Ange Postecoglou has given his shattered Tottenham Hotspur players two days off as he attempts to hit the reset button on the club’s season.
Tottenham were knocked out of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup over four depressing days for the club’s fans, but now have a week off before re-starting their Premier League campaign against Manchester United.
That has given Spurs head coach Postecoglou the opportunity to give his players a rest before starting his preparations for the United game on Sunday, when he hopes to have some absentees back.
The majority of Tottenham’s players were given Monday and Tuesday off after the Villa defeat, and Postecoglou hopes to see his squad boosted when they start work again on Wednesday.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, left-back Destiny Udogie, midfielder James Maddison and wingers Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert are expected to be among the first group of injured players to return for Postecoglou.
Postecoglou’s message to his players is likely to be that the two days off and the return of some absentees gives Spurs the chance to reset what has been a challenging season.
The Australian also hopes that morale, as well as fitness levels, will be boosted by the return of players and having a short rest.
Tottenham now have two weeks in which they do not play a midweek game, before the fixtures list will become more congested again once the last-16 of the Europa League takes place in March.
Tottenham must climb the league table and have the chance to leapfrog United by beating them on Sunday, while the team also need to build some momentum ahead of restarting their Europa League campaign. Following the United game, Postecoglou’s team travel to Ipswich Town.
The Europa League represents Tottenham’s only chance of winning silverware and qualifying for the Champions League and the competition will also be important to Postecoglou’s long-term job prospects.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and the club’s board have been sympathetic to the challenges Postecoglou has faced, and have held off rushing into a decision over his future.
‘We’ll be in better shape for Europe’
There remains a belief that the club can come out of this period stronger if they stick together, although that is increasingly being tested by results and Postecoglou knows that the return of players will also increase pressure on him to secure some much-needed victories.
“The boys who are coming back, we’ll get the opportunity to give them a whole week of training, which is great,” Postecoglou said.
“By the time we get to the back end of the week we should have something resembling a squad of players to prepare for a big game. That then folds into the following week when again we’ve got seven days and no midweek game to prepare for the next game.
“So that gives us a real good opportunity to get some work into the guys who have been out for quite a while and give some rest to the guys who have been going at it. So by the time we get back to being in Europe and having midweek games we’ll be in a much better shape.”
