Oliver Skipp is set to get another shot at Tottenham to show Ange Postecoglou that he is the future.
Injuries and suspensions might bring back an England U21 international.
If there is a silver lining to Ange Postecoglou‘s never-ending selection issues, it is the chance for every member of his Tottenham team to plead their case.
Postecoglou has had to get imaginative to keep Spurs competitive as his players began to drop due to injuries and suspensions.
Since first-choice pair Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven were sent out against Chelsea – the former red carded, the latter injured – on November 6, the Australian has employed four substitute center-backs, with one in particular, left-back Ben Davies, emerging as a reliable understudy.
Davies is improving with each game, to the point that one has to wonder if he has spent the majority of his career playing out of place.
Since losing midfielder James Maddison to an ankle injury, also against Chelsea, Postecoglou has tried a variety of solutions to bring spark to his side, and Giovani Lo Celso has risen to become a crucial team member, scoring in successive games, while Dejan Kulusevski is flourishing centrally.
Postecoglou’s focus now shifts to the midfield, with Yves Bissouma suspended for the next four games before the Malian and Senegal’s Pape Matar Sarr depart for the Africa Cup of Nations in January. Maddison is not scheduled to return until the new year, and Rodrigo Bentancur is out until February.
Step forward Oliver Skipp.
Under Postecoglou, he has only started two games: the 2-2 draw at Brentford on the first day of the season and the flat Carabao Cup third-round defeat to Fulham in the same month.
He’s made 11 more substitute appearances, including an hour at Nottingham Forest on Friday night as a first-half concussion substitute for Brennan Johnson.
Skipp has had a tough two years. He was a valuable player for Antonio Conte during his first few months in charge, but he was sidelined from January 2022 due to a long-term pelvic ailment, and by the time he was healthy again, Spurs had signed Bentancur and Bissouma, and Sarr had returned from loan.
Skipp struggled for rhythm last season, as did every Spurs player but Harry Kane, as Conte’s miserable reign unravelled, but still made 23 Premier League appearances.
He had his moments, most notably a thundering strike in Tottenham‘s 2-0 home win over Chelsea in February and an encouraging performance with Sarr at the San Siro as a weakened Spurs fell 1-0 to AC Milan in the Champions League knockouts.
Skipp also played on England’s U-21 European Championship-winning team, albeit primarily as a closer off the bench for the final 10 to 20 minutes of games.
Skipp was clearly valued by Conte and Jose Mourinho, with both describing him as “Tottenham‘s future” at one point, but the appointment of Postecoglou felt like it could finally be the making of the 23-year-old; over his injury problems and with a chance to progress under a progressive coach who believes in young players.
Skipp started at Brentford and scored twice in a friendly against Barcelona on the eve of the season, but since then he has felt like the forgotten man, even if it is easy to understand why Postecoglou prefers the dynamism of Sarr and Bissouma, as well as the experience of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, to help see out games.
But, with Spurs‘ midfield depleted over the holiday period – Lo Celso is also a doubt for Saturday’s visit of Everton – Skipp should get a chance to impress, and with it, the chance to prove he can still be the club’s future, as Postecoglou’s predecessors originally anticipated.
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