Premier League managers could be forgiven for watching the World Cup behind their fingers with a host of players called up to represent their countries in Qatar.
Antonio Conte would have been one of those particularly interested in events in Doha given 11 members of his Tottenham squad were picked to participate: only Manchester City (with 16), Manchester United (13) and Chelsea (12) had more players involved in the tournament among Premier League clubs.
Of the 11 Spurs players picked, eight progressed to the knockout stages. Spurs have some breathing room compared to their rivals as their Carabao Cup exit last month means they will not be in competitive action in the midweek before Christmas.
Instead, they will take on Nice in a friendly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 21 December, five days before their first Premier League match of the restart against Brentford on Boxing Day.
More from Football
What time Argentina vs Croatia kicks off today and how to watch the World Cup semi-final live13 December, 2022
Kylian Mbappe is nowhere near Pele's GOAT status even if he wins another World Cup13 December, 2022
World Cup's longer stoppage time is a hit with 75% of football fans, poll reveals13 December, 2022Here’s how Spurs are shaping up ahead of the second half of the campaign. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first…
The bad news
On the plus side, Spurs will have Harry Kane back in good time following England’s quarter-final exit to France which occurred 16 days before their first Premier League game back against Brentford. Kane has started in all 15 of his side’s league games this season and with Richarlison returning to London with an injury (more on that later), the chances of Kane starting at the Gtech Community Stadium seem high.
However, a World Cup hangover for the England captain could be a potential downside. Kane has endured his fair share of setbacks during his career, but that missed penalty six minutes from time against France might top the lot. Kane admitted in an Instagram post that “it’ll take some time to get over”, while Alan Shearer said “it will hurt Harry for the rest of his life”. Kane is a consummate professional but he would not be human if that incident didn’t affect him.
Related Stories
Antonio Conte will hope he can put it behind him quickly, particularly as Richarlison could be unavailable for up to a month after sustaining a hamstring injury while playing for Brazil. Richarlison, who scored three goals at the World Cup, suffered the injury during the warm-up ahead of Brazil’s quarter-final defeat to Croatia but still played for 84 minutes. He returned to Spurs ahead of schedule on Monday for a scan.
Richarlison isn’t the only one to return to Hotspur Way in worse condition than they left it. Rodrigo Bentancur, arguably Tottenham’s player of the season so far, tore an adductor muscle during Uruguay’s loss against Ghana and could be out of action for at least three weeks. Fortunately, Spurs have cover for Bentancur with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg returning early from the World Cup after Denmark’s surprise group stage elimination and neither Yves Bissouma nor Oliver Skipp being involved.
Most minutes played by Spurs players this season
- 1. Harry Kane (1,937)
- 2. Eric Dier (1,903)
- 3. Hugo Lloris (1,890)
- 4. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (1,826)
- 5. Rodrigo Bentancur (1,737)
- 6. Son Heung-min (1,488)
- 7. Ivan Perisic (1,323)
- 8. Emerson Royal (1,289)
- 9. Ben Davies (1,208)
- 10. Cristian Romero (1,091)
Combined data from the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup
Another issue for Spurs is that three of their players have reached the World Cup semi-finals: Hugo Lloris (France), Cristian Romero (Argentina) and Ivan Perisic (Croatia). Players returning from the World Cup have generally had at least a week off before resuming training with their clubs, and with either Romero or Perisic guaranteed to be involved in the final – on Sunday 18 December – and a strong possibility that Lloris will be too should France progress beyond Morocco, Spurs could be without at least two key players for the Brentford game.
The 33-year-old Perisic, meanwhile, has played the sixth-most minutes at the tournament with Croatia’s last-16 and quarter-final matches both going to extra-time.
The good news
It’s not all gloom and doom for Spurs, though. Son Heung-min came through the World Cup unscathed after suffering a fracture around his left eye socket during a Champions League game against Marseille last month. Son didn’t seem to be unduly bothered by wearing a mask to protect the injury, helping South Korea exceed expectations by reaching the last 16.
And in a big boost, Dejan Kulusevski has had a month to fully recover from a hamstring injury that saw him miss 10 matches between September and November. Kulusevski completed 90 minutes in Spurs’ final pre-World Cup fixture against Leeds – his first full game since the end of September – and got more minutes under his belt during a friendly with Motherwell last week, a game in which he was on the scoresheet.
Eric Dier’s limited game time for England would have also pleased Conte. Only Lloris and Kane have had more game-time in the Premier League for Spurs than the centre-back this season, who featured for just 33 minutes of England’s campaign as a substitute against Iran and Senegal. That freshness should stand Dier in good stead ahead of the Premier League’s resumption.
Hojbjerg, who ranks fourth in that chart, played in every minute of Denmark’s tournament but his last appearance was on 30 November. The 27-year-old posted a picture of himself soaking up some sunshine by the sea earlier this week and will be fully recharged by the time he returns to London.
Tottenham’s post-World Cup fixtures
- Tottenham vs Nice (Friendly) – Wednesday 21 December
- Brentford vs Spurs (Premier League) – Monday 26 December
- Spurs vs Aston Villa (Premier League) – Sunday 1 January
- Crystal Palace vs Spurs (Premier League) – Wednesday 4 January
- Spurs vs Portsmouth (FA Cup) – Saturday 7 January
- Spurs vs Arsenal (Premier League) – Sunday 15 January
- Man City vs Spurs (Premier League) – Thursday 19 January
Away from the World Cup, it has been reported that Antonio Conte will hold talks with the club over a new contract with his current deal set to expire next summer. Spurs have the option to extend his contract by an extra 12 months but are eager to commit him long-term.
Although Conte has faced criticism for the team’s style of play this season, the club has certainly moved in an upwards trajectory since he joined the club last November, going from group stage elimination in the Uefa Conference League last season to the last 16 of the Champions League this term.
Despite not playing particularly well, Spurs are fourth in the Premier League table. And with key players returning to fitness, Conte will hope that his side can repeat last season’s post-Christmas improvement again this campaign.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/Hmc7le9
Post a Comment