Much has been made of Tottenham’s lack of squad depth in recent times and the issue came to a head during an injury crisis at the start of Jose Mourinho’s reign.
Many of the noises the Portuguese made at that time centred around the idea he could only be judged once it had died down.
In these unprecedented times, that opportunity has come around this season, as opposed to next.
Whereas the likes of Steven Bergwijn and Erik Lamela would ordinarily be undertaking pre-season, last night the midfield pair changed the face of Tottenham’s 3-1 win at Newcastle.
Bergwijn set up Harry Kane’s 200th club goal for 2-1 before the pace of £30 million man (BBC) Lamela allowed Kane to break away and score a third.
Mourinho can now call on decent options from the bench, and that is not a problem he has really had at Tottenham before.
It gives him flexibility and the comfort blanket of actually being able to alter the course of a match if his initial plan doesn’t pan out.
That’s a welcome development for Spurs. Their squad still needs summer surgery, but at least the manager has options right now.
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