Ange Postecoglou is hoping to see the real Rodrigo Bentancur this campaign after the midfielder’s stop-start season last time out.
Bentancur’s long injury lay-off
Bentancur returned from his ACL injury back in November of last year but in his first game back, he picked up another ankle injury, which put him out of action for a few more weeks.
When the 27-year-old did make his proper comeback, he struggled to deliver consistent displays, looking a shadow of the player he was prior to his injury.
That was perhaps to be expected, given that the former Juventus star missed almost an entire year of football.
Bentancur did show shades of his old self for Uruguay in Copa America this summer, helping his nation secure third place in the competition.
Postecoglou hopes Bentancur will be back to his best
Postecoglou is hopeful that the midfielder will have a lot more confidence on the back of that tournament, revealing that he has looked good in training since his return.
When asked if he is excited to work with the real version of Bentancur, the Tottenham head coach told Football.London: “Yeah, Rodri last year was very much, a bit like our season, it was very much stop-start at times. At times he looked really good, got some rhythm and then something would happen whether it was an injury or another disruption.
“For him and the other guys, he went away with Uruguay and got game time there. In terms of his mindset, he is in a much better place of knowing that from an injury perspective, he is free of that.
“He is 12 months down the track after a significant injury, which always takes a bit of time and it’s been great to have him back as part of the group.
“He came on in the second half last week and I thought he looked really good, has looked good in training, so hopefully that is where some of our improvement comes from.
“Guys who last year for one reason or another couldn’t get to the levels we know they can and if we can do that with guys like him and the ones who had good seasons last year, if we can improve them as well, that improvement I am looking for will be there.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Bentancur will feel a lot more confident about his body than he did six months ago and that should hopefully free him up to deliver his best.
We need the 27-year-old at his best to have any shot of challenging the best sides in the league.