Tottenham snap losing streak with win over Burnley but injury woes continue

Tottenham Hotspur have come through with a win against Burnley earlier today. Although the game had its highs and lows, it’s the three points that matter in the end. This marks the first set of three points for the North Londoners following a series of four losses on the trot.

Spurs have had deep injury concerns in the business end of the season, the most critical of them being Destiny Udogie’s injury. The Italian established himself as the first choice left back under Ange Postecoglou this season and has been putting up exceptional performances along the way. His understanding of the game, complemented by his under and over-lap runs, ensures the Lilywhites have some tactical elegance on the left side.

His injury, complemented by Ben Davies’ soul-crushing performance against Arsenal, means that Spurs don’t have a left-back to end the season.

Van de Ven shines despite left-back snub as Postecoglou gives his take

The Lilywhites lined up with academy graduate Oliver Skipp playing the left-back role against Burnley. Spurs did have an option to use summer signing Micky van de Ven in the left-back role and to bring in Radu Dragusin in the center of the defence; however, Ange opted against it. 

In his press conference after the game, the Australian boss was quizzed about the reasons behind not playing the Dutch defender in the left back role, where the former Celtic coach acknowledged the 22-year-old’s injury record and his perception of the risks involved playing as a full back as compared to a central defender.

Speaking after Tottenham’s 2-1 win against Burnley, Ange Postecoglou said (via Football.London):

“Yeah, but at the same time I’ve been mindful with Micky that he’s had a couple of injuries and the demands of playing left-back are a lot different to playing centre-back. I just have to be careful – what’s more important is what we’re trying to build here, and I was reluctant to put him out there for that reason alone. It’s been quite a disrupted season and playing full-back as opposed to playing centre-back is a lot different from a physical perspective. But yeah I thought for the last bit of the game it made sense, Skippy was only ever going to be able to play for more than about 60 minutes, he hasn’t played for ages. And Radu coming on I thought was very good when he came on as well, so it helped us get over the line and Micky’s goal was outstanding.”

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Micky has been a revelation for Tottenham this season, however, Spurs need to wrap him in a silk cloth to ensure his hamstring problems are dealt with come the start of next season.