Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has been told he needs to replace three players with new signings. Former Spurs right-back Alan Hutton has identified areas his old club need to improve following back-to-back Premier League defeats.
Postecoglou had a stunning start to his reign as Spurs head coach, winning nine of his opening 10 league matches. Summer signings James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario made immediate impressions in north London.
However, Spurs lost Maddison and Van de Ven to long-term injuries in the 4-1 loss to Chelsea earlier this month, as well as having two players sent off. That saw Postecoglou field a weakened team for the trip to Wolves last weekend.
Eric Dier made his first start of the season and partnered Ben Davies in the middle of defence. Wolves scored twice late on to win the game 2-1 and condemn Spurs to a second successive loss.
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Hutton believes there is a glaring need for Tottenham to replace both Dier and Davies with new signings at the back. Giovani Lo Celso is also in line to feature more due to Maddison’s absence but Hutton says Postecoglou needs to find better than the Argentine.
He told football.london: “As we see at this moment in time, they’ve had to turn to Ben Davies and Eric Dier to replace Van De Ven, and I think it is probably about time to move on from those pair.
“It’s going to be very difficult to fill the void Maddison leaves. I think [Rodrigo] Bentancur will have to step up, a lot of the Tottenham fans are happy that he’s back. But for me, I think the likes of Lo Celso, can he do it? I’m not sure.
“I think he’s had enough opportunities. He’s needed at this moment in time, but I don’t think he’ll ever be your go-to guy.
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“Ange isn’t going to turn it around overnight, he’s going to need a couple of transfer windows to try and get it right and improve squad depth and I believe in him.”
Postecoglou was backed by Tottenham chiefs in the summer transfer window but Hutton has questioned what funds he will be given to make the necessary improvements in January. He believes the right signings could see Spurs end their long wait for silverware.
He added: “I think it’s going to be difficult to challenge for the league. The big thing for me is what they do in the January transfer window. If Ange gets funds to go and reinvest and they recruit well, I think we will be talking about them winning something.”
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