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Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham can have a ‘special’ season despite their dismal form but says Pape Matar Sarr ‘should never have started’ as James Maddison’s late replacement against Leicester City and has outlined a new concern for Richarlison.
Injury-plagued Richarlison started his first domestic game of the season and gave Spurs a 33-minute lead against the side who started the day in second place, only for goals from Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss at the beginning of the second half were extended. The hosts’ dire run to one point from seven league games.
James Maddison assisted Tottenham beat 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on Thursday but did not play against Leicester because he was “sore”, with Sarr replacing the playmaker before being withdrawn alongside Richarlison after 54 minutes.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) really feels his groin, he probably should have come off at half-time but he wanted to do 10 more minutes,” said Postecoglou, speaking to Spurs game.
“I saw he wasn’t moving well so we had to take him off. Pape should never have started today but we lost Madders (Maddison) very late so we had to start 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’s injury history
Richarlison started less 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 underwent groin surgery in November 2023, but began 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 as Tottenham fans expressed their anger at chairman Daniel Levy during their fourth straight league defeat.
Postecoglou: Tottenham “try”
“When you’re in that kind of position, you look at the people around you,” Postecoglou said. “I feel that the players, the staff, the people I deal with at the football club are still fully 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 change it.
“They put in a massive shift on Thursday night to do the job and they had to do it 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 they can, and they are.
“In the next 10 days or two weeks, we will recover some important players. I know they will push the whole group. As I say to the players and the staff, there are still great opportunities to make this a special season.”
“It hurts. It hurts a lot.”
Ange Postecoglou reacts to Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 defeat by Leicester 💬 pic.twitter.com/lTrpiDYMw8
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 26, 2025
Spurs matches
Spurs can guarantee a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League with a win at the home of the Swedish Elfsborg in their final game of the league stage on Thursday (20:00 GMT). They are assured of a draw in the play-offs to progress regardless of the result.
Tottenham will start the EFL Cup semi-final second leg 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 hours).
