Tottenham once again had their momentum halted as they slumped to a 3-2 defeat against Galatasaray in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. A spirited effort after going down to ten men was not enough to help take the Lilywhites something out of the game that saw them take to half time a 3-1 deficit.
Spurs return to Premier League action on Sunday as they host Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys are starving for points but have given a good account of themselves every time they have taken the pitch this season, and the Sunday affair will be no different.
Spurs need to be wary of Kieran McKenna’s men and will want to take all the positives they can from their midweek defeat to set up against the 18th-place side and return to winning ways. Here, we present to you three key things Postecoglou can implement on Sunday on the back of the defeat out in Türkiye.
Give more minutes to Will Lankshear
Let his red card not make us forget the fact that Will Lankshear had a decent outing against Galatasaray. His goal-scoring performance makes him another highlight of Postecoglou’s roster of promising teenagers.
The likes of Mikey Moore, Archie Gray, and Lucas Bergvall are testament to the fact that Postecoglou’s coaching is really helping the club propel forth their exciting youth policy under Johan Lange, and Lankshear should at least make the bench for the game against Ipswich Town.
Playing out the back
With both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven out, Tottenham’s hands are tied in terms of their centre-back options, just as they were against the reigning Süper Lig champions. While we can expect Destiny Udogie to return to the line-up in the weekend, Postecoglou may have to go with Ben Davies and Radu Drăgușin in the middle again.
Galatasaray in the midweek were able to take apart Spurs’ attempts to play out from the back early on. Ipswich too have demonstrated their ability to press high up the pitch and consistently, especially in the early minutes, and they could really hurt Spurs early on if they play the same way they did on Thursday.
Now, we have seen possession-preferring teams playing out the back long enough to know Spurs will not send the ball long on Sunday, but they do need to tweak their approach. Incorporating their fullbacks into the first phase of their build-up play more than their centre-backs and offering them further support out wide with their wingers, with the midfield pivot offering support to bring the ball back into the middle for the second and further phases of play could be one solution.
Look out for crosses
Tottenham’s inertness on set-pieces both in offence and defence scenarios has almost become a speciality under Postecoglou. Even from open play, Spurs consistently find themselves conceding crosses and letting the opposition pounce on the back post. This was an issue in the midweek defeat and will most certainly pop up again against Ipswich. Postecoglou may want to pencil in more defence sessions to deal with the crosses, at the very least.
