While Ange Postecoglou’s debut season in the Tottenham Hotspur dugout can probably best be described as ‘mixed’, a host of successful signings brought in under the former Celtic boss hint at a brighter future.
Guglielmo Vicario, despite some problems at set-pieces, has been a massive upgrade on the ageing Hugo Lloris in goal. James Maddison and Micky van de Ven have made a big impact too, albeit while suffering some injury issues.
Desinty Udogie, meanwhile, appears to be a long-term solution for a left-back problem neither Ivan Perisic nor Ryan Sessegnon or Sergio Reguilon managed to fix.
Arguably no player ‘gets’ Ange-ball quite as much as Udogie does. A left-back on the team sheet but one who doubles up as a central midfielder and even a number ten at times when Tottenham are in possession, the Italy international possesses the energy, the versatility and the technical qualities Postecoglou looks for.
In fact, while he is still far from the finished article, if you were to build a prototype Postecoglou full-back, the end result would look a lot like Destiny Udogie.
Gary Neville hails Tottenham’s Destiny Udodige
For Gary Neville, it is no coincidence that Tottenham have lost five Premier League games without the former Udinese flyer in their starting XI.
The Manchester United legend even picked Udogie in his 2023/24 Team of the Season, albeit a decision made a little easier by the lack of other top-level left-backs plying their trade in the Premier League at the moment.
“It’s been a struggle for most teams at left-back, even for the top teams,” Neville says on Sky Sports‘ Monday Night Football show, Josko Gvardiol only recently establishing himself in the Manchester City XI and the position one of the few weak spots in Arsenal’s XI.
“Obviously City have had Gvardiol coming in, Arsenal they’ve changed it around.
“Udogie has made such a difference when he’s played, and he’s a big miss when he’s out.”
Full-back ruled out of Spurs vs Manchester City
One of the first names on Postecoglou’s team sheet, Udogie has played 28 top-flight games this season. He’s scored twice and set up three goals too, with fellow Serie A import Vicario confident that Tottenham will soon have ‘one of the best left-backs in the world’ at their disposal if the youngster can maintain his current rate of progress.
Spurs will be without Udogie against Manchester City on Tuesday night, however. Postecoglou employed Oliver Skipp and then Van de Ven on the left against Burnley on Saturday, the latter scoring a late winner to break Tottenham’s four-match losing streak.
“Look, I think I have said it a number of times, and you can either take me on face value or not, is that I make decisions on all the information I have and that information is not always available to the general public for good reason,” Postecoglou told Football London when asked if Van de Ven could start on the left vs City.
“There are reasons why we do what we do. Micky has had an unbelievable first season and the standing and levels he has played at. But we want him here for a long time and for him to be the best possible player he can be.
“Part of that is that he has had a couple of injuries and we need to be careful about how and where we use him, and why we use him in those areas.
“Not just him. A lot of the players particularly when you are talking about the physical output in different areas. So it doesn’t mean we won’t pay him there tomorrow night or (at the) weekend. But the reasons are made with the full information at hand.”
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