Postecoglou admits he will have to make ‘painful’ decisions in the Premier League | OneFootball

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says that he will have to make changes in the league as he “cannot risk” his players getting injured ahead of their Europa League semi-final second-leg against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.

Spurs are in a strong position in the semi-final after they won 3-1 at home, however the Norweigan side are impressive at their own stadium. They beat Lazio 2-0 in Norway in the previous round.

As Tottenham sit 16th in the table, their hopes of achieving European football rely on whether they can win the Europa League.

And boss Postecoglou says that they will have to make changes in the Premier League ahead of the semi-final second leg.

“We can’t put players at risk in the league when we know what’s important for us in terms of what we have in front of us in the Europa League, and like I said, balancing that off with guys having to get game time as well,” he said.

“There’s no doubt when you’re making seven, eight or nine changes that I make, that has an effect on the team in the Premier League for sure.

“You’re usually playing against teams that are rested, that are settled, and it’s a massive ask, but I think it’s been necessary. It’s painful, unfortunately, but hopefully we get to reap the rewards of that.”

The Australian is known for his high pressing, high energy and attacking style of play but has taken more of a pragmatic approach to games in Europe, particularly his side’s away win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-final.

Despite this changed style seemingly working Postecoglou insists that he will not play that way in the league.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think, like I said, for a game sometimes it’s just what the game needs and Europe’s very different to the Premier League and what you face in the Premier League. I think we were actually quite composed on the ball last night. We rarely gave up possession.

“We were probably less aggressive than we usually are with the ball. We went over the top a couple of times, but that was with good effect, it wasn’t sort of just blazing into spaces.

“It was things that we designed and I thought we showed great composure on the ball, we slowed it down at times last night, which I think we needed to, because Bodo really like a high tempo game and I thought the lads handled it really well.”

With the impending absence of Lucas Bergvall for the rest of the season, Yves Bissouma will become more important for Tottenham, and the Spurs boss was impressed with the Mali international’s performance against Bodo/Glimt.

“Bissouma was really committed to fulfilling his role,” he said. “I thought him and Bentancur had key roles last night, because Bodo decided to, with their two advanced midfielders, get into little pockets of space and cause problems.

“I thought Biss and Rodri just worked really hard to to deny them that space and then on the ball again I think both of them showed the composure that we know they have.”