In the two weeks between Tottenham’s last Premier League game, the 3-1 win over Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve, and Sunday’s visit to Manchester United, Ange Postecoglou’s options at the back have been transformed.
Full-backs Emerson Royal and Ben Davies started in the heart of defence against the Cherries, with cover from substitutes Ashley Phillips and Eric Dier.
Since then, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have returned to full training; Spurs have signed a new centre-half in Radu Dragusin, a £25.7million capture from Genoa; Phillips and Dier have joined new clubs (the former on loan at Plymouth, the latter in a dream move to Bayern Munich); and Davies is the latest of Postecoglou’s players to succumb to a hamstring strain.
The upshot is a Spurs defence which could be back at full strength at Old Trafford with Romero and Van de Ven both in contention, though the former may not be ready to start.
Van de Ven was forced off at the end of the first half against Chelsea on November 6 with a pulled hamstring, shortly after Romero’s straight red card, and the Argentine has managed just four appearances since due to suspension and a hamstring injury of his own. With Romero and Van de Ven together on the pitch, Postecoglou’s unbeaten side raced to the top of the table in their best start to a League campaign since 1960-61, conceding just eight times in 11 matches and including a 2-0 win over United.
Since losing both players, Spurs have shipped 19 goals across the same number of games, illustrating their enormous importance to Postecoglou’s approach. James Maddison has also been missing since the Chelsea game with ankle ligament damage — and is now nearing a return to full training — but Spurs have coped at No10, with Giovani Lo Celso (also now nursing a muscle injury) and Dejan Kulusevski covering impressively.
Romero and, particularly, Van de Ven have proved the more costly absences.
The Dutchman’s pace, which enables him to sweep behind Spurs’s high defensive line and drive forward with the ball, coupled with Romero’s aggression and passing range, quickly made them a complementary pairing.
For a United side which is struggling for cutting edge, the likely return of Romero and Van de Ven on Sunday is poorly timed, as both Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford look to spark their season into life by building on recent goals against Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, respectively.
If Spurs can complete their first League double over United since the 1989-90 campaign, they would move 11 points clear of Erik ten Hag’s side, underlining a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of the two clubs.
This time last year, United appeared upwardly mobile and progressive under Ten Hag, while Antonio Conte’s Spurs were consistently underwhelming. Now, Ten Hag’s United feel much like Conte’s old team; they have just enough individual quality to scrape together results against lesser sides, but no discernible identity.
United are expected to be watched by Sir Jim Ratcliffe for the first time since his proposed 25 per cent purchase of the club was confirmed, although with the £1billion deal not likely to be ratified until the end of February, there is little sense that anything has changed yet.
By contrast, Spurs have remained competitive even without Romero, Van de Ven, Maddison and others, starting this weekend a point outside the top four and six from the summit, but Postecoglou will be looking ambitiously up the table now that his best players are returning to fitness — and new signings Timo Werner and Dragusin have arrived.
If there is a concern for the Australian, it is his side’s efficiency at the top end of the pitch without absent captain Heung-min Son, who is at the Asian Games.
Spurs needed a late Pedro Porro screamer to see off Burnley in the FA Cup last time out, when they were short of bite in the final third.
If they find the net against United, it will be their longest-ever run of scoring in consecutive Premier League games — 33 — but in each of the previous 32 they had Son, Harry Kane or both in the side. Spurs may need a new point of inspiration up front, but at least Postecoglou’s defensive worries have eased.
