It would be fair to say that things haven’t entirely gone according to plan for Tottenham Hotspur this season.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have picked up just four points out of a possible 12 in the Premier League, despite playing relatively well for three of those games, and came perilously close to crashing out of the League Cup to Championship side Coventry City on Wednesday night.
For whatever reason, the Australian’s side just haven’t found their feet yet, and for all their intricate play, they seem incapable of putting the ball in the back of the net.
However, he has the opportunity to put their recent troubles behind them later on today with what’s sure to be a tough game against Brentford, one in which he must make some changes to the team that crawled over the line in mid-week.
Postecoglou must drop Pape Matar Sarr
Senegalese international Pape Matar Sarr is one of the players who needs to be dropped from the starting lineup later today.
Now, unlike the majority of his teammates, the “frightening” 22-year-old, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, didn’t have a howler on Wednesday, but he wasn’t exactly effective either, and considering Coventry are currently down in 15th place in the Championship, that’s not good enough.
Unsurprisingly, this sentiment is one shared by Spurs writer Alasdair Gold, who gave the midfielder just a 5/10 on the night, writing that while there were some ‘good moments’ from the starter, there were just as many ‘sloppy ones’ which sounds like a disaster waiting to happen against the Bees.
Moreover, he was trusted to start in the game against Leicester City, where he was equally ineffective, and in the defeat away to Newcastle United, when he was hooked at halftime. Therefore, Sarr must be dropped to the bench for the game later today, as he might be able to make more of an impact coming into the match late on.
Why Maddison should replace Sarr
So, following Wednesday’s disappointing display and the players available to Ange, it would make the most sense for Dejan Kulusevski to come in and replace the young Lucas Bergvall, as in recent matches, he’s shown that midfield is where he is most effective.
Rodrigo Bentancur will almost certainly keep his place in the team due to a lack of other options and his raw ability.
This means that James Maddison is the best candidate to replace Sarr and complete what would be quite a progressive midfield three.
Now, the Englishman received plenty of criticism for his poor performance against Arsenal last week, and it was justified, but when it comes to midfield creators, he’s still one of the best in the squad.
For example, even amid this minor slump in form, he’s racked up two assists in four Premier League games and injected some much-needed energy into the game against Coventry.
Moreover, while the critique that he faded in the second half of last season is entirely valid, it ignores the fact that the “incredible” midfielder, as talent scout Jacek Kulig dubbed him, still managed to rack up four goals and nine assists in 28 league appearances, which equates to a goal involvement every 2.15 games.
Ultimately, Postecoglou needs to get a result against Brentford this afternoon, and while Sarr is a talented young player sure to improve, Maddison is far more likely to produce a bit of magic that could win his team the game, so he has to start.
