Josh Onomah or Alex Pritchard for Tottenham’s Backup Attacking Midfield Position?
Which attacking midfielder will have a bigger role and/or impact for Tottenham Hotspur, Josh Onomah or Alex Pritchard when both are playing in Spurs’ first-team regularly?
An impressive performance by Josh Onomah against AS Monaco in his first start, and playing the full 90 minutes, is slowly giving Mauricio Pochettino a group of good depth players who can rotate in when needed and make an impact. For Toby Alderweireld, seeing Onomah play the way he did was something that the team knew all along.
“We train with him every day,” Alderweireld said. “He is quite strong, he is quick, he is a good footballer. I think he has a good future. He did not look to play safe because he is confident. He shows it every day in training. It was a good opportunity for him to show his quality.”
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The quality that Alderweireld spoke of was on display during Thursday’s game in the Europa League. Onomah’s increasing prominence as a rotational player in Pochettino’s squad can help push everyone to continually get better.
Everyone wants to play, which Ryan Mason alluded to when he was making his return before suffering another injury setback against Chelsea. Players have that hunger to start every game that they possibly can. It provides competition throughout the squad and it’s something that can be very helpful for Tottenham during their upcoming fixtures. Here’s Alderweireld talking about the depth that Spurs have:
"“We need our squad,” Alderweireld said. “We are going to play a lot of games over the Christmas period. If someone gets injured or suspended, we know another guy can take his place. [On Thursday night] they showed they are ready for it.”“I think we made it comfortable. We started very well and the guys who are not playing all the time, they wanted to prove something, and I think they did. It is important for the confidence so we can take this result into Sunday. It is nice to be top of the group. We did our job very well in the Europa League up until now.”"
With Josh Onomah proving his worth in only eight appearances for Tottenham’s first-team, with one start in all competitions, the 18-year-old English midfielder could make a name as Spurs’ backup attacking midfielder behind Son Heung-min.
It’s also possible for Onomah to start games more if Son is the lone striker during Tottenham’s FA Cup run. But what about last season’s unanimous vote to become the team’s starting attacking mid, Alex Pritchard?
At just 22-years-old, Pritchard still has plenty of years to become the player that Spurs and their supporters thought he would be this season — before an ankle injury derailed that from happening. With Son Heung-min signing from Bayer Leverkusen and earning the starting number 10 spot in Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup, plus Onomah making a name for himself, the battle to become Spurs’ attacking midfielder and/or backup will soon pickup even more once Alex Pritchard returns.
A few days ago “Pritch” (Alex Pritchard’s nickname) spoke with Spurs TV on Tottenham’s official site to discuss where he’s at in his rehabilitation and why Tottenham’s current form is helping him push harder to come back stronger and better.
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"“The form of the lads has been exceptional and they’ve been great with me as well,” said the 22-year-old. “They’ve all been speaking to me every day and telling me not to worry, reassuring me that I’ll be back playing again soon.”“Of course, I’m very happy for the boys to be doing so well but on the other hand I find myself sitting there in the physio room watching them playing on the pitch and thinking ‘that’s where I want to be.’“My goal is to return fit, be a better player and play more games in the Premier League.”"
Once the New Year comes by, Pritchard will be able to start resuming full training and getting back to match fitness as soon as possible. Here’s the 22-year-old continuing:
“It’s been a difficult time for me but I’m getting there now,” he added. “I’ve done a lot on the bike and now I’m starting to put bodyweight on my ankle, I’ve been in the pool and running on the treadmill.”
“I’m just waiting for the back of my heel to recover properly and then once I’m back outdoors running, hopefully I won’t have to wait too long to be back on the pitch.”
To only choose between Josh Onomah and Alex Pritchard as Tottenham’s sole backup attacking midfielder is subjective as a whole on purpose. It’s purely based on their natural positions and whether supporters think one is better than the other in terms of “what have you done for me lately”.
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Of course this won’t have any bearing on what Mauricio Pochettino thinks because he’ll play someone who will do a good job while preferring to maintain continuity and chemistry. Meaning Son will remain as a starter even with Josh Onomah impressing and Alex Pritchcrd returning.
So with that said, who could be the team’s backup attacking midfielder for the second half of the season? And who could be the starter next season? The depth on Pochhettino’s squad is improving as the weeks go by with players returning from injury and playing exceptional when given the opportunity. Perhaps it doesn’t matter who’s the starter or backup at attacking mid as long as they perform well. But it is something to keep an eye on and see how this position unfolds for the rest of the season.