How will Tottenham Hotspur line up this weekend - and how should they?
- Oli Gent
- Aug 8, 2018
- 3 min read
This report was published on the Eurosport website. You can read it at: https://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/premier-league/2018-2019/how-tottenham-will-lineup-this-weekend-vs-how-they-should_sto6876842/story.shtml
It's a difficult situation for Tottenham. They, typically, have not done any transfer business, with Daniel Levy always a fan of late-night deadline day dealing.
On the contrary, they probably have made their biggest signings of the summer by tying down talismanic captain Harry Kane and in-demand manager Mauricio Pochettino to long-term contracts.
However, Spurs fans will not be content with the lack of money spent and the lack of quality squad depth that will mean a title could be slightly out of reach.
They cannot be too dependant on captain Kane to score them all, and they cannot rely too heavily on Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli to supply him, either. Business is needed for the Spurs to go marching back into the top four.
HOW TOTTENHAM WILL LINE UP v NEWCASTLE
It’ll be the same 4-2-3-1 as per usual for Spurs, with overlapping full-backs Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies giving extra width to support Heung-Min Son on the right and to supplement the drifting Eriksen on the left - assuming that Pochettino immediately restores his World Cup stars.
In the middle, Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen will continue to build their promising partnership at the heart of the defence after both enjoyed good World Cups that resulted in knockout football for both.
In midfield, warriors Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama will add the steel and physicality to screen the back four, with Dembele granted the license to drift forward with that powerful, gliding dribbling style of his.
The onus will be on Harry Kane to continue his momentum from the World Cup and fire again after a few disappointing performances against Sweden, Croatia and Belgium, and he will need some serious aid if he is to break his August goalscoring duck.
BUT HOW SHOULD TOTTENHAM LINE UP?
Something along the lines of Roberto Martinez’s Belgium line-up could be good for Spurs, as a 3-4-2-1 would allow them to get the best out of all their players in the starting lineup.
Sorry, Manchester United fans - Toby Alderweireld should be fielded alongside Sanchez and Vertonghen, the latter of whom enjoyed a good partnership with his fellow Belgian in Russia in the same system.
These three are known for their ball-playing preferences, and they would be allowed to bring the ball out from the back to start the fluid attacks that Pochettino loves to employ.
Also, the wing-back system would mean that Trippier would be playing in the position where he excelled at the World Cup for England, and he and Ben Davies would have more licence than before to get into opposition territory and cause problems with their deliveries from wide areas.
The two physical centre midfielders would bully weaker playmakers over every blade of grass, suiting the Spurs pressing game, and their energy levels in the engine room would be pivotal to this.
Alli and Eriksen playing behind Kane in the two would mean that they had more advanced and freer roles to express themselves and play off Kane in the process, leaving him free to drop deep and not be isolated as a result. Also, it would mean that the Englishman and the Dane could join their captain in the box and add greater numbers when a cross comes in from the wing-backs.
Spurs need another striking option, aside from Fernando Llorente, to ease the goalscoring burden from Kane. Breel Embolo could be an option, with the Schalke forward potentially available if those interested stump up the big bucks.
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