How Tottenham can benefit from Giovani Lo Celso’s redemption arc

Fine margins can so often be the difference between a win and defeat in football. This was undoubtedly the case in Tottenham's 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday. An injury hit Spurs side huffed and puffed but were unable to blow the Villans away on home turf despite dominating possession, having more shots on target, striking the woodwork twice and having three goals ruled out for offside. 

Even in defeat, though, there were positives for Spurs to take. Dejan Kulusevski put in a superb shift in the absence of James Maddison in the number 10 role, while Bryan Gil was bright from the left flank. In his first league start under Ange Postcoglou, the Spaniard gave Ezri Konsa a torrid time before his withdrawal with 20 minutes to play. Konsa must have been relieved when he saw Gil's number go up in the 71st minute. 

There was further proof that Postecoglou can rely upon his fringe players to help carry this Spurs side through their present injury crisis, with Giovani Lo Celso arguably the best of the lot. "I thought Gio did really well today in the role we had him," the Australian said after Sunday's loss. The Argentine has been forced to accept a squad role under Postecoglou yet injuries to Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr combined with Yves Bissouma's suspension saw Lo Celso make his first league start of the campaign, and he didn't disappoint. 

Only Pedro Porro (7.98) and Kulusevski (7.95) earned a better WhoScored rating than Lo Celso (7.79) of all Spurs players against Villa on Sunday with the 27-year-old firing the north London side ahead midway through the first half. Believe it or not, that was just Lo Celso's second Premier League goal of his career but with the way Postecoglou and Spurs play, he should build upon that tally over the coming weeks. 

What was interesting about Lo Celso starting on Sunday though was that he did so in a deeper midfield role. When he initially joined in 2019, he was viewed as the replacement to Christian Eriksen in the final third. Injuries and managerial changes didn't help Lo Celso settle when he arrived from Real Betis, while a couple of loan spells with Villarreal meant it was likely his Spurs career would end with a whimper rather than a bang. There were even suggestions he'd reunite with Unai Emery at Aston Villa, though Postecoglou was left impressed by the Argentina international in pre-season so elected to retain his services. 

That it took injuries for Lo Celso to finally be handed a chance in the XI shouldn't be held against the midfielder given Spurs topped the Premier League up until a 4-1 capitulation against Chelsea earlier this month. That said, many felt he'd start in a more advanced role when his time came, so Postecoglou really threw in a curve ball when he started Lo Celso alongside Rodrigo Bentancur against Villa. 

It's not an alien role for midfielder and the stats in the Villa loss justify Postecoglou's decision to deploy Lo Celso in front of the defence rather than closer to the attack. Indeed, he made more tackles (4) than any other player this despite Spurs have 62% possession, and he was dribbled past just twice, though this can be attributed to rustiness. Lo Celso also kept play ticking over well having found a teammate with 92.1% of his 76 attempted passes, contributing to Spurs' dominance of the ball, while three key passes was a return bettered only by Pedro Porro (4) with the former supporting the offensive where possible. 

A January exit had reportedly been on the cards for Lo Celso however a solid midfield display against Villa shows he still has a part to play in Postecoglou's debut campaign. Spurs are currently mired on a three-game losing streak and their run of fixtures don't get any easier when they travel to Manchester City on Sunday. However, Postecoglou can rest assured that in Lo Celso, he has a quality midfield partner for Bissouma when the pair face off at the Etihad this weekend, Sarr's fitness permitting. 

Either way, fans can get used to see Lo Celso back in the starting XI for the foreseeable future. If his performance on Sunday is anything to go by, it'll be a redemption arc worth keeping tabs on.