Tottenham lifelines for Bryan Gil and Ryan Sessegnon as mounting injuries offer opportunities
Arguably, the head coach’s good fortune is even extending to injuries after Manor Solomon was the latest Tottenham player to be sidelined.
For Solomon, there was nothing lucky about damaging his medial collateral ligament (MCL) in training, which could rule him out until Christmas, and the summer signing joins Ivan Perisic in the treatment room after the Croatian had surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last week.
Solomon has appeared in six of Spurs’ eight games this season, starting three, so his absence is a blow to Postecoglou but — on the assumption that every club will lose some players to injury — the Israeli and Perisic at least play in a position where the manager has cover.
heir absence means Spurs will be without three wingers for Saturday’s lunchtime visit to Luton, with Brennan Johnson not expected to be fit until after the international break, but Postecoglou will still be able to field a menacing front three of Richarlison, Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski.
Conversely, if Spurs were without three players from any other position, Postecoglou would be relying on youngsters and their encouraging start would be in danger of fast unraveling.
Young forwards Jamie Donley and Alejo Veliz can expect to continue on the bench at Kenilworth Road — and may be joined by 20-year-old winger Yago Santiago, who has impressed for the development squad — but soon enough, Postecoglou should have Bryan Gil and Ryan Sessegnon back in the fold.
Gil has returned to first-team training following groin surgery in the summer, while Sessegnon is working outdoors after going under the knife in July to address a persistent hamstring problem.
Both players were expected to leave in the summer before suffering their injuries, but one or both now have an opportunity to be part of Postecoglou’s revolution.
Asked about Gil last week, the manager said: “He plays in a position where guys with his attributes can certainly fit into our structure.
“It’ll be good to see Bryan getting up to speed over the next couple of weeks, training with the team and then, obviously with Ivan going down, we’re one down in those wide areas so having him at the club is certainly beneficial.”
Another impressive Spurs result last weekend was entirely overshadowed by the fallout from the VAR blunder in their 2-1 win over Liverpool, which escalated on Wednesday when Jurgen Klopp called for a replay.
The Premier League have already ruled out the prospect, while Spurs would have naturally pushed back in the strongest possible terms, not least because, like every club, they believe they have suffered their own share of refereeing injustices and replaying the match would open a can of worms.
For Postecoglou, going under the radar may be a good thing, easing the pressure and hype on his young side, who are unbeaten and could go top if they win on Saturday.
