Tottenham's youngsters are performing superbly – but at what cost?

Tottenham survived against Hoffenheim.

A 3-2 win described a performance full of flaws, but also heart. When the game ended, the Spurs players who were still on the pitch sagged, wilting with fatigue.

“These guys are giving everything they can,” Ange Postecoglou said afterwards. “It shouldn’t be dismissed that we’re a Premier League outfit playing in an away game in Europe, and we’ve got 5 teenagers out there.”

Two of those teenagers, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, lay flat on their backs at full time, exhausted by yet another 90 minutes. A third, Callum Olusesi, had just played his first minutes of professional football for the club. A fourth, Mikey Moore, is still not old enough to legally drink, but has become a little flicker of light in a bleak, colourless season.

All the senior players Postecoglou had available started in Germany. Such has been the physical intensity of the past few months, though, that even those who are not injured now move as if they are. Awkwardly and out of rhythm. Dejan Kulusevski was physically monstrous earlier in the season. Now, nearly 3,000 minutes later, he looks like he’s running into a gale.

But this is what Spurs had left and, actually, it was strangely affecting to watch. Did they play well? Not particularly. Hoffenheim are a below-average Bundesliga team who have not won at home in their league since November. They still managed to be a force in the game, score twice and make this a game for all 95 minutes.

Spurs’ players celebrate a narrow win in Germany (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

In a different context, it would have been embarrassing to have to hold on against such a limited opponent. But when Postecoglou spoke further about the performance, it was with a sincere, heartfelt and entirely believable pride.

“These players are exhausted. They’re professional footballers who are just 24/7 just trying to recover right now. All of them. And they’re giving everything. I couldn’t speak high enough of the players, they’re carrying us through there. All credit to them.”

When James Maddison was interviewed by Spurs’ in-house media, he was almost tearful in his appreciation for what his teammates are giving to this cause. It was moving and entirely appropriate.

But this is not a triumph. It is for the players and the sense that Spurs are three points closer to qualifying for the knockout rounds of the Europa League, but as a measure of the club’s overall functionality it was ridiculous — absurd.

Increasingly, this season is becoming about small positives — tiny consolations that can help supporters believe that this slog is in aid of something. Like suffering through some kind of misery for the sake of building character, or some other vague reward. Perhaps a spirit is being developed. Maybe a team really can be forged by holding it to the fire. Maybe. Watching Maddison’s interview was really a warming experience.

Gray and Bergvall are positives, too. Of that there is no doubt. It’s also true to say that they have benefitted from this situation and that had Spurs suffered fewer injuries and had a deeper squad, neither would have played this much football.

Both have developed tremendously. Bergvall gets stronger with every touch of the ball and Gray, who has played half the positions on the pitch in the past six months, looks a wonderful player in the making, and well worth the investment the club made last summer.

So, there is a happy accident aspect to this, but the team’s dependence on those players — at this stage of their careers, with the team enduring their worst form in decades and all the associated pressures — is not flattering. On January 1st it was the consequence of the summer’s squad planning and that terrible injury list. On January 24th, with the transfer window three-and-a-half weeks old and no outfield players signed, it is no longer simply unlucky or something that has to be endured.

Maybe, many years from now, Bergvall and Gray will describe this as a pivotal point in their careers. But what if it had not gone well? What if — without adequate support from the senior players or this shallow squad — they had been damaged by this? By injury, perhaps, or by a mistake that ultimately forced them to close their social media accounts.

Nine days after arriving in England, Antonin Kinsky played in a North London derby. Still adapting to his the Premier League, he had a disappointing game, drawing stinging criticism from the pundits working on British television.

(Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

The point, of course, is that a young player is delicate. Physically and emotionally. But the minute they step on the pitch, they become fair game, with little regard for the circumstances that may exist.

So far, Bergvall and Gray have walked between the raindrops. They have been magnificent in ways that should not have been expected. But with ten days of the transfer window left and no reinforcements in sight, the club run the risk of having to depend on them further — of having no choice but to keep playing them, in roles and with frequency beyond their control, in ways that may not suit their development.

Which is to say nothing of the older players. Radu Dragusin has suffered a crushing lack of form in recent weeks and would clearly benefit from time out of the team. He cannot have it, because there is nobody else to play in his position. Son Heung-min should not be playing this many minutes at his age, but he has to because there are still so few alternatives and the urgency of the Premier League situation means that every game is becoming critical. Richarlison’s fragile fitness has to be gambled now because Dominic Solanke will likely not play again until March.

Postecoglou was right in his observations on Thursday night. He should be proud of his players. And when they approached the visiting fans at the ProZero Arena on Thursday night, they deservedly felt admiration from that corner, as well. But too much is being asked of them now and they have earned the right to some reinforcements.

(Header photo: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)