Does Spurs' squad have the depth to compete in the Europa League and Premier League?

Ange Postecoglou faces a new challenge with Tottenham Hotspur this season. In his first year, he led the club to fifth place in the Premier League, securing a place in the expanded version of the Europa League.

They will face eight different teams in the league phase until the end of January, with matches evenly split between home and away, with the opening game at home against Azerbaijani champions Qarabag on Thursday.

Tottenham have only made it to the quarter-finals once in their last seven appearances in the competition, which they won in its previous incarnation as the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984. They also reached the final in 2012/13 under Andre Villas-Boas in 1974. They should have a real chance of winning the competition again and living up to Postecoglou's statement that he “always wins trophies” in his second year. They are one of the highest-ranked teams, alongside Roma, Porto, Ajax and Manchester United.

Another change in the new format is that the third-placed teams in the Champions League will no longer be relegated to the knockout phase of the competition. So if Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan or Borussia Dortmund are eliminated from the Champions League after the league stage, they will not suddenly appear and block Tottenham's path to the trophy like an overpowering boss in a video game. In four of the last five seasons, a club that started in the group stage of the Champions League has ended up in the final of the Europa League.

Spurs boss Postecoglou speaks to the media ahead of the Qarabag game (Zac Goodwin/Getty Images)

Postecoglou must find the right balance between giving game time to players he will not use regularly in the Premier League, but also fielding teams that can win enough games to reach the top eight in the revised opening stages of the Europa League. If Spurs finish between ninth and 24th, they will play a two-legged tie in February to try and qualify for the round of 16. A lower result will see them eliminated from European competition for the season.

Tottenham could only field a 23-man squad for the league stage (academic talents such as Will Lankshear and Mikey Moore are not included in this number but can still play in the matches), while other clubs were allowed up to 25 players. This is because UEFA rules dictate that each team must have eight locally trained experienced players and Spurs have not reached this number in their current squad. For this reason, they have named four goalkeepers, including academy graduates Alfie Whiteman and Brandon Austin.

The lack of homegrown players since the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp left the club in the last year or so meant Spurs had to field the reduced squad, resulting in Postecoglou leaving out Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon. It's a particularly harrowing scenario for Spence, given he has already played twice for them in the Premier League this season and was instrumental in the comeback that led to victory against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup last week.

“It was clear from the start that it was going to be a difficult decision. Given the current composition of our squad and the lack of club-trained players, we had to rule someone out from the start,” said Postecoglou after the squad was confirmed. “Djed was the unlucky one, but at the same time, Djed has already played in the Premier League. If you had asked him at the start of the season where he sees himself, given the fact that he is part of our squad and is obviously going to play a big part of the year, as he already has, I think he shouldn't be too disappointed.”

“Of course he wants to play, but ultimately it was about the balance of the team. We just feel that with our squad we have some cover on the right side, players who can step in on the left side, and I always tend to use more offensive players in these scenarios.”

Fraser Forster is the second goalkeeper behind Guglielmo Vicario. The 36-year-old's discomfort playing out from the back was evident in the game against Championship side Coventry. In the first minute of the game, he misplaced a pass to Lucas Bergvall on the edge of the box that almost led to a goal for Jack Rudoni. Vicario will certainly be needed against stronger opponents, but you can't expect him to play twice a week until February.

The Europa League squad consists of just seven defenders and they will need to be used carefully so that no one gets too much work. Archie Gray will replace Pedro Porro at right-back, while Radu Dragusin can rotate with Cristian Romero. Ben Davies could replace Destiny Udogie or Micky van de Ven.

Postecoglou has a dilemma in attack with Wilson Odobert and Richarlison currently recovering from injuries. They worked out in the gym on Wednesday while the rest of the team trained outside. Richarlison's absence will be a bigger burden on Dominic Solanke, the record signing for £65 million ($86.6 million), but it could be an opportunity for fellow 19-year-old striker Lankshear.

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Lankshear impressed during this year's pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea and is back in first-team training after recovering from a thigh injury. Playing competitive football in the Europa League would be the perfect opportunity for him and 17-year-old winger Moore to develop. It is worth remembering that Kane scored his first goal for the club as an 18-year-old in a 4-0 win over Irish side Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League in December 2011.

The alternative would be to play Son Heung-min or Dejan Kulusevski up front, but they need just as much rest as Solanke. Kulusevski was Tottenham's strongest player in the first month of the season, playing in central attacking midfield, and it would be a shame to use him now that he is coming into his own. And Son might be too busy playing in the wide positions twice a week, alongside Brennan Johnson, because of Odobert's thigh injury and Timo Werner's lack of form.

Odobert's thigh injury limits Spurs' options (Mike Egerton/Getty Images)

The only area of the pitch that is not a cause for concern is the central midfield.

Even if Rodrigo Bentancur receives a lengthy domestic ban for his comments about Son, he will still be allowed to play in European matches. Postecoglou could call up the Uruguayan international for all Europa League matches, leaving Yves Bissouma fit for the Premier League. Bergvall has shown creativity and brilliance in his cameos so far in his debut season and it will be exciting to see what he can offer from the start, while Pape Sarr completes a talented midfield.

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Postecoglou stressed ahead of the Qarabag match that the squad has been developed in his first 12 months as coach and now contains more players who are “robust enough to play our style of football”. This will be put to the test over the next four months, when many of them will play twice a week.

Another important factor is that this is a young squad with little experience in European competitions. Udogie, Van de Ven and Johnson are the frontrunners of a group of players who have never played at this level. Postecoglou, who coached his former club Celtic in all three UEFA competitions, believes it will be an “interesting challenge” to face teams with “eight different styles of play”.

The general message was that this tournament should be welcomed despite the grueling schedule and travel involved, which includes games in Hungary (Ferencvaros), Turkey (Galatasaray), Scotland (Rangers) and Germany (Hoffenheim).

“When you can expose individuals or the group to different environments, there are greater opportunities for development,” said Postecoglou in his press conference on Wednesday. “Whether it's playing against an opponent you've never played against before, or in a country or stadium with a different atmosphere, all of these things offer opportunities for development and that's exactly what European competition allows you to do.”

“I kept saying last year that if we had been in Europe, we would have been able to develop a little faster in terms of players, especially with a young group. For many of them, it will be the first time in a European competition. For us as a group, it will be the first time. The squad has changed a lot in the last 12 months. For all these reasons, I see it as a fantastic opportunity to develop football-wise as a team and hopefully get closer to our goal.”