Veliz has appeared off Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham bench in the past two league fixtures and will be looking to increase his minutes after the international break
Having made a total of four substitutions at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, Ange Postecoglou decided that Alejo Veliz would be his final change of the day. Stripped and ready to come on as he stood on the sidelines, the Argentine was initially told to sit back down by his head coach as Dejan Kulusevski was ok to play on.
Five minutes later and Postecoglou did in fact make that alteration, thus giving Veliz what remained of the five minutes of allotted stoppage time to help Tottenham get over the line. With Luton Town looking to get the ball forward and cause problems for Spurs in their own area, the Lilywhites ideally needed a fresh pair of legs and the strength and power of Veliz to hold the ball up front when they themselves attacked.
Following Son Heung-min’s substitution in the 76th minute, Kulusevski was used as the team’s sole striker and he more than put himself about against the strength and power of Luton’s backline. He was tiring after putting in a big shift and it made sense for Veliz to come on and help see the game out.
The 20-year-old did have one opening on goal in his short time on the pitch, with Pape Matar Sarr playing him in after a good run from the Senegalese ace. Perhaps taking too long to pick out his teammate, Veliz was eventually flagged for offside, although he did himself take too long to get his shot off on goal once he was in possession of the ball.
The summer signing may have only been on the field for a matter of minutes but he did make an impact as he used his powerful frame to hold the ball up well. Now appearing off the bench in the past two Premier League fixtures, the Godeken-born player will be hoping that his recent minutes will continue to increase once domestic football resumes after the second international break of the season.
Veliz’s game time maybe has come as a surprise to Spurs fans going on Postecoglou’s comments on the eve of the new campaign. Ahead of the game at Brentford on the opening weekend, the 58-year-old outlined that his new arrival was one for the future and that minutes in the first part of the season would be unlikely.
“It will be a while for him, I think. We’ve just got to let him settle, he’s come halfway around the world,” said the Spurs head coach. “He’s a young guy, it’s a fairly different level. He’s one we’ll invest in in the long-term but I wouldn’t expect him to see any minutes in the first part of the season.”
Going on Postecoglou’s previous words and Veliz’s minutes in the last two games and his place in the matchday squad in the past three, it just demonstrates that he has quite clearly made an impression on the head coach behind the scenes at Hotspur Way and changed his though process as a result. Injuries in the final third have also played a part, with the striker offering something slightly different to Postecoglou.
After his 28 minutes off the bench for Tottenham’s Under-21s in their recent 5-0 triumph away at Colchester United in the EFL Trophy, Postecoglou discussed the frontman’s performance and how he’s settled into life at his new home.
“To be fair to him he’s only had one week of training, had two sessions last week. We gave him game time for the U21s and now he’s had a full week of training. It’s great to have him on board but again no expectations around his contribution,” explained the boss when asked by football.london.
“Obviously being in the attacking third I think he will get some opportunities for some game time but we still need to let him settle and get him involved in training more consistently over the next two or three weeks and get him a game or two more for U21s, because he’s missed a lot of football, but we’ve been really encouraged with the way he’s has gone about things and adjusted to life here.
