Our Rivals Squad next year - Tottenham Hotspur

[FromTheBench]

Since Everton have a thread, i thought Spuds deserves one too.

Their squad -

Goalkeepers -

1. McGee
2. 24 Friedel
3. 25 Lloris
4. 56 Archer
5. Vorm

Defenders -

1. Walker
2. 3 Rose
3. 4 Kaboul
4. 5 Vertonghen
5. 6 Chiriches
6. 16 Naughton
7. 20 Dawson
8. 32 Assou-Ekotto
9. 35 Fryers
10. 36 Khumalo
11. 43 Fredericks
12. 51 Veljkovic
13. Davies
14. Dier

Midfielders -

• Lennon

• 8 Paulinho

• 11 Lamela

• 14 Holtby

• 15 Capoue

• 17 Townsend

• 19 Dembélé

• 21 Chadli

• 23 Eriksen

• 27 Falque

• 28 Carroll

• 30 Sandro

• 38 Mason

• 42 Bentaleb

• 44 Ceballos

Forwards -

1. Soldado
2. 10 Adebayor
3. 37 Kane
4. 41 Coulthirst
5. 45 Obik

They have signed Vorm, Davies, Dier already and close to adding Mussachio by reports for 17 million pounds. Also, seem to be after Schneiderlin and Bony for decent money and also Jay Rodriguez.



Pochettino is a manager who seem to have a clear philosophy in terms of style of play and their last years signings will be more settled. If they adapt to the new playing style and make more clever additions in coming month could they be a surprise package a bit this season ?

Or will they just Spuds it again given Europa League involvement?

 

[Glanville95]

It's a pretty good squad and with the imminent signing of Mussachio, their defensive options have improved considerably. I didn't expect a mass overhaul due to the summer outlay last season, as well as introducing a new manager looking to extract the most from the current players at his disposal, but it does look like they'll conclude their business having made five or six new signings. That can only stand them in good stead.

As for how they can do next season, I would be surprised if they can compete against United and Liverpool, let alone Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal, but they finally have a competent manager in charge with a clear philosophy and vision. In that respect, I expect them to be beneficiaries of a team performing above the sum of its parts like us and Liverpool. They do have a decent squad, so who knows, perhaps they could be a dark horse for 4th.

It will be interesting to see how they line-up last season and how quickly they adapt to high-intensity pressing, as well as successfully employing the high-line which they've failed so miserably at under the Villas-Boas and Sherwood tenures. I think the personnel has been a major issue, particularly in defence, so that's hasn't done the system justice, but it seems like they won't play Dawson, Naughton, Kaboul and Rose that much, which can only mean an enhanced adaption to the high-line, as all those are pretty average or unsuitable for a high-line.

I think their first eleven (including Mussachio) and subs will be something like this;

Lloris
Walker - Mussachio - Vertonghen - Davies
Paulinho - Sandro
Lamela - Eriksen - Townsend
Soldado

Subs: Vorm, Chiriches, Rose, Capoue, Bentaleb, Lennon, Adebayor
​

It's a good team, but the key areas of weakness would be Soldado upfront who hasn't shown any real signs of adapting to the Premier League and despite Adebayors end of season flourish, his form can remain patchy, so banking on him to maintain form would be a concern. It remains to be seen how Lamela will do next season, although I think he will be rejuvenated under Pochettino and he's done well on their tour so far.

Their central midfield options are pretty mediocre also and their isn't much disparity and variety between the quality and style of all four of Paulinho, Sandro, Dembele and Capoue, although Bentaleb looks a prospect. It's all a bit ordinary and their lack of variation could hold them back in some games. If they sign Schneiderlin, he will automatically become their best CM and instantly adhere to Pochettino's philosophy, but he isn't a flair, or ball-carrying midfielder that will offer something really unique to their midfield.

On the positive side, I do think the Lamela, Eriksen and Townsend triumvirate could be dangerous, which will be vital if they have issues with the forwards again. Likewise, the Mussachio and Vertonghen partnership has the makings of an excellent one and Davies is a very good defender at a great price. Their defence, does look infinitely better on paper compared to last season.

I'm intrigued by Spurs, but with European commitments, another sixth placed finish is the most probable outcome.

 

[Red Comet]

I'm just astounded by the quality they have in depth to for their Goalkeeping position. Brad Friedel and Vorm can easily be in the 1st team for many other EPL teams.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

I'm just astounded by the quality they have in depth to for their Goalkeeping position. Brad Friedel and Vorm can easily be in the 1st team for many other EPL teams.

Sorry Friedel's time is over as number 1 for any Premier League team

 

[Malva]

Sorry Friedel's time is over as number 1 for any Premier League team

based on what? every time he's filled in for lloris he's barely looked off his great form in 11/12. he's still easily better then the bottom half of the premier league keepers imo.

 

[peterstorey]

I'm just astounded by the quality they have in depth to for their Goalkeeping position. Brad Friedel and Vorm can easily be in the 1st team for many other EPL teams.

With shite like Dawson, Walker, Naughton and Rose in front of them they probably need to play all 3 to keep the score down.

 

[Eriksen]

With shite like Dawson, Walker, Naughton and Rose in front of them they probably need to play all 3 to keep the score down.

Only one of the players you mentioned will be part of our starting backline next season and he's not "shite."

 

[surf]

With shite like Dawson, Walker, Naughton and Rose in front of them they probably need to play all 3 to keep the score down.

Nah, they can borrow the opponents' keeper for the day, because no one is going to need a keeper when facing those Spurs forwards.

 

[Eriksen]

Also, our central midfield options are not "mediocre."

Paulinho had an average season and like many Brazil players, a poor world cup. He wasn't even that bad for us - man of the match on numerous occasions, a few goals as well. I love how one so-so debut season in the league makes a player average. Give a player a chance for christ sake, he's a good midfielder who's out of formm and probably low on confidence.

Beyond that Sandro has shown top quality before and is capable of it, he's a very good defensive midfielder. Dembele is a capable player. If we were to sign Schneiderlin our CM options would be quality, lacking a bit of creativity yes but very solid indeed. Mediocre is harsh, its brilliant how fast opinions change - start of the season "Is this the best midfield in the league?" - now one poor season from a few players and its mediocre. Seriously, its boring. Nearly the whole squad was poor last year and its easy to see why with all the crap going on.

 

[Eriksen]

Nah, they can borrow the opponents' keeper for the day, because no one is going to need a keeper when facing those Spurs forwards.

Well you did last season against us.




inb4 moyes so doesn't count.

 

[Brightonian]

inb4 moyes so doesn't count.

inb4 'We just had a bad season last year and it's easy to see why with all the crap going on, our players are actually all great.'

EDIT: Ah, no, you beat me to it.

One rule for Spurs, eh?

 

[Eriksen]

inb4 'We just had a bad season last year and it's easy to see why with all the crap going on, our players are actually all great.'

EDIT: Ah, no, you beat me to it.

One rule for Spurs, eh?

It was a joke, I thought that was pretty clear. I am aware that Moyes had a massive impact on your negative season and with Fergie/another manager there we probably wouldn't have beat you.

I don't think all our players are great by the way - I just refuse to accept Lamela, Soldado, Paulinho etc are all rubbish based on poor debut seasons. It's too early to judge, is all.

 

[Eriksen]

Sorry Friedel's time is over as number 1 for any Premier League team

So you're saying Friedel couldn't do a job for one of the recently promoted? Sorry but I'm calling BS on that. He's not what he was and obviously he's a bit slower in pretty much every department due to age but he's still a decent keeper with a lot of experience. Very good third choice - rarely called upon, adds that experience to the squad and can do a job if needed. Not going to cause problems because he's not first in line either.

 

[Rafateria]

I'm sure I've been seeing, intermittently over the past 1-2 months, reports of Sandro, Chadlii, Vertonghen, Dembélé and Holtby being on the conveyor belt out of the club. Not there is much substance but they definitely need to sell some of them to remove the possibility of dissent or unhappiness in the ranks at the lack of playing time. Friedel will surely leave.

They will improve under Pochettino and may do very well in Europe. Will fight it out with Everton or 6th/7th.

 

[Carl]

Schneiderlin would be a quality signing for them and would mean they wouldn't have to rely on the excellent but often injured Sandro.

Paulinho still has it all to prove. Don't like him in the #10 at all.

Dembele isn't good enough to be anything other that cover.

Don't rate Capoue (sp?)

Bentaleb is a really promising player.

 

[Carl]

A lot of their season depends on how a lot of the players that underperformed last season get on this season.

If Lamela and Soldado don't really make the step up (Lamela has been quality in preseason apparently) then they're looking really weak in the striker and wide positions once again.

 

[Carl]

Obviously they have top quality in net.

In defence I like Chiriches, Vertonghen and Davies but scratch the surface and the replacements are poor.

If they sign Mussachio then they'll be looking strong at the back though, with Walker being the obvious weakness (though not as bad as is made out to be).

 

[Castia]

There striker options are awful and they probably need to sell about 5 players and replace them with 2-3 quality additions. The squad is just bloated with average talent, they really fecked up last summer.

It will be interesting to see how Lamela does, on his day he's a good player Spurs need to get him playing. After a full season on the bench, and still a new league to adapt to I fear the worse though. January loan to Inter or Milan imo.

 

[Glanville95]

Also, our central midfield options are not "mediocre."

Paulinho had an average season and like many Brazil players, a poor world cup. He wasn't even that bad for us - man of the match on numerous occasions, a few goals as well. I love how one so-so debut season in the league makes a player average. Give a player a chance for christ sake, he's a good midfielder who's out of formm and probably low on confidence.

Beyond that Sandro has shown top quality before and is capable of it, he's a very good defensive midfielder. Dembele is a capable player. If we were to sign Schneiderlin our CM options would be quality, lacking a bit of creativity yes but very solid indeed. Mediocre is harsh, its brilliant how fast opinions change - start of the season "Is this the best midfield in the league?" - now one poor season from a few players and its mediocre. Seriously, its boring. Nearly the whole squad was poor last year and its easy to see why with all the crap going on.

I was being harsh and you will have a better understanding than me, but it's more an issue with the variation in your midfield options, opposed to quality. They are better than mediocre, but by no means remarkable.

It's expected that a teams creative spark will be in the #10 role like Spurs have with Eriksen, but near enough every other top PL team have a dictating, flair central midfielder or ball-carrier. Out of the CM's I mentioned, Dembele is the closest to that description due to his ability to create openings, but even his end-product and passing is severely lacking.

I don't think I'm judging some of them unfairly however. All seem to have pretty apparant minuses against their name. Personally, I think Sandro's the best of your current batch, but he suffers an inordinate amount of injuries. With Paulinho, I don't think he actually provides a midfield link and just looks to get into goal-scoring positions - something that can annoy me with Fellaini, although the Brazilian is far better. While, Dembele has regressed. I do like Bentaleb and Capoue looked good early on, so could easily be given a chance at the expense of Dembele possibly.

It's a good squad though. Your defence should be far better.

 

[Thisistheone]

Another team who've seemingly improved from last season. Better manager, improvements made at LB and CB, players having a year to settle. The league is going to be insanely competitive this year. But the Europa could effect them a bit. Early prediction: 5th or 6th.

 

[Bwuk]

A strong 11 on paper.

 

[NMF]

If they do sign Schneiderlin they'd be better of going for someone more creative then Paulinho shame they didn't get Moutinho back in 2012.

 

[Krovv]

But the Europa could effect them a bit. Early prediction: 5th or 6th.

Hard to see them finishing fifth. The top 5 has to have Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man United. Everton and Spurs will probably compete for the next two places this season. If they get sixth, it would probably be a good season for them.

 

[bishblaize]

So hard to guess how Spurs will do. Up and down, they seem to go from positivity to disaster in a single season. Indeed you wonder if a September crisis is the best thing for them, since it gets it out of the way early.

That said I'm going to risk being wrong & say they're going to have a season akin to last season post-AVB. Good against mid and lower table teams, but probably not getting enough points against the big teams to climb up the table. Though they usually get one high profile win against us or Arsenal, so that'll probably happen again. Maybe Chelsea will get it this time

Their main problem is picking out the better players from the mass of similar players they have in midfield. Its hard to pick out an obviously balanced combination from the lot of them. It also (like our surfeit of strikers) rather forces you to play a certain formation.

I have to say Pochettino will be the most interesting thing to watch. He impressed at Southampton, but Spurs is a much harder job. Im particularly keen to see if he'll continue his high pressing game, which will be much harder for a team like Spurs who are expected to play more games, including mid-weeks in Europe.

 

[SilentWitness]

Interested in watching Spurs this season.

I want Lamela to succeed as he's a fantastic player to watch when on form, I don't get the hype with Bentaleb so I'm waiting to see if he will prove me wrong, and I want to see if Pochettino is as good a manager as he seemed at Southampton.

 

[Lane]

I wonder who exactly would go if Spurs do get Schneiderlin?

I don't think that Sandro-Schneiderlin could work and while Capoue might be okay with a squad role, Sandro would want to start.

 

[Thisistheone]

Hard to see them finishing fifth. The top 5 has to have Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man United. Everton and Spurs will probably compete for the next two places this season. If they get sixth, it would probably be a good season for them.

Yeah fair point. The top 5 looks sewn up - on paper at least. So 5th is slightly optimistic for them. 6th would be a good achievement with a long run in Europe.

Just shows how tight its becoming at the top. Which is good to see.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

based on what? every time he's filled in for lloris he's barely looked off his great form in 11/12. he's still easily better then the bottom half of the premier league keepers imo.

So you're saying Friedel couldn't do a job for one of the recently promoted? Sorry but I'm calling BS on that. He's not what he was and obviously he's a bit slower in pretty much every department due to age but he's still a decent keeper with a lot of experience. Very good third choice - rarely called upon, adds that experience to the squad and can do a job if needed. Not going to cause problems because he's not first in line either.

There's a reason why he's now just the number 3 goalie at Tottenham

If he's good enough for one of the promoted clubs then he should be good enough as back-up for Lloris

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

Yeah fair point. The top 5 looks sewn up - on paper at least. So 5th is slightly optimistic for them. 6th would be a good achievement with a long run in Europe.

Just shows how tight its becoming at the top. Which is good to see.

Tottenham have no chance to qualify for the CL through the league

But they can qualify for the CL if they win the Europa League.....i really hope they win the Europa League

 

[Irish-Red-7]

Some good signings so far, and would expect more.. Their problems would be Left Back, Centre Half, a Winger and a Centre Forward. So far they have rectified two of those positions if the transfer of Mustacchio goes ahead. Davies for the money is a good deal. Winger and Striker wise I'm too sure who they have been linked with well expect for Bony.
They also have added a quality keeper to go with Lloris and Friedel.. Strong options to have.

Similar to us with LvG, their new manager could be the most important signing if he can get certain players playing and back on the form they showed before their move.. In particular Soldado and Lamela.

I don't know league wise what Spurs are aiming for, like Everton.. They won't breach the top 4 this season so 6th is probably to be expected, at the most 5th.

EL provides a Champions League and although I'm not a fan of that competition, likewise with many supporters of the top clubs, the El this season does provide Spurs with a good chance of gaining CL qualification.. I know cup competitions, luck and all that plays a part. But on paper, they would be right up there to win it. Of course teams that drop out of the CL, will provide competition in the latter rounds.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Tottenham have no chance to qualify for the CL through the league....

If United have a chance to finish in the top 4 then so do Spurs. We finished 5 points ahead of you last season, even despite the turmoil of a mid-season change of manager. This time around there won't be such turmoil and I expect several of the new players we signed last summer to improve considerably by virtue of now having had one season of Prem experience under their belt. In particular it looks like Pochettino has provided the spark for Lamela (who along with Soldado has looked very good in pre-season so far) and is making/has made some very solid new signings.

Our first XI this season could very well be:

----------------- Lloris
Walker - Mussachio - Vertonghen - Davies
----- Schneiderlin - Sandro
Lamela - Eriksen - Lennon
---------- Soldado

.... with good cover for pretty much every position.

The above would be a starting XI that's collectively at least as good as anything that United have currently got. Those United fans who complacently assume that you'll easily be back in the top 4 mainly just 'cos Moyes has gone and been replaced by LvG are in for another shock I reckon. The United squad just ain't that great and in some ways is quite mediocre.

 

[Bwuk]

Don't rate Lennon or Walker, but apart from that Spurs side on paper is very solid. Lamela and Soldado both need to do a lot better than last year which I think they will.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

The above would be a starting XI that's collectively at least as good as anything that United have currently got. Those United fans who complacently assume that you'll easily be back in the top 4 mainly just 'cos Moyes has gone and been replaced by LvG are in for another shock I reckon. The United squad just ain't that great and in some ways is quite mediocre.

I really hope you believe sometimes that what you are writing

 

[Rafateria]

There's a reason why he's now just the number 3 goalie at Tottenham

If he's good enough for one of the promoted clubs then he should be good enough as back-up for Lloris

Sorry but that doesn't make any sense at all. If (for example) Spurs have the #1, #2 and #3 GKs in the PL then obviously the #3 GK is good enough to play for any other team yet he's still not the back-up to the #1.

Friedl would be a great capture for any team in the lower half of the PL.

 

[ShadesOfTomato]

Have as good a chance as United do of top four.

 

[Rafateria]

Don't rate Lennon or Walker, but apart from that Spurs side on paper is very solid. Lamela and Soldado both need to do a lot better than last year which I think they will.

Thru about the first 10 games (or whatever it was, last season) I thought Lennon was superb, easily their best player. Then he was injured. Don't know what happened after that but either he fell out of favour or didn't recover properly. I'd assume the Summer has got him back on track.

 

[Irish-Red-7]

If United have a chance to finish in the top 4 then so do Spurs..

We both have a chance, it's just ours is considerably bigger..

 

[GlastonSpur]

I really hope you believe sometimes that what you are writing

I guess that United finishing in 7th place last season was all just a bad dream that never really happened eh? And now Uncle Louis is going to wave his little magic wand and all the bad things will just vanish in a puff of smoke.

 

[Rafateria]

----------------- Lloris
Walker - Mussachio - Vertonghen - Davies
----- Schneiderlin - Sandro
Lamela - Eriksen - Lennon
---------- Soldado

.... with good cover for pretty much every position.

The above would be a starting XI that's collectively at least as good as anything that United have currently got. Those United fans who complacently assume that you'll easily be back in the top 4 mainly just 'cos Moyes has gone and been replaced by LvG are in for another shock I reckon. The United squad just ain't that great and in some ways is quite mediocre.

Mussachio is only mooted, Schneiderlin highly unlikely, I thought Sandro was on his way (or strong rumours he might be) ? Anyway if not then he'll be on the physio's bench as much as the pitch ! Soldado will not be a revelation unless Pochettino has changed the Spurs formation to cater to him, he was just a fish out of water with Spurs not playing to his strengths last season, and to compare him to Rooney/RvP or even Welbeck/Hernandez, at this point, is pure folly.

 

[Cina]

Why are we calling every team in the top half of the table a rival now? They're not fecking rivals.