“It’s going to be a great boost for Spurs”: Journalist claims Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham now about to profit from another Fabio Paratici long-term transfer deal [Full Details]
Bryan Gil made a real impression in his start for Tottenham against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon as he delivered a promising display in attack for Ange Postecoglou.
Bryan Gil will be hoping it is the start of things to come for him at Tottenham after his starting role in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa. Signed from Sevilla two years ago and spending the second half of the past two seasons back on loan in his home country, the winger’s appearance against the Midlands club was only his 34th in all competitions for Spurs.
The vast majority of those have come from the bench, with previous managers Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte just not giving him that opportunity in the starting XI. Prior to Sunday, Gil had barely gotten a look-in under Ange Postecoglou after injury saw him miss the entirety of pre-season and kept him on the sidelines until early October.
Following two substitute appearances against Crystal Palace and Wolves, Gil was handed only his third Premier League start for the club as Postecoglou opted for a rather bold approach against Aston Villa.
Rather than perhaps playing it safe and naming experienced duo Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in his team, the Australian instead named a back four comprising entirely of full-backs, Dejan Kulusevski operated in the No.10 role as he joined Rodrigo Bentancur and Giovani Lo Celso in midfield and Gil came in on the left wing.
It was a big show of faith in the player, who has clearly made an impression on Postecoglou in training at Hotspur Way to come into the head coach’s thinking for a starting spot against the Premier League high-flyers. There may always be concerns over Gil’s physique in the Premier League due to his slight frame but he handled himself extremely well and made a big impression on those watching on.
Involved in a lot of good Spurs play and forcing Emiliano Martinez into a save at his near post, there were bits of his play that were rusty. However, that is rather understandable given his 16 minutes of pitch time this season before his start against Villa.
He did show some real quality at times, though, notably his inch-perfect cross that Son Heung-min couldn’t connect with his head and a number of good runs that troubled the Aston Villa defence.
Having 64 touches of the ball across 71 minutes – which was almost as much as the 71 combined from fellow attackers Son and Brennan Johnson – the 22-year-old was accurate with 42 of his 49 passes, he was successful with three of his four dribbles and he chipped in defensively with three recoveries and three successful ground duels from a possible five.
There was lots of promise from the Spaniard in his pitch time and he has certainly put himself in a good position for another starting spot over the coming weeks. His first Premier League start of the season, as was also the case for Bentancur and Lo Celso, the trio came in for praise from Postecoglou after the game.
“We’re kind of going through a tough patch in terms of absences from the team but it was Rodrigo, Gio and Bryan’s first start today and I thought all three of them handled themselves really well,” said the head coach when speaking to SPURSPLAY.
“From my perspective, I said during the week this is an opportunity for us to have a look at some of the players and see how they fit into the football we want to play. I thought all three handled themselves really well.”
Rated extremely highly in his home country, Gil has never had the opportunity to demonstrate his undeniable talents on a regular basis during his time in England. The player hasn’t had a consistent run in the Tottenham XI, something which would have helped him massively in terms of his development as he looks to get used to the demands of Premier League football.
The Lilywhites’ current injury situation does play into his hands at present, as does his bright showing in the defeat at home to Aston Villa. Postecoglou knows he has a very good player on his hands and Gil is someone who fits into his way of playing.
Asked by football.london before the Fulham game in October about the role the ex-Sevilla man can play for Tottenham over the coming months, Postecoglou said: “He can be really important for us. He’s one like I said the last couple of weeks it has been great to have him just working really hard at training.
“He’s missed all of this season so far and it’s well chronicled that we lost Ivan and Manor who play in that left-wing position. Having Bryan fit and available again is great for us.
“He’s, I guess, in the same boat as everyone else because at some point he’ll be forwarded an opportunity and then it’s up to him. He certainly has all the criteria and credentials to play in that position for us and, like I said, his training is getting stronger now, he’s part of the group and I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity.
“We’ve got a Monday night game and then we back it up with a Friday night game, so we’ll probably need a good deal of the squad to do those two games in the next five or six days.”
Gil’s Tottenham career may not have gone the way he had envisaged it immediately after his move from Sevilla but he may now get more of a shot under Postecoglou. Tottenham have benefited this season from some of Fabio Paratici’s previous transfer dealings for the club as the Italian planned for the future, with Pape Matar Sarr and Destiny Udogie two to really make their mark in the team this term following their respective 2021 and 2022 Spurs transfers.
Gil could in fact turn out to be another who proves to be a big success for Tottenham sometime after his initial move to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Now with the right man at the helm to bring out the very best in the Spanish youngster, Paratici’s agreement with Sevilla to bring Gil to N17 could possibly be about to pay off.
