How Tottenham can cope without Rodrigo Bentancur during seven-game ban

Rodrigo Bentancur's seven-game home prohibition is simply a important stroke for the midfielder and Tottenham, disrupting the Uruguayan's dependable instrumentality to his champion and robbing Ange Postecoglou of a cardinal subordinate for a important signifier of the season.

Bentancur tin person fewer complaints astir the sanction, handed down by an autarkic panel, pursuing his radical slur against team-mate Heung-min Son connected Uruguayan TV implicit the summer, particularly arsenic the punishment is connected the lenient extremity of the scale; the FA recommends six- to 12-match bans for players recovered blameworthy of discrimination.

For Bentancur, it means different frustrating spell connected the sidelines aft 2 injury-hit seasons which person disrupted his career.

He missed much than 8 months of shot aft rupturing his ACL successful February 2023 and, successful conscionable his 4th crippled back, was sidelined for a further period with ankle ligament harm pursuing a dense situation from Aston Villa's Matty Cash.

He yet returned to enactment past December and showed flashes of his champion successful the 2nd fractional of the play without uncovering a rhythm.

This term, however, helium has begun to look similar the calm, skilful and industrious box-to-box midfielder of earlier his injuries, and has edged up of Yves Bissouma arsenic Postecoglou's starting No6 successful caller weeks.

He was fantabulous successful the back-to-back wins implicit Manchester City and Aston Villa, and helped to alteration the crippled arsenic a half-time substitute against Galatasaray.

Bentancur volition present beryllium retired Premier League games against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool, and Manchester United's sojourn successful the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

It is simply a pivotal tally of fixtures, including matches against the existent apical 3 and a sojourn to Bournemouth, who person beaten Arsenal and City successful their past 2 location games.

Many supporters respect the United crippled arsenic the astir important of the batch and, by the clip Bentancur returns, Spurs' prospects for the play should beryllium clearer.

Postecoglou tin inactive play Bentancur successful Europe, and helium is present nailed-on to commencement the games against Roma and Rangers successful the Europa League during his sanction.

Bissouma is the earthy replacement for Bentancur successful the broadside and has impressed successful bursts this season, without returning to the levels which made the Malian specified an breathtaking imaginable astatine the commencement of past term.

Bissouma is arguably a amended acceptable arsenic Postecoglou's No6, susceptible of resisting the property and driving the squad forward, but helium tin besides beryllium looser successful possession and much prone to careless moments.

Teenager Archie Gray, 18, tin besides play astatine the basal of midfield and has impressed erstwhile selected this season, albeit exclusively successful the backmost four.

Postecoglou could besides experimentation with a 3 of Pape Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, though that whitethorn permission Spurs abbreviated of antiaircraft screen and struggling to build-up effectively, fixed however bully some Bentancur and Bissouma are astatine evading absorption pressure.

There is capable determination to get by but Bentancur's lack volition further agelong a squad which has shown signs of creaking nether the value of the docket of late.

Postecoglou, astatine least, is nary alien to losing cardinal players and has had clip to hole for this eventuality since Bentancur was charged by the FA successful September.