Ange Postecoglou has praised Giovani Lo Celso for the performance he delivered in his first Premier League start of the season, admitting that Tottenham are going to need the Argentine to be at his best over the coming weeks.
While it was not exactly a surprise to see Lo Celso named in the starting eleven against Aston Villa, what did catch people off-guard was the position in which he was playing.
The 27-year-old was operating alongside Rodrigo Bentnacur in the middle of the park, with Dejan Kulusevski playing as the most advanced midfielder. Additionally, Bryan Gil was also handed his first start for Tottenham since January, operating on the left of a front three.
Postecoglou insisted that despite the 2-1 loss, he was pleased with what he saw from the players who came into the starting eleven.
The Tottenham head coach told Football.London: “Gio, Rodrigo, Bryan all started their first game this year. I think we had four full-backs and four wingers out there.
“I just thought the way the lads handled all of that, there were plenty of excuses for us to not be dominant today against a very good and settled Villa side, I thought some of our football was as good as we’ve played all year.
“We don’t get the rewards today and we’ve got to take the pain of the defeat but in terms of our progress, I thought if we continue down that road we’ll get to where we want to.”
Lo Celso was not only Spurs’ main creative outlet on Sunday but he also got the home side’s only goal of the game, and Postecoglou hinted that the former Real Betis man would have a key role over the next few weeks.
When asked what he thought of Lo Celso’s performance, the Australian responded: “Yeah I thought Gio did really well today in the role we had him.
“He was creative and scored a good goal. He was always threatening and he worked hard. He hasn’t played a lot of football.
“The reality of it is that we’re not going to get too many back. We’ll get Biss back for next week but we might have lost Bentancur. We only had six or seven on the bench so everyone who is here at the moment is going to have to play a part.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Lo Celso handled the ball outstandingly well but a midfield pairing of him and Hojbjerg was lacking in pace and athleticism and struggled out of possession. The Argentine needs to be paired with Sarr, Bissouma or Bentancur if is to play as one of the two deeper midfielders.
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