Johnson on the wings, trying to get the ball to the front men, as would Pedro Porro with his deeper crosses, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Bissouma patrolling the midfield. One Solanke turn and run late in the game showed what he will be able to do in that role if called upon to perform it.”
Only one spot up for grabs for the Europa League final?
With Heung-min Son proving his fitness against Villa, 10 out of the 11 spots in the Tottenham starting eleven for the Europa League final appear to be taken.
The only big decision facing Postecoglou seems to be the number ten role. The Australian has to decide whether to play Odobert as a number ten behind Solanke or to bring Richarlison into the team as the striker and move Solanke to a deeper role.
The fact that Odobert played 87 minutes yesterday after his exertions against Crystal Palace suggests that the Brazilian is the favourite to start at San Mames.
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