It was once again another week of mixed emotions for Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham on the international front. Breaking for the second international break of the season immediately after the 3-2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion, Spurs saw a number of players jet off across the globe to represent their respective nations.
Following his recall to the Spain squad, Pedro Porro sent a message to all that he should be a regular for the Euro 2024 winners with two strong performances against Denmark and Serbia. The right-back even got an assist to his name in the 3-0 victory over the latter after teeing up Aymeric Laporte for the opening goal in Cordoba.
Dejan Kulusevski carried on his good form with an assist in Sweden’s 3-0 win in Estonia, while Dane Scarlett got a goal and assist to his name as England Under-21s hit Azerbaijan for seven. Dominic Solanke and Guglielmo Vicario will also take a lot from this round of international games after getting some minutes in the tank for England and Italy respectively.
The international break also saw Brennan Johnson carry on his prolific form as he made it seven goals in seven games with a goal in Wales’ draw against Iceland. The attacker came off as a precaution at the start of the second half after feeling the impact of a kick, with his absence against Montenegro a few days later down to suspension
Lucas Bergvall also sustained an injury and returned to Hotspur Way early from the Sweden camp after picking up a “minor knock”. Postecoglou and Spurs will certainly be hoping it is not enough to rule him out of Saturday’s home encounter against West Ham.
Going on how Spurs fell to pieces against Brighton in their last league encounter, the head coach could look to make changes to his team to take on the Hammers as they bid to return to winning ways. The West Ham encounter and the events of the international break were talking points on the latest episode of the Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham podcast.
Rob Guest and Lee Wilmot were joined by ‘Is Gascoigne Going to Have a Crack?’ author Gareth Dace to discuss all of the above and also take a look back at Tottenham in the 1990s. In what was a very interesting decade for the football club with plenty of ups and downs along the way, the trio reflected on the highs and lows at White Hart Lane and also the two trophies that the Lilywhites managed to win.
