Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has been subtly criticised this week for letting go of a player who's now thriving away from north London.

Casualties of the Postecoglou era at Spurs

The Australian's promising debut campaign in the Spurs dugout has seen a few players become regular first-team stars, like Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr, but the same cannot be said of a few others.

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Once a mainstay under Antonio Conte and previous Tottenham bosses, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been the main casualty of Postecoglou's arrival. The Denmark international has actually featured in nearly every single Premier League game, playing in 31 out of 32, but only six of them have been starts.

Indeed, Hojbjerg's status as a substitute has prompted reports that the 28-year-old could seek to move on this summer, especially as he enters the final year of his contract.

“Hojbjerg, there has been a conversation for a while now that maybe his Tottenham career was over," said pundit Alan Hutton to Tottenham News this week.

"Ange has brought him back in from time to time and he has played minutes but not as regularly as he would want. I genuinely believe he would have left before now but with a new manager coming in, he probably thought he had an opportunity to force his way in, but it has not quite happened. Again, if they’re going to bring in a midfielder who is relatively similar then you’re thinking maybe my time is up here so he’s somebody who will be looking at his options again come the summer.”

Hojbjerg is by no means the only player to suffer Postecoglou's axe after being a regular before. Former defender Eric Dier, who will fully join Bayern Munich on a permanent deal this summer when his loan expires, was banished from the first team starting line up week-in, week-out by Postecoglou in favour of 2023 summer signing Micky van de Ven.

Bayern 2-0 FC Koln

7.30

Bayern 8-1 Mainz 05

7.26

Darmstadt 2-5 Bayern

7.25

Bayern 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach

7.20

Freiburg 2-2 Bayern

6.86

The 30-year-old wasn't a suitable fit for Tottenham's new high-pressing style, as his pace was pretty limited in comparison to van de Ven, but Postecoglou didn't even select him when both Cristian Romero and van de Ven were injured around December-time.

Ange criticised for underestimating in-form Dier

However, Dier has now turned over a new leaf and found excellent form at Bayern, becoming one of their bright sparks in an otherwise disappointing campaign.

Interestingly, Postecoglou has been criticised for underestimating Dier and thinking he was a "discontinued model" by newspaper Illertisser Zeitung (via Sport Witness) – who rave over the Englishman as a shining light under Thomas Tuchel.

"The more I look at his profile, the more I see it," said Rugby coach Eddie Jones a few years ago.

"He is totally selfless; will shift from midfield, centre-back and right-back at a moment’s notice."