29 December 2023 , 12:00
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Ange Postecoglou has warned “nothing magical is going to happen in the January window” to bolster his depleted squad.
The Tottenham boss was forced to field a defence of full-backs in the defeat at Brighton after Cristian Romero joined the club’s lengthening injury list which already includes James Maddison. Dejan Kulusevski will miss the New Year’s Eve clash with Bournemouth after picking up another yellow card in the 4-2 defeat at Brighton.
And captain Heung-Min Son will miss matches in January on Asia Cup duty. Former J-League boss Postecoglou excelled in the Japanese and Korean markets during his two years at Celtic, including the bargain £4.6m signing of striker Kyogo Furuhashi from Vissel Kobe.
Spurs desperately need a new centre-back and winger, and perhaps another central midfielder if Pierre-Emile Hojberg is sold. Postecoglou likes to do his transfer business early in the window to give new players the chance to settle in.
But the Aussie said there will be no quick fix in just his second transfer market. “We are where we are,” he said. “Nothing magical is going to happen in the January window."
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"What we need to do is keep building. We have had one window with this team to turn it around and do things differently. The fact that we are in the position that we are is a credit to the players through all the challenges that we have had.
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"Just keep ploughing forward and that is what we will do. We will see what we can do in January but ultimately it is about building the side that will get us to where we want to.”
Tottenham were top of the Premier League after 10 matches but have slipped down to fifth. Captain Son claimed the Brighton defeat, where Spurs went four goals down, should act as a “big wake-up call for us”.
But Postecoglou defended his players - and the efforts they have given playing his relentless Ange-Ball tactics with a smaller squad. “What the injuries have done is test the limits of our ability to play the kind of football that we want in the context of the injuries that we have had,” said the former Celtic boss.
“The way we play takes a fairly hefty physical toll - more than the way other clubs play. For us to sustain and maintain that and be a team, there is no secret that we need a strong squad and we are nowhere near that at the moment. Understandably so because obviously we have only had one window so it was never going to happen.
"We are still at the beginning. Within that context, we want to compete. We have got ourselves into a position where we can compete and that is what we need to keep pushing forward for.”