Why Tottenham must end doom cycle against Hoffenheim to earn Europa League reprieve
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There have been several points already this winter when Tottenham's selection crisis appeared to have peaked but, on Thursday night, Ange Postecoglou's absentees will reach new heights, with no fewer than 14 players unavailable for the Europa League tie against Hoffenheim.
![[Ange Postecoglou oversees a Tottenham training session]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/22/20/29/SEI236916436.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
That is over half of the Australian's squad, leaving the head coach barely able to cobble together a coherent XI for a game which Spurs can scarcely afford to lose. Four of the absentees, Antonin Kinsky, Djed Spence, Sergio Reguilon and Min-hyeok Yang, are fit but ineligible in Europe – partly a consequence of the club's squad mismanagement – but 10 are injured, with Pape Matar Sarr the latest to go down after taking a knock in Sunday's defeat to Everton.
It has been easy to assume that Spurs' injury pile-up can only get better – and vice-captain Cristian Romero has returned to training this week in an enormous boost to the club – but the more players are missing, the more the strain on the remainder, creating a snowball effect.
"You have to rotate your team, you have to have virtually two separate line-ups [when you are playing in Europe]," Postecoglou said in Germany. "We haven’t been able to do that. "Some of that was because of the injury toll earlier in the season and that’s accumulated and that’s created this scenario now where we’re having to play the same players consecutively. It doesn’t take much if you get two or three injuries, particularly if you get them in similar areas. That adds a load to the existing group.".
