We know that Tottenham Hotspur will be without the club’s top two right-sided center-halves for at least two matches, what are Nuno Espirito Santo’s options for cover?
Regardless of anyone’s injury status, we know for a fact Tottenham Hotspur will be without Davinson Sanchez and Cristian Romero for at least the next two matches. The Spurs play at Selhurst Park on Saturday and then travel to France midweek for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
With the top two options for the position out, Santo will need to find cover elsewhere, here we explore three different ways for Tottenham to cover for the absence of Sanchez and Romero.
Option 1: Bring Japhet Tanganga inside from right fullback
Maybe the simplest option and the one that gets the fans to see a new acquisition the quickest would be to move Japhet Tanganga from fullback to center-half. Japhet has spent as much if not more time playing center-half through the academy as he has played right-back, so the position would not be foreign to him.
Tanganga is big enough, strong enough, and fast enough to compete with most strikers and can definitely hold his own defensively.
Bringing Tanganga inside to center-half then creates a ripple effect as the team would need to replace him at right fullback. For many, this seems like the perfect opportunity to get the new deadline day signing Emerson Royal on the field.
Emerson had played in three La Liga matches for Barcelona before the transfer so he has some minutes under his belt. This would very much be a trial by fire for Emerson with Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha likely switching sides and attacking the young Brazilian.
Even if Emerson is not ready, Tottenham would still have Matt Doherty who could play right fullback outside of Tanganga, giving the move greater potential.
Option 2: Joe Rodon gets his Tottenham season debut
There is little doubt that Joe Rodon is going to have a part to play in the Tottenham team this season and likely in the next few matches. Whether or not that means Rodon starts on Saturday after not playing a minute all preseason.
The last minutes of competitive football Joe Rodon played were for Wales at Euro 2020. Rodon was solid for the Welsh defense and played every minute of the tournament but not one for club or country since. It was hoped after being fit enough to return to Wales midweek he would get a few minutes but it never happened.
Joe Rodon is certainly capable of coming in and battling with Christian Benteke after not playing for nearly three months. However, more likely Rodon is ready for Rennes midweek. We at HotspurHQ trust Rodon we just do not know if he is ready.
Option 3: Move Eric Dier to the right side
The third option has the same complication as the first in that Santo would have to move someone from their position from the previous three games to do it. Instead of moving Tanganga inside, Santo could option to move Eric Dier from the left side of the center-back pairing to the right. Then on the left side, Ben Davies could slot in between Dier and Sergio Reguilon at left fullback.
This is probably the least desirable of the three options as it relies on moving Dier out of the position he has played for most of the last two seasons as well as moving Davies out of his normal role.
Certainly, as a right-footed player, Eric Dier could easily slide over and do the same job he does now from his mere natural side. The question really is how well Ben Davies would cope with moving inside, particularly playing against a striker as physical as Benteke.
Whereas with Tanganga moving inside and either Doherty or Emerson playing right-back the other player automatically provides some cover, the same is not true right now on the left.
If Davies moves inside, there really would be no natural backup available for either him or Reguilon. Given that Ryan Sessegnon is injured and unavailable, this third option is the least likely as it involves the most moving parts, which leaves the team just one more injury away from disaster.
Over the course of the season, Joe Rodon will presumably gain his health and fitness and be the natural replacement on either side of the center back pairing along with whoever is not starting between Sanchez and Romero. Until that time Santo and the Spurs may have to be a bit creative.