Tottenham pair Ange Postecoglou and James Maddison have been named Premier League Manager and Player of the Month respectively in recognition of their excellent starts to life in north London.
Following a first-day draw at Brentford, Postecoglou led the revamped Spurs to victories over Bournemouth and Manchester United in August. He won the award over Mikel Arteta of Arsenal, David Moyes of West Ham, Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool, and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City. Postecoglou’s team plays host to Sheffield United on Saturday.
All five candidates for the award were unbeaten, but Guardiola was the only manager to finish the month with a perfect record.
Maddison has been the driving force behind Postecoglou’s newly-formed, possession-based team. He scored his first goal for Tottenham against Bournemouth and added another in this month’s 5-2 victory against Burnley.
He won the award ahead of Rodri of City, Jarrod Bowen of West Ham, Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton, and Bryan Mbeumo of Brentford.
Against the Blades, Spurs are hoping to keep their perfect record intact. Brennan Johnson, who was signed on deadline day, is expected to make his debut.
Johnson only participated in a Spurs training session on Wednesday after returning from a Wales duty, thus depending on the results of the club’s other international players’ fitness tests, Johnson is more likely to be among Postecoglou’s substitutes.
Following the departure of Davinson Sanchez to Galatasaray, Eric Dier might make his debut in the matchday squad this year.
In a related development:
Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur returns to training pitch
Prior to the Sheffield United match, Rodrigo Bentancur, a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, was seen back on the practice field at Hotspur Way with his teammates.
Since sustaining an ACL injury in February of last season, the Uruguayan international has been unable to play. The 26-year-old warmed up with other first-team stars on Thursday, so he appears to be on the road to recovery.
Bentancur’s return to first team duties, though, appears to be still some time off. He remained working alone and did not participate in training. When the midfielder will be able to resume playing is still unknown.
In January 2022, Tottenham acquired Bentancur from Juventus. He subsequently developed into a crucial member of the team for Antonio Conte. The Uruguayan was one of the few players that performed as expected during the previous season.
He put up some good performances in the previous season, making 26 appearances across all competitions and scoring six goals and dishing out two assists. The midfielder’s 2022–23 season was, however, suddenly curtailed by an injury.
Will Bentancur get back in the team?
When he is totally fit, the issue is whether Bentancur will try to ram his way back into Ange Postecoglou’s revamped squad. Since taking over in the summer, the Australian manager has done an admirable job of improving things in North London.
Tottenham has not experienced any aftereffects from Harry Kane’s transfer to Bayern Munich. They have demonstrated their offensive strength by convincingly defeating teams like Manchester United.
Yves Bissouma seemed to have stabilized himself beneath Postecoglou in the center of the park. Pape Matar Sarr has also flourished under the guidance of the former Celtic head coach. In the number 10 position for Spurs, James Maddison is in charge and appears to be a great acquisition.
Bentancur has always been a crucial player for Tottenham. The North London team is succeeding thus far, though. It will be intriguing to see if the former Juventus star can return to the starting lineup once he has reached match fitness.
