How Tottenham Can Overcome Its Latest Setbacks

Tottenham Hotspurs’ stretched-thin squad endured another nightmare weekend ahead of the international break, suffering a 3-0 defeat to London rivals, Fulham FC. The one-sided event at Craven Cottage extinguished Tottenham’s morale whilst igniting Fulham’s belief that it can still qualify for Europe later this season.

Although the Spurs had been feeling their strength, gaining advantage in the race to the top four following a recent 4-0 win against Aston Villa, anyone who has been paying attention to the Premier League club as of late is not surprised by the swift defeat this past weekend. Ange Postecoglou admonished his team’s lack of “competitiveness” whilst Captain Heung-min Son also noted faults in “attitude” and “performance.”

Fortunately for the weary Tottenham, many players will be getting a much-needed change of pace, flying internationally to represent their countries before coming back later this month to compete against Luton.

But when they do come back, the Spurs are facing something of an uphill battle. After their most recent game, Tottenham have given up the most goals of all the top six Premier teams for a total of 42 all season. Going forward, they will require quite a bit of adaptation to overcome their challenges, starting with its growing injury list.

Tottenham’s Injury List Grows

Making matters worse for Tottenham has been the absence of Micky van de Ven, who was pulled after a hamstring injury. His removal had its most notable effect in the game against Fulham last weekend, though Postecoglou felt that he would probably return soon without missing much more action.

Full-back Ryan Sessegnon also remains out over a much more severe hamstring injury, one that will unfortunately require surgery before he’s able to return. As such, it’s probable that he will miss the rest of the Premier season as he takes his time to recover from the second of such a debilitation in as many years.

Another unknown return from the injury list comes from Manor Solomon. After the Spurs signed him in the summer, Solomon was only able to make six appearances before suffering a post-surgical setback in his right knee. Though he is making progress in his recovery, Postecoglou confirmed earlier this month that the new signing is nowhere near ready to come back to team training.

Fraser Forster rounds out the injury list at Tottenham as he struggles with a fractured foot. Even if healing continues to go well, Forster will not return to the field until April at the absolute earliest, and possibly not until as late as May.

The Spurs Plan To Shake Things Up

As Tottenham’s injury list grows and Postecoglou must adapt to changing circumstances, the Spurs appear to be on the move to beat Man Utd and Arsenal to the punch, having drawn up a legendary offer for Polish star Sebastian Szymanski, according to reports relayed on podcasts.

The central attacking midfielder has had 46 appearances since arriving in Turkey and has already racked up 12 goals and 14 assists, making him an incredibly attractive choice for an otherwise flailing team. Now Szymanski, who Fenerbahce only paid €9.75m to land, has more than doubled his value, becoming the most-valued player along with Ferdi Kadioglu, so it comes as no surprise to find that Premier clubs are flirting with the idea of acquisition.

The Spurs are the first English club to align themselves with Szymanski, with Postecoglou expressing his admiration for the player as early as January. Along with Man Utd and Arsenal, Tottenham sent scouts this season to watch him play, and all were left impressed, though perhaps Postecoglou most of all.

That said, this impression will not come at a low price; it was revealed last month that Fenerbahce will only allow Szymanski leave if a team proposes a €25m acquisition. If Tottenham jumps in with both feet, it would be a record-smashing deal for the Turkish club, currently held at €21m between Elvir Baljic and Vedat Muriqi.

Still, whilst it would be a fantastic amount of money for Fenerbahce, €25m is not a price that is likely to put off Tottenham, especially for as loudly as Postecoglou sings Szymanski’s praises. Such an acquisition would put the club in great favour on UK betting sites, too; according to the BettingNonGamStop guide, these UK betting sites not on GamStop factor in all possibilities when calculating their odds and payouts, including how likely Tottenham is to overcome its current challenges.

Of course, attacking midfield is not the Spurs’ only concern. The club is also bound to try and strengthen its centre-forward position. While it’s a bit early to tell where the team is looking in this regard, some possible options include Ivan Toney, Serhou Guirassy, or even Santiago Gimenez.