Ange Postecoglou has explained why he left several of his Tottenham young guns out of the side for the Carabao Cup semifinal against Liverpool, revealing that it was a measure intended to protect them.
Tottenham’s youngsters have impressed this season
If there is one positive to come from Tottenham’s injury crisis over the last few months, it is the fact that several of the club’s talented youngsters have got a lot of minutes.
The likes of Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Mikey Moore have not disappointed, demonstrating that they are ready to play at the highest level.
Additionally, a few others from the club’s academy have also made a mark in the Europa League this season, with both Oyindamola Ajayi and Dane Scarlett finding the back of the net in their win over Elfsborg.
However, Postecoglou opted not to use many of these teenagers in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal, and he has now explained why.
Ange Postecoglou wary of ending Tottenham players’ careers
Tottenham’s players have come in for scathing criticism for their performance at Anfield, with Jamie Redknapp suggesting that he has never seen a Spurs side show as little fight as they did on Merseyside last week.
Postecoglou pointed to the things that have been said about his senior stars over recent days and claimed that he did not want to expose the teenagers in the squad to that kind of criticism.
When asked about not turning to the Tottenham youngsters at Anfield, the Spurs boss responded (via The Guardian): “It’s one thing to put them on late in a European game but I’m not going to expose young players to that … we saw what happened and our players are now getting criticised.
“Most of them will be able to handle it but I wouldn’t want to expose a young player to something like that, especially the way the world is today. You know, we don’t want to make determinations in a snap instance and destroy careers. I’m not going to expose young players who I don’t think are ready for that.”
Mathys Tel set for a key role at Spurs
It is unclear how Postecoglou intended to use Mathys Tel, but he now has no choice but to ask the Frenchman to lead the line after Richarlison joined Dominic Solanke on the treatment table.
The 59-year-old admitted that the latest injury developments mean that his side is reliant on their new signing to make the difference in the final third.
Postecoglou said about Tel: “We’re going to have to lean on him a fair bit now. But he came here to play. His physical condition is not too bad.
“He hasn’t played a lot but watching him in training and last night, he was still moving quite well. We have to be careful with him, also. But he came here to play and he’ll get an opportunity to do that.”