Tottenham Hotspur manage Ange Postecoglu said he was proud of his side after they played Manchester United to a 2-2 stalemate at Old Trafford on Sunday. Let’s run through some of the major Spurs related headlines pertaining to that result, with items covering Micky van de Ven, Ryan Sessegnon, Richarlison and Timo Werner.
Many a pundit may disagree with Postecoglu taking pride in this result (he called them outstanding), given how Tottenham are true top four contenders, and that this United side is the worst we’ve seen (arguably) since the David Moyes season a decade ago.
However, Tottenham are both injury-riddled and missing key players due to Africa Cup of Nations, so to get any kind of result, in this current state, is something.
“I thought it was an outstanding performance, considering the team out there today,” the first year manager said.
“It’s a difficult place to come and play. A win today would give United some kind of momentum. Every time these players have to deal with adversity, they do it. It was an outstanding performance, I thought they were unlucky not to win.”
Speaking of Postecoglou, he confirmed in postgame that oft-injured defender Ryan Sessegnon missed out on Sunday due to having suffered a little knock. Sessegnon had finally made his season debut, with a 10 minute cameo in the FA Cup win over Burnley, having been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the summer.
“Ryan Sessegnon got a slight niggle from last week so he missed this week and will hopefully be available in a couple of weeks,” the Spurs boss said.
Sessegnon basically is to Tottenham what Thiago Alcantara is to Liverpool- rarely ever healthy. Sessegnon has already missed 21 games already this season. Last season, he was absent for 22 games, and in the season prior, he missed 31 games According to Transfermarkt, he’s missed 21 games this season, 22 last year and 31 the year before that.
Finally, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur all came back from injury ahead of schedule, and that provided a massive boost for the north London side. Bentancur even scored one of the two goals today (with Richarlison providing the other).
Van de Ven, in his first appearance since November, played almost the entire match. He had to be subbed off early, but fortunately enough, it was not an injure relapse, or a new injury. It was revealed in postgame that it was just a cramp.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.