Speaking ahead of the weekend’s action in the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou was asked about how he will handle the absence of Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr, who depart for the African Cup of Nations next month.
Last season, Yves Bissouma struggled with injury and was unable to really establish himself in Antonio Conte’s first XI despite arriving with great hype after his form at Brighton.
Similarly, young midfielder Pape Sarr was left on the peripheries of Conte’s squad, with just a handful of appearances throughout the 2022/23 campaign.
Since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou this summer, the duo have been revitalised and have become the Australian’s favoured central midfield pairing. Both Bissouma and Sarr have earned plaudits for the way they have controlled the middle of the park for Spurs this season.
Postecoglou isn’t worried about AFCON… yet
However, both players are set to leave the Tottenham squad behind in January, as they will represent their countries at the African Cup of Nations tournament.
When asked by the press (via Football.London) about how their absence will affect his squad and what changes might need to happen at Spurs to accommodate, Postecoglou appeared to suggest that is a problem for another day.
He said: “No, we’re still working through that. I’m still focusing on what’s ahead between now and then and we’ll go through all of those permutations over the next few weeks.”
Both Bissouma and Sarr will be missing from January 15 to January 24 at the minimum while the group stages take place. If either were to make it to the AFCON final, they would be away from Spurs duty until February 11.
Spurs Web Opinion
Losing both of these players, plus the ongoing injury concerns over Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison, means Spurs will really need to look at bringing in another central midfielder. As it stands, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp will be the only options available – good players, but we need cover, too.
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