Tottenham boss hails Udogie, allays injury fears

Tottenham Hotspur coach Ange Postecoglou said full back Destiny Udogie is proving to be a perfect fit in his role with the club as they recorded their second win of the season over Bournemouth on Saturday.

James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski were on target for Spurs as they strolled over their hosts at the Vitality Stadium.

Udogie was in the starting line up for the third straight game and was very effective in executing Spurs’ game plan on the wings with Pedro Porro in the right full back position as well.

Udogie and Porro moved into the midfield swiftly to make up the numbers for Spurs in attack and recovered efficiently to prevent Bournemouth from exploiting their positions.

Speaking on TNT Sports to Peter Crouch and Joe Cole after their win, Postecoglou spoke about the success he’s seen in using full-backs Porro and Udogie as inverted midfielders, which he says gives them confidence in a system that allows them to make these kinds of decisions.

“Once players realise they have the freedom to do that but it’s still very structured then they don’t second guess themselves.

“They just say if there’s space inside, I’ll just go and drive in there.
“Both Pedro (Porro) and Destiny (Udogie), when they have the ball and are running with it, are really difficult to stop and if it’s in a central area it makes it more effective for us.”

The Australian also said that the Italy U-21 player of Nigerian descent did not suffer any significant damage after being substituted eight minutes before the game on Saturday.

“I think he just kicked the ground from what I understand.

“He didn’t want to come off but at that stage the way the rules are at the moment they go off for 30 seconds and I thought it was better putting Benny on and keeping the tempo up in the game for us. Just speaking to him now he’s fine.”

Udogie has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season under Postecoglou, after returning from his loan spell at Udinese.

Tottenham will return to Premier League actions on Saturday with an away trip to Burley after facing Fulham in the EFL Cup on Tuesday.