Tottenham Hotspur will return to Premier League action on Sunday as they take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Spurs will be eager to build on the momentum from their 4-0 win over Everton last weekend as they take on a team that has endured a torrid summer on the transfer front.
Meanwhile, Tottenham enjoyed a bright summer in the market, making several exciting signings for the present and future.
Indeed, Spurs were also busy on deadline day, moving Giovani Lo Celso on and securing first-option rights for Johnny Cardoso.
Here are the key points from Ange Postecoglou’s press conference on Friday, as per football.london.
Team news and injuries
Postecoglou revealed that Spurs would err on the site of caution regarding Dominic Solanke, who has picked up an ankle injury.
Likewise, Richarlison will not feature for Tottenham in Sunday’s 1:30pm kick-off, but Rodrigo Bentancur is good to go.
“Main ones, I guess, “Dom Solanke is close but we’ll err on the side of caution,” said Postecoglou.
“He won’t play on the weekend with the international week, we’ve made a decision to wait until after that.
“Bentancur’s all good, he’s trained well, gone through all the protocols and most important he feels good training-wise.
“Richy pulled up sore, I think there’s a muscle injury there, we’re just getting more information but he’ll be out as well.”
Postecoglou’s thoughts on the summer transfer window
Postecoglou has admitted he’s “very happy” with how Spurs have done in the transfer window this summer.
Indeed, he feels the Tottenham squad has progressed considerably since he took the reins last summer.
“The demographic of the squad has changed, the suitability to the football I want to play, we’re much better equipped for that,” said Postecoglou. “There’s growth in the team, absolutely.
“We needed to do some fairly major work 12 months ago, and since we’ve gone a long way to getting the team to where we want to.
“There’s still more work to be done. It was never going to happen quickly. I don’t think it should happen quickly.
“When it does happen quickly, you’re more fraught to getting it wrong. So I think we’re in a good place.”
READ MORE: How to watch Tottenham v Newcastle: TV channel, kick-off time and team news
Postecoglou discusses Yves Bissouma after his impressive return from suspension
“There’s no doubting his qualities as a player,” said the Tottenham boss.
“From the moment I arrive, every time he’s been fit, he’s played. That’s how highly I rate him.
“But at the same time, we feel there’s areas of his game he can improve, just around his discipline, his positioning, the way he plays the game.
“There’s a correlation to off-field as well. He’s been really focused since the incident. I think him not playing that first game really hurt him as it should.”
Why Son Heung-min and Ben Davies are a ‘rare occurrence’ these days
“It is a bit of a rare occurrence, particularly at big clubs where players stay for that length of time, but credit to both of those guys,” said Postecoglou.
“They’ve stayed at this club and played under numerous top managers who have all rated them very highly to keep them at the club.
“They are both great guys, they understand what the football club is about and it’s great when you have 18-year-olds walking into a dressing room and probably two of the first people who will go and greet them are Sonny and Ben.”
Why Spurs haven’t signed new centre-backs this summer
Postecoglou said he is happy with the centre-backs – and auxiliaries – available to him, name-dropping Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray and Davies.
He also mentioned he did not want to block the pathway of two Spurs youngsters currently out on loan.
“I think Radu is a different proposition for us, and certainly with Archie coming into the group and Djed probably not being in the plans initially, but now in I think we’re in a much different position than we were last year,” he said.
“We’ve got Ben Davies as well, obviously, who can play at centre back or at left back. But again, I mean, that’s the discipline of it.
“Yeah, we can go out and sign another centre back, but if the right player’s not there, I’m not going to do it. It’s as simple as that. I’m not, I never have, I never will.
“We’ve got Ashley Phillips, we’ve got young Luka Vuskovic available next year. Two young centre-backs. I don’t want to block their pathway by doing something now.
“It might look from the outside, like we’ve got another player, but if that player is not going to be suitable to what we’re doing and not going to fit in, why would I bring them in and potentially block the path for somebody else.”
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