If Tottenham Hotspur’s remarkable start to the Premier League campaign raised early hopes of a shock title charge, then a run of three successive defeats provided a timely reminder of the fact that we are still in the early days of the Ange Postecoglou era.
You only need look at the squad Tottenham put out at home to Aston Villa on Sunday to realise how much progress must still be made. Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil and Emerson Royal all started. And, when Rodrigo Bentancur limped off following a heavy Matty Cash challenge, it was Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg who got the nod in the absence of Yves Bissouma, James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr.
So far, Postecoglou only has one window under his belt as Tottenham’s head coach. By the time he has come through three or four, Hojbjerg, Gil, Lo Celso and co will likely have moved on. Hojbjerg has plenty of admirers, including Juventus and Ajax, and it would be a surprise if Spurs did not cash in if their £25 million asking price is met. Eric Dier, meanwhile, is all-but certain to go when his contract expires in 2024, left on the bench versus Villa despite the loss of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven.
Big changes afoot at Tottenham Hotspur
Dier and Hojbjerg, two of the longest-serving members of this Spurs squad, have made over 500 appearances for the club between them. Add that to Ben Davies, and you’ve got three players with in excess of 800 Tottenham outings potentially on their way out the door in the coming months.
Davies, unlike Dier and Hojbjerg, started against Aston Villa, albeit in an unfamiliar centre-back position in a back-four. But, while the Welshman is not quite as maligned as the aforementioned duo amongst the Spurs supporters, he too feels like a man out of time under Postecoglou. An oil lamp in an era of Nanoleaves, if you will.
Davies lacks the dynamism and the speed of Destiny Udogie, Tottenham’s first-choice left-back these days. And while he acquitted himself respectably against Wolves and Aston Villa, he was left looking very much like a full-back playing at centre-back at times. Especially as Mario Lemina and Ollie Watkins darted in to score the winners.
Potential replacements lined up
According to 90Min, Tottenham’s ‘top priority’ in January is to find a defender better suited to Postecoglou’s possession-heavy, high-line tactics. Lloyd Kelly, Koki Machida, Marc Guehi, Jarrad Brnathwaite, Morato and Goncalo Inacio are all under consideration, and are all left-footers. AC Milan’s Malick Thiaw, outstanding against Spurs in the Champions League last season, is more comfortable on his right but has impressed on the left for the Rossoneri (Daily Mail).
Tottenham’s interest in a litany of ball-playing defensive southpaws means that Davies feels even more like a sticking plaster solution to Spurs’ centre-back issues. He did not start a single league game under Postecoglou until Udogie was ruled out of that 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on matchday 10.
With his contract expiring in 2025 and with a host of potential replacements lined up, how many more will Davies make before his Tottenham departure comes around?
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