Player Watch Player Watch: Giovani Lo Celso

[BorjeSpurs]

I don’t think Ange will start him. He’s hardly made any cameos when fit.

I personally wouldn't be surprised to see Lo Celso start and given around 60 minutes and then be replaced by Bentancur.

 

[glacierSpurs]

I hope he starts, but I somehow don't get the feeling Ange is fully bought on him. He hadn't even gotten many sub appearances when Maddison was subbed out, considering Ange is someone who doesn't sit back protecting leads.

 

[HildoSpur]

I personally wouldn't be surprised to see Lo Celso start and given around 60 minutes and then be replaced by Bentancur.

A lot will depend on Bentancur's fitness. If they think he can do 60 mins then I think they will start with Bentancur. He is ahead of Lo Celso even when not fully fit. Though having said that, if Lo Celso starts I wouldn't have an issue with it under the circumstances.

 

[felmani26]

Last chance saloon at this football club you feel.

 

[Misfit]

Now or never, Gio.

 

[mil1lion]

I would love for him to come good, he looked so good in pre season. Started in the cup and got injured. Then got a brief cameo against Fulham where we were really complacent by that time. Then Bentancur jumped ahead of him against Palace. He will get chances now and he's barely ever really had a run of games.

 

[Tarricko]

There is no hope for him if he can't get minutes now. I'd love to see it happen but he seems to be one of those players where multiple managers can't get a tune out of him, and he's never really seemed to be too bothered about pulling on our shirt.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I personally wouldn't be surprised to see Lo Celso start and given around 60 minutes and then be replaced by Bentancur.

Listening to Ange's presser it certainly seems game management going forward will be high on list of priorities. With that in mind i think your right and we will probably start seeing more early subs in the hope of not picking up more injuries.

 

[mil1lion]

Listening to Ange's presser it certainly seems game management going forward will be high on list of priorities. With that in mind i think your right and we will probably start seeing more early subs in the hope of not picking up more injuries.

VdV and Maddison both got injured first half and there was over a week between Palace and Chelsea. So it's very difficult to judge. They may well look at keeping warm during var checks etc though.

 

[spursfan77]

Ange didn’t sound convinced when asked about him in the press conference.

 

[Aleks]

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Ange didn’t sound convinced when asked about him in the press conference.

Didn’t sound like that to me, he was just saying it could be a chance for all the players who haven’t had minutes to get on the pitch. Maybe Gio plays or maybe he doesn’t but I’m not sure there is much you can read into his short answer to Golds question. The only thing of note I found was more that Bentancur might not be fully ready yet. Unless of course he said more in the embargoed section. In the end of the day the whole squad is going to be needed in the coming months with the amount of injuries we have.

 

[TommyW]

Hes got to start surely? We need to keep disruption to the system to the absolute minimum so makes sense for him to slot straight into the Maddison role. He looked great in pre-season. Time to prove he can do it on the big stage

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Hes got to start surely? We need to keep disruption to the system to the absolute minimum so makes sense for him to slot straight into the Maddison role. He looked great in pre-season. Time to prove he can do it on the big stage

I don’t think any of the candidates “have” to start.

Lo Celso - closest like-for-like replacement for Maddison, albeit playing from the other side.

Hojbjerg - most trusted CM reserve for Ange, who has consistently referred to Hojbjerg as a key contributor.

Bentancur - best all-around CM reserve on the team, albeit without match fitness and coming off an ACL injury.

Personally, I think it will be Hojbjerg this week, given the short turnaround time. And then, perhaps, Ange has a bit of a think about it over the break for who will be the primary replacement until January.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Listening to Ange's presser it certainly seems game management going forward will be high on list of priorities. With that in mind i think your right and we will probably start seeing more early subs in the hope of not picking up more injuries.

We have to manage it well. If Maddison injury lingers a bit longer we could hit January without Bissouma, Sarr and Maddison. We lose Bentancur through mismanagement we’d be absolutely screwed.

 

[Kirito]

For me Bentancur should play instead of Lo Celso. Before he got injured he was as important to us as Maddison. May as well throw him back in and see if he’s still got it.

 

[Yiddo100]

For me Bentancur should play instead of Lo Celso. Before he got injured he was as important to us as Maddison. May as well throw him back in and see if he’s still got it.

Don’t think we should be throwing in a player who’s still working his way back from an ACL, if he was fit enough I’d agree, but we don’t need more injuries.

 

[ajspurs]

Don’t think we should be throwing in a player who’s still working his way back from an ACL, if he was fit enough I’d agree, but we don’t need more injuries.

That's the thing, as of now it's not a matter of ability alone, otherwise he would be starting. 'May as well throw him back in' doesn't sound like the smartest course of action

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

It’ll be him or PEH who start in place of Maddison tomorrow, I hope it’s Gio and I hope he smashes it like he did pre season and it kick starts his time at Spurs

 

[EQP]

I'll think he'll actually be raring to go and put in a good performance tomorrow. This is an actual chance for him to get some consistent minutes over the course of 2-3 months, in his preferred position and with, hopefully, some of our better players there by his side.