Of the Tottenham players against Wolves last weekend, only one was a rookie brought in by Ange Postecoglou in the 2023 summer transfer window. That was young striker Brennan Johnson, who opened the scoring in the 3rd minute.
In Spurs' starting lineup at Molineux, there were 4 people used in an "extreme" style, namely Emerson Royal, Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Of these, only Emerson has a small future at Tottenham, the remaining three are not in Postecoglou's long-term development plan. However, due to injuries and suspension, the Australian coach was forced to use him.
Dier's contract will expire at the end of this season and Hojbjerg could leave in the summer of 2024. The Danish midfielder has been given a "safe" path by the team's leadership.
Postecoglou only had one transfer window in the summer of 2023. He needs about 4 more market sessions to complete the squad. The task is not only to bring in quality new players, Postecoglou is forced to quickly purify the surplus.
Tottenham have planned to buy a central defender as a strategic reserve for Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. However, before the 2024 winter transfer market could arrive, they had lost Van de Ven until the end of December due to injury.
Hojbjerg's role is being completely replaced by Yves Bissouma. However, if Bissouma is also injured, Postecoglou will break the midfield once more. As the season gets closer to the acceleration phase, injuries will get more and more and Tottenham are lacking enough quality personnel to compensate.
"We didn't have the flexibility we always have. Looking at the defense, there are up to 3 players who seem to have played for the first time since the beginning of the season" - Postecoglou said about the difficulty in selecting players.
The Spurs captain was disappointed in the press conference after the loss to Wolves. His face is similar to the time the team lost to Chelsea in the context of receiving 2 red cards.
Before entering the season, Tottenham was said to have difficulty competing for the Top 4. However, right now, while still in the group to play in the Champions League, that worry for the North London team is still unanswered. Can't help but worry when they are on the rise, Spurs are almost freely eliminated after 2 consecutive losses to Chelsea and Wolves.
Ange Postecoglou also has a similar problem to Manchester United's Erik ten Hag, having to use almost all players from the previous coaches' time. The stars brought in by Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte or Nuno Santo are still many. Although Tottenham bought quite a lot last summer, that was still not enough to purify all the ex- players who no longer meet the requirements.
The upcoming winter transfer window certainly cannot help Postecoglou completely solve this problem. Therefore, if Tottenham lose again between now and then, that should not be taken as a surprise. Even at the end of the season, their fall from the Top 4 was not a shock.
Postecoglou is the 5th coach in the past 4 calendar years, which partly affirms the instability of the "Rooster". Knowing that he is in a difficult situation, the 58-year-old strategist can only reassure himself that everything will be fine, the players will be stronger after the loss to Wolves.
Last week, with two defeats as a reminder for Postecoglou and Tottenham fans, their team has yet to be complete.
