After a worrying start to the season that saw them drop points to Leicester City, Newcastle United and Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur have turned things around.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have won four games on the spin, and with a favourable tie against Hungarian outfit Ferencvárosi TC to come tonight, there is a great chance that run extends to five.
However, with the fixtures starting to pile up and an international break right around the corner, the Australian has to make some changes to his starting lineup, which means dropping the inform Dejan Kulusevski.
Why Kulusevski should be dropped
Okay, so before the pitchforks come out, we are not suggesting that Kulusevski should miss out on tonight’s game due to poor form, as, if anything, the opposite is true.
After a mediocre campaign last year, the Swedish international has found a new lease of life in midfield this season and, in turn, has become arguably Spurs’ most important player in recent weeks, racking up one goal and two assists in eight appearances thus far.
However, his most impressive display to date for the club came on Sunday afternoon, when, along with the rest of his team, he played Manchester United off the park at Old Trafford while becoming the first away player in twenty years to create nine or more chances in a single game.
In short, the former Juventus ace is finally starting to play to his full ability and, in turn, should be rested for a game like tonight’s, as even though it won’t be easy, the North Londoners should have enough in the locker to beat the Hungarian giants without risking their best players, especially when there are so few chances to rest players these days.
Moreover, the bench is staked with exciting young talents who are more than capable of doing a job, including one whose chance to impress was ruined last time in the Europa League.
Why Lucas Bergvall should start tonight
Yes, while there are a number of youngsters who should, and probably will, start tonight, it’s the Swedish phenom who should come in to replace his fellow countryman.
The talented 18-year-old got his chance to start a European game this time last week, but a stupid red card in the seventh minute from Radu Dragusin saw him sacrificed early in the first half to allow Destiny Udogie to come on and shore up the defence.
However, while his misfortune last week is undoubtedly one argument for why he should be given the nod tonight, it’s not the only one, as his raw talent is as good a reason as any.
For example, despite being so young, the Stockholm-born future “captain”, as dubbed by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, has plenty of first-team experience, as just last season alone, he made 19 appearances for Swedish side Djurgården, in which he scored six goals and provided five assists.
This means that the “super creative” midfielder, as Mattinson described him, was averaging a goal involvement every 1.72 games in a season in which he was just 17 years old until early February.
Appearances
19
Goals
6
Assists
5
Goal Involvements per Match
0.57
Ultimately, Spurs have a lot of games on the horizon, and with the international break not offering much of a break at all, they need to find ways to rest their most important players like Kulusevski; while tonight won’t be an easy game, the level of opposition is undeniably lower than it would be in the Premier League.
Therefore, Postecoglou and Co should do the smart thing and give the former Juventus star a chance to rest by starting the incredibly exciting Bergvall in his place, as the youngster looks more than ready to take his chance.
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