Not much rest for much of weary Tottenham squad during break

Although the stoppage in play is referred to as the international break, for much of the Tottenham team, there is little rest during this break. Despite several players not going out on international duty that normally would, Tottenham has 14 first-team players serving their respective country over the next 10 days. Not much rest for a rather weary team.

Some Tottenham Players Catch a Break

While someone’s home country being on the red list for Covid infections is not a good thing – as infections make it unsafe to travel – a little rest for Davinson Sanchez is probably not bad. Sanchez has started for about a month straight for the Spurs and definitely could use the rest rather than traveling thousands of miles for a couple of World Cup qualifiers with Columbia.

Likewise, Giovani Lo Celso misses out with CONMEBOL making the decision to postpone qualifiers until more players can safely return. Considering Lo Celso has gotten injured the last several times he went on duty, staying in London is likely a good thing having just returned from an injury.

Speaking of injuries, the hamstring issue South Korean Heung-Min Son picked up at Arsenal will keep him out of a friendly with Japan and in London. One would also assume it was his lengthy absence from his own injury that likely kept Sergio Reguilón out of the Spanish side for their own World Cup qualifiers.

Of the 13 players with the most minutes played for Tottenham this season only Reguilón, Son, and Sanchez – who all miss our for different reasons- are not slated to be in action over the next week playing for their international teams. So who all is playing from Spurs for their country?

Not a Bunch of Friendlies

If there is one thing that is both a positive and a negative about almost all of the matches that Tottenham players will participate in for their countries, they are not friendlies. Besides Serge Aurier – who will be playing in the African Cup of Nations qualifying for Ivory Coast – every player will be participating in World Cup qualifiers.

It is one thing to loan out the team and players all over the continent for friendlies that are ultimately meaningless beyond stats and earning a cap. However, having players go out and participate in meaningful matches for one’s country is a different story. These games matter and that is both a blessing and curse.

The blessing is that the games are meaningful and important. The curse is the intensity that ultimately comes with the stakes of participating in the biggest sporting event in the world or not. Players can get hurt going half-speed in a friendly just as much as full speed in a knockout game but if something were to happen, god forbid, at least the games were important.

Fun playing with friends

There are two nations where Tottenham is providing three players this break, with Hugo Lloris, Moussa Sissoko, and Tanguy Ndombele all getting the call-up for France. Fron Ndombele in particular this is special and reflects the growing influence he has at Tottenham. Tanguy has not been in the France set-up since 2019.

The Wales contingent – another trio of Spurs players -was kind of a forgone conclusion, given the longevity – particularly of Bale and Davies – as part of the Welsch set-up. Joe Rodon, still got the call, although he has not played a ton this season but did look good recently against Villa.

The English group is smaller than it has been in the past as Dele Alli continues to be out of the national team picture and Harry Winks is also on the outside looking in. While Harry Kane is still the captain for the country, some are surprised by Eric Dier‘s inclusion given his overall minutes of late.

Five more Spurs are going solo but not alone

Matt Doherty (Republic of Ireland), Toby Alderweireld (Belgium), Steven Bergwijn (Netherlands),  Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Denmark), and Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast) all get to travel without any club mates to their respective countries.

Doherty will be joined in the Republic of Ireland camp by Tottenham loanee Troy Parrott who is joining up from League One side Ipswich. Also, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg will be joining up with former Spur Christian Eriksen at the Denmark camp, while Toby Alderweireld will again be with longtime teammate Jan Vertonghen for Belgium.

Do not forget about the kids

Not to be forgotten, there is also U21 European Championship qualifying going on. Tottenham is well represented with that team getting three players called up, although two are currently playing elsewhere. Japhet Tanganga got the call along with on-loan players Oliver Skipp (Norwich) and Ryan Sessegnon (Hoffenheim).

Skipp has had an excellent season with Norwich who looks almost certain to return to the top flight, Sessegnon has gotten good minutes and experience in Germany, and Tanganga showed just this past week he can be a factor for Tottenham. It is great all three get to spend some time together as they should all be part of the Tottenham set-up next season and have a big part to play.

With 27 games across these players coming up between now and the end of the month, let’s hope for some great football and no injuries. The stretch run of the Premier League campaign is what comes next and given many of the Tottenham players who need a rest will not be getting it, the least we can hope for is no injuries.