For Ange Postecoglou, picking a team for tonight’s Carabao Cup third-round tie at Coventry is a balancing act he can ill-afford to misjudge.
The Tottenham head coach is conscious of the need to rest players with a run of seven games in 21 days and give opportunities to his squad, but supporters will be unforgiving if Spurs squander the easiest route to silverware by playing a much-changed team for the second year running.
Postecoglou’s decision to make nine changes for the defeat by Fulham in the second round last season still rankles some fans but that result came during the Australian’s honeymoon period and in the midst of Spurs’ best-ever start to a Premier League season.
The context now is very different and defeat by the second-tier Sky Blues would feel disastrous for the head coach, who brusquely reminded a TV reporter on Sunday that he “always” wins a trophy in his second season at a club.
They don’t look or behave like 18, 19 year olds. Which is great for me. When they’re 21, they’re hopefully going to be flying
“Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but we had an experienced line-up on the night and it’s not as if I put kids out there,” Postecoglou said on Tuesday, defending his team selection at Craven Cottage 12 months ago.
Reading between the lines, Spurs fans can expect more wholesale changes this evening, with Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Djed Spence and Timo Werner among the players pushing to start. Summer signing Dominic Solanke could do with a goal and may keep his place up front.
Spurs, at least, have a deeper squad this season and some of the young players available are hugely exciting.
Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, both 18, are aiming for their first competitive starts at Coventry, while Wilson Odobert, 19, is expected to return to the front line and Mikey Moore, 17, is a candidate for the bench.
“I just love watching them in training at the moment,” Postecoglou said. “They want to play, they want to make an impact. They don’t look or behave like 18, 19 year olds. Which is great for me. When they’re 21, they’re hopefully going to be flying.”
Here is Postecoglou’s other balancing act, the need to marry his determination to win now with developing a strikingly young squad, which will be bolstered by two more teenagers next year in Luka Vuskovic and Yang Min-hyeok.
When it was suggested to Postecoglou that you can’t win anything with kids, he said: “Until you do.
“It’s always great to break stereotypes. You definitely need the experience...But I’ve always liked the fearlessness and naivety of young players. They haven’t felt the pain of losing something. I like the fact that they’re a little bit fearless.
“I’m really excited about the young players we’ve brought in and the ones who are coming in. And look, another manager might be the beneficiary of them, I don’t know. But in the course of time they’re going to be really good footballers and make an impact.
“They’ll only develop if they play, so we’ve got to give them the opportunity.”
Long-term, ensuring players such as Bergvall, Moore and Gray fulfil their potential is the key to Spurs becoming a consistent winning team, and tonight feels like a good opportunity to give them minutes. Short-term, though, Postecoglou will find himself under intense pressure if Spurs do not progress to the next round.
