Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham can have a “special” season despite their dismal form – but says Pape Matar Sarr “should never have started” as a late replacement for James Maddison against Leicester City and has outlined a new concern for Richarlison.
Injury-troubled Richarlison started his first domestic game of the season and gave Spurs a 33rd-minute lead against the side who started the day second-bottom, only for goals by Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss at the start of the second half to extend the hosts’ dire run to one point from seven league matches.
James Maddison helped Tottenham win at Hoffenheim in the Europa League on Thursday but did not play against Leicester because he was “sore”, with Sarr replacing the playmaker before being withdrawn alongside Richarlison after 54 minutes.
“[Richarlison’s] actually feeling his groin – he probably should have come off at half-time but he wanted to do another 10 minutes,” Postecoglou said, speaking to Spurs Play.
“I could see he wasn’t moving well so we had to take him off. Pape should never have started today but we lost Madders [Maddison] really late, so we had to start with Pape.”
“It’s painful.”
Son Heung-min reacts to Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 defeat against Leicester City ⚪️🔵 pic.twitter.com/ElAt4SM3lu
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 26, 2025
Richarlison injury history
Richarlison started fewer than half of Tottenham’s league games last season, barely featuring after February as a result of knee and hamstring injuries.
The Brazil international said he had been “suffering for eight months” when he had groin surgery in November 2023 but started a run of nine goals in eight appearances the following month.
Tottenham are missing an extensive list of players through injury, although Postecoglou said he expects defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven to return to training imminently.
The Australian is under pressure in his second season in charge, while Tottenham fans voiced their anger with chairman Daniel Levy during their fourth successive league defeat.
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Postecoglou: Tottenham ‘trying’
“When you’re in this kind of position, you’re looking at the people around you,” said Postecoglou. “I just feel that the players, the staff, the people who I deal with at the football club are still totally supportive of what we’re trying to do.
“That’s all you can ask for as a manager; that gives me the energy – putting aside my own disappointment and feelings – to make sure I try to support these people who are trying as hard as they can to turn this around.
“They put in a massive shift on Thursday night to get the job done and they had to back it up again today. Some of them probably shouldn’t have been out there but we’re asking them to dig in as much as they can – and they are.
“In the next 10 days or two weeks, we’ll get some significant players back. I’ll know they’ll boost the whole group. As I keep saying to the players and staff, there are still great opportunities to make this season a special one.”
“It hurts. It hurts a lot.”
Ange Postecoglou reacts to Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 defeat to Leicester 💬 pic.twitter.com/lTrpiDYMw8
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 26, 2025
Spurs fixtures
Spurs can guarantee a place in the Europa League knockout stage by winning at home to Swedish side Elfsborg in their final league phase match on Thursday (8pm GMT). They are certain of at least a play-off tie to progress regardless of the result.
Tottenham will start the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final at Liverpool with a 1-0 lead on February 6 (8pm) and visit Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round three days later (5.35pm).
