Author: jameshicks7

Five talking points from Spurs’ 2-1 defeat to West Ham

Son badly needs a rest

Heung-Min Son has been one of Spurs’ key players this season, but all of the minutes he has played this season seem to have caught up with him. Son was visibly tired in the last ten minutes of the derby against West Ham, seen on his haunches, looking like he was all out of energy.

His recent form has been the polar opposite of his amazing start to the season with only two goal contributions in the past eight league games. When you dive into the stats of how many minutes the South Korean has played it’s hardly a surprise he looks tired.

Son has played at least 84 minutes in every single Spurs league game since the 6-1 win over Manchester United all the way back in November, as well as being played in every single game this season bar two. Son desperately needs a break and the game against Wolfsberger in the Europa League in midweek gives Mourinho the chance to do just that.

With Spurs 4-1 up in the tie it is the perfect opportunity to play a youngster like Dane Scarlett in his place. If Son isn’t rested midweek there’s no way he’s going to be able to perform anywhere near his best due to the fatigue he’s clearly been suffering with in recent weeks.

Centre back woes

Whether it be Alderweireld alongside Rodon, Dier paired with Tanganga, or even Tanganga with Rodon, it’s extremely clear to everyone – apart from Mourinho it seems – that Dier and Sanchez just aren’t working together.

What makes it even more strange is the fact Spurs had a solid centre-half pairing in Alderweireld and Dier up until the Crystal Palace game and have been chopping and changing at the back ever since.

Spurs desperately need consistency at the back and failing to start the same back four since December certainly hasn’t helped Spurs’ defensive woes, Prior to the Palace game, Mourinho’s men had the best defence in the league, only conceding two goals with Dier and Alderweireld at the back. but ever since that game there has been no consistency with Mourinho not looking like he knows his preferred back four at all.

Dier and Sanchez just don’t work alongside each other at all, with the pair conceding five goals in their last two matches. There needs to be a breath of fresh air in the defence, whoever it may be, and then Jose needs to back the pairing that he picks.

The Mysterious Case of Joe Rodon

There was hope when Rodon came in the summer that he would be able to help with our defensive problems. Initially he did so and after a mistake against Liverpool Mourinho gave the Welshman his full backing. But after the 1-0 defeat against Brighton Rodon hasn’t played a single minute of football and has been left out the last two league squads altogether.

Rodon has completely vanished for the Spurs team/squad in recent weeks with no clear explanation as to why. His brother Sam confirmed on Twitter today that Rodon wasn’t injured, so why on earth has Mourinho excluded him from his plans entirely, especially with the defensive problems Spurs are facing currently?

He wasn’t out of place in a poor team performance at all against Brighton so it is mind-blowing why he has suddenly been excluded from the team. Joe Rodon could be that breath of air that Spurs need to restart their campaign and push on now, with Burnley an ideal game for Rodon to come back in.

Bale’s Brilliance

One of the few positives from the disappointing performance was the second half display from Gareth Bale. The Welshman has severely struggled for form since his return to Spurs, however, glimpses of the old Bale have certainly been brought to light in the last week with a good performance against Wolfsberger too.

Bale hit the bar with a powerful volley which definitely had Fabianski beaten as well as chipping in with an assist for Lucas Moura’s goal with a beautifully delivered corner. You just got that feeling that when Bale was on the ball that he was going to do something special, something Spurs have been missing from any player in a while now.

There is no reason why he shouldn’t start against Burnley in the league next Sunday and, if he manages to build up his fitness, the 31-year-old could be a key player for Spurs towards the end of the season, especially if he manages to sustain any run of form. He could be the third attacker that Spurs are most certainly missing alongside Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.

Jose Mourinho’s similar record to a sacked Mauricio Pochettino

Jose Mourinho came out after the game and insisted that his and his coaching staff methods “are second to none” and that he will not question his methods at all regardless of league position. Which may give Daniel Levy that bit of disbelief he didn’t previously have about Mourinho.

It has been widely reported that Mourinho will cost Spurs around £30 million to sack, but with the recent form and his latest comments Levy may well be considering it.

With 12 points out of a possible 39 in his last three games, Mourinho is replicating the type of form which saw Pochettino removed from his position as Spurs manager, the Argentine having gained 14 points out of a possible 36 in his last 12 games. With Spurs now nine points off the Champions League and gradually slipping down the table in recent weeks will Levy be bold enough to pull the trigger?

Mourinho has managed so far to get us into the Carabao Cup final as well as the Europa League Round of 32, but it seems as though his focus is now purely on the cup competitions after the defeat at the London Stadium – will Levy be willing to take that risk and pin all Spurs’ European qualifying hopes on just the cups?

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea: Too Soon for Dele and Harry Kane, but Returns on the Horizon – Team News, Line-Ups and Prediction

Spurs host Chelsea on Thursday night in what is set to be a fiery London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with both sides looking to get their Premier League seasons back on track.

Tanguy Ndombele has been confirmed fit to play and Serge Aurier will be back in the squad after being left out of the squad in the loss against Brighton on Sunday. Spurs will be without Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Sergio Reguilon and Giovani Lo Celso who Jose Mourinho confirmed today was likely to be out for “a month or something”.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Spurs with Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Sergio Reguilon all looking to be ready for the game against Manchester City next weekend. Mourinho shared some details from his conversation with Dele where they were able to find “common ground”, something that will come as welcome news to all Spurs fans.

With the creativity of Dele and Kane potentially back into the setup in the next week or so, it’s fair to say that things are certainly looking up for Spurs after some disappointing results recently.

Mourinho also confirmed in his press conference that Ndombele would be able to play as an out and out midfielder alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg due to his fitness improving. Subsequently, that has now opened up the possibility of Spurs having Dele or Lo Celso slotting in at number 10 in front of Hojbjerg and Ndombele.

Chelsea are set to welcome N’Golo Kante back into their squad after his recovery from a hamstring injury, whilst Kurt Zouma and Kai Havertz are doubtful for Thomas Tuchel’s side ahead of the derby.

Spurs will need to be wary of the width utilised by Tuchel who has played wing-backs in both of his games as Chelsea boss so far, with Callum Hudson Odoi and Marcos Alonso looking most likely to start. Mourinho will have to nullify this threat if he wants to control the game after being vulnerable down both sides against Brighton on Sunday.

While Spurs only have two wins in their last nine Premier League matches, Chelsea aren’t much better with three wins in their last ten. However, since the appointment of Tuchel they have picked up four points from a possible six and haven’t conceded a goal.

Spurs haven’t beaten Chelsea in the league since November 2018, where Heung-Min Son scored a superb solo goal after picking the ball just past the halfway line.

Both games between the two clubs have ended in draws, one in the League Cup where Spurs won on penalties – with Mourinho getting one over on his former Chelsea stalwart, Frank Lampard – while the game in the league finished 0-0. At the time, this was a top of table clash and the game saw Joe Rodon make his full Spurs debut.

A win would keep Tottenham above Chelsea in the table with both sides currently sitting on 33 points – they could go into tomorrow’s match nine points off the top four if results don’t go their way. A loss for Spurs could potentially see them slip down to 9th in the table.

Andre Marriner will referee the derby, whilst Stuart Attwell will be overseeing VAR duties from Stockley Park.

Possible Spurs Starting XI: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Rodon, Davies, Sissoko, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Bergwijn, Son, Vinicius.

Possible Chelsea Starting XI: Mendy, Hudson-Odoi, Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger, Alonso, Kante, Kovacic, Pulisic, Mount, Werner.

Predicition: 1-1.

Four Ways Spurs Could Line Up After January’s Transfer Window

With the January transfer window now just over halfway through, James Hicks looks at the different ways that Spurs could line up by the start of February, including a few familiar faces as well as new signings.

  1. Keeping The Faith

Although results haven’t been going the way that fans would’ve liked them to recently, this team is 4th for most goals scored in the Premier League, 3rd for least conceded, and the 2nd least conceded from open play behind Manchester City.

Against Sheffield United on Sunday, Steven Bergwijn showed signs of promise to be able to become the third attacker that Tottenham so desperately need to perform alongside Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son and help the team with goal contributions.

Tanguy Ndombele scored a outrageous chip over Aaron Ramsdale at Bramall Lane and is looking fitter than ever, completing 90 minutes of football against the Blades and slowly showing signs of progression with his fitness which I’m sure every Spurs fan is loving to see his improvement and adaption recently.

The defence is always a major talking point of the Spurs line-up no matter who’s playing and I would argue that this is our most experienced back four, Sergio Reguilon and Serge Aurier give us the width and pace we need in the full-back positions. Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier have been Jose’s trusted partnership this year and their record from open play speaks for itself, conceding the joint least goals from open play, but as everyone knows, set pieces are a huge problem, an issue perhaps which could be solved with the next line up.

2. The Midfield Trio

This was the line-up Spurs fans were most looking forward to after the close of the summer transfer window with a little twist.

In this scenario, Marcel Sabitzer would join the front three in replacement of Steven Bergwijn, with the Austrian – who has a year and a half left on his contract at RB Leipzig – finally making the move having been linked with Spurs on and off for some time.

He would be a great addition to the squad and would provide a player who is extremely versatile where he can play whether it be just off the strikers in the 10 role, out wide either side of a front three or even central midfield. Sabitzer is flexible and can help with goal contributions from anywhere on the field with the 26-year-old producing 17 goal contributions in 32 games in the Bundesliga last season.

It is more likely, however, that Spurs and Levy will attempt to sign Sabitzer in the summer due to his contract situation, replicating what happened with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg negotiations due to his lack of contract, where Spurs ended up with what is looking like a bargain in the Dane.

Another attraction of this team is the midfield three everyone couldn’t wait to watch play together this season in Giovani Lo Celso, Ndombele and Hojbjerg. The trio have only started together once all season, against LASK in the Europa League where it never really gelled, however with Ndombele fitness now ever increasing hopefully when Lo Celso returns from injury we’ll be able to see these three together in action, a spectacle many Spurs were extremely looking forward to.

In defence I’ve partnered Joe Rodon next to Dier after his impressive performance in his second league start against Sheffield United, in his brief cameos in a back four this season he has been really impressive and arguably deserves a chance at a long run in the team, with Jose Mourinho evidently undecided on who he is going to partner alongside Dier in a back four.

3. Five at the Back

Mourinho first debuted Spurs playing three/five at the back against Wolves, where again Spurs conceded from a set piece, however against Sheffield United it look much more assured and controlled posing the question whether it’s worth playing that formation?

Keeping the same front three – which I would say is the best – and a midfield pivot of Ndombele and Hojbjerg, would help to provide the foundations which this team is built on.

Both Reguilon and Doherty were bought over the summer from Sevilla and Wolves respectively, however we have hardly seen either of them play in a position that they thrive in so much as a wing-back. They both offer great pace and crossing ability for one of the forward three to get their head on, especially Reguilon as seen against Fulham.

Last season Doherty had 12 goal contributions in 50 games for Wolves, while Reguilon had eight contributions in 38 games, at the moment Spurs’ highest goal contributor apart from Son and Kane is Ndombele on four, this is something that Jose needs to find the answer to and quick.

By playing this formation it would give Doherty and Reguilon much more license to get forward without having to worry as much about their defensive duties, instead helping Spurs when they go forward, this could help produce many more goal scoring opportunities with crosses and runs from both wing backs.

With the three centre-backs, it would be fair to say Rodon has more than earnt his chance in defence, here he would be alongside Dier and Japhet Tanganga, Tanganga has severely struggled for game time this season due to a back injury he suffered earlier in the season. However with him now slowly progressing back into the set-up and his superb performances last year he also warrants a chance at centre-back especially with all of Jose’s chopping and changing he has been doing recently at centre-half.

4. The Return of DESK

Is the return of DESK a possibility for Mourinho and Tottenham? Christian Eriksen has been heavily linked back with a move back to White Hart Lane after failing to impress at Inter Milan since his transfer last January.

Dele Alli has suffered a similar dip in form since last season, but is still putting up decent numbers when being put in the team with four goal contributions in twelve matches. What Dele needs is a sustained period in the first XI where he tries to rediscover his form with the full support of his manager and he’ll get back to his best.

Dele, Eriksen, Son and Kane, if both Dele and Eriksen were able to rediscover their form this front four would be formidable and could possibly resolve Tottenham’s reliance on solely Son and Kane to provide goals.

Alderweireld partners Dier in defence in this team, both of whom are accustomed to each other by now having played together for nearly 6 years, many of which have been spent alongside one another at the heart of Spurs’ defence.

Would the return of Dele and Eriksen help to improve Spurs’ creativity moving forward?

5 Talking Points From Spurs’ Draw With Crystal Palace

Fans make a huge difference

Prior to the opening goal, Spurs were extremely dominant on the game in the first twenty minutes creating a few good opportunities all of which was halted by Vincente Guaita. However once Kane scored, in typical Mourinho style Spurs sat back and tried to protect a one goal lead, which was a huge mistake, whilst the Lilywhites were in control of the match, they should’ve killed the game off instead of sitting back as soon as taking the lead. The fact that the game was away at Selhurst Park and Palace’s first home game with fans back certainly had a part to play in the Palace’s effort as a team, with Palace dominating the end of the first half and the majority of the second. 

You could sense in the stadium that the fans could feel a goal coming and were willing the team to go and get that goal whereas before it would’ve almost definitely been easier to defend against a Palace team who were getting frustrated that nothing was coming off for them. The fans tipped them over the line so to speak, with the pressure that ensued before the goal.

Hopefully Spurs and Mourinho take this into account and don’t sit back once scoring the first goal especially after being on the front foot since the start of the game, obviously against ‘Top 6’ teams Mourinho will stick to his counter-attacking football but Spurs need a Plan B when coming up against teams such as Palace who will happily play Mourinho at his own game and sit back deep, typically where Spurs seem to struggle.

Dier on freekicks

So far this season, Spurs have had a magnitude of different free-kick takers in Kane, Son, Bale, Højbjerg, Dier, Lo Celso to name but a few. Dier’s free-kick in stoppage time was an unbelievable strike only denied by a brilliant save for Guaita who, his error in the first half aside, stole the show.

Previously Dier has shown his quality over free-kicks with a strike against Russia at the Euros in 2016 the first one that comes to mind, over a dead ball Spurs don’t have an out and out specialist and Dier definitely has a strong claim to be over free-kicks as opposed to others who have previously been sometimes wasteful in good positions. But with Dier’s strike only being stopped by an extraordinary save from the Palace goalkeeper after looking certain to head for the top corner and give Spurs a dramatic winner, he has put down a great argument to be on free-kicks, in my opinion Bale or Dier should be on free-kicks around the penalty area.

The return of Dele Alli

Dele Alli made his first Spurs Premier League matchday squad since the demolition of Manchester United at the start of October where he came on as a sub. However, with the absence of Carlos Vinicius and Gareth Bale, Alli found himself making the bench and was also preferred to Lucas when Mourinho made his substitutions after Palace’s equaliser which is very interesting after rumours midweek of a move in January away from Spurs with the Englishman strongly linked with French giants PSG with a loan move.

As soon as Alli was introduced to the action he was thrown in at the deep-end and was left with a two on two defensively where he perfectly timed his tackle and quickly moved the ball forward once, he won possession. What surprises me the most is the fact Alli was trusted by Mourinho of trying to find the winner for Spurs but wasn’t involved at all in the Europa League game against Antwerp on Thursday in a game which arguably he could’ve started, showing his relationship with Mourinho is an extremely complicated one. 

Fans send Dele Alli message, Harry Winks' swift exit - 5 things spotted in Tottenham vs Antwerp - football.london

It will be very interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks with Alli prior to the January window especially with the absence of Europa League football until after close of the transfer window. Is Mourinho working him back into his plans? Is he helping to get him match fit in order for him to be sold or go on loan? Only time will tell.

Absence of Carlos Vinicius

In contrast to the return of Dele Alli to the matchday squad, Vinicius found himself missing out. With no reports of any sort of injury it seems that Mourinho just didn’t include him in the 18 who travelled to Palace. The Brazilian was also brought off midweek during the victory of Antwerp not even a minute after his goal, albeit it was a tap-in, a decision which was questioned by many fans.

Against Palace, Mourinho instead opted to have three defenders on the bench as opposed to Vinicius so who knows what’s going on with the Benfica loanee who I would argue has been very impressive in his appearances since joining Spurs. Again, much like with Alli only time will show what Mourinho’s plans are for Vinicius and whether he trusts him or not.

He has yet to start in the Premier League and has only made one appearance from the bench against West Brom where I personally would argue he helped to change the dynamic of the game, leading to Kane being able to score a late winner after Vinicius occupied a centre-back giving Kane more space. Who knows whether Vinicius would’ve made a difference against Palace today but it would’ve certainly offered a different dynamic.

Title race talk too early?

As Jose Mourinho said himself Spurs are only a “Little Pony” in the title race and the disappointing draw against Palace may reflect this. Spurs have now dropped six points against Newcastle, West Ham and now Crystal Palace, games that they should be winning if Spurs want to win the league.

With Chelsea losing, Fulham holding Liverpool to a draw and both City and United dropping points on Saturday, Spurs will be kicking themselves that they were unable to further open the gap between the sides. With the midweek fixture against Liverpool in the back of everyone’s minds and now especially important after todays result. The game is a must-win in order for Spurs to be taken seriously and mount a serious title challenge this season.

Top 10 North London Derby goals – vote for your favourite!

Ahead of the North London Derby against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, James Hicks picks his Top 10 Spurs goals scored in the fixture over the last 20 years – vote for your favourite at the end!

10. Jermaine Jenas – Arsenal 4 – 4 Spurs – 29 October 2008:

With 89 minutes on the clock and Spurs two goals down at the Emirates all hope was looking lost, Jenas won the ball back around the halfway line and then beautifully curling a left footed shot past Manuel Almunia, as everyone knows Aaron Lennon would score in injury-time after Luka Modric hit the post, Spurs somehow retrieving a point after being two goals down with one minute left and making it 4-4.

9. Gareth Bale – Spurs 1 – 3 Arsenal – 15 September 2007:

On his North London Derby debut, an 18-year-old Bale scored a superb free-kick (foreshadowing what was a later to come with his dead-ball deliveries for Spurs) again beating Almunia to his bottom right. The goal signified what was to come from Bale with future performances in a Spurs shirt scoring many key goals.

8. Jermaine Jenas – Spurs 2 – 2 Arsenal – 21 April 2007:

Jenas makes his second appearance on the list with a powerful strike against the Gunners which flew past Jens Lehmann in goal, rescuing a point for Spurs in the 95th minute of the match.

https://www.premierleague.com/video/single/1658178?PLAYLIST=1581408

7. Kyle Walker – Spurs 2 – 1 Arsenal – 2 October 2011:

Walker scores his first goal for Spurs beating Wojciech Szczęsny in his bottom right corner after hitting a strike from 30 yards out securing all three points for Tottenham.

6. Jermain Defoe – Spurs 4 – 5 Arsenal – 13 November 2004:

A nine goal thriller at White Hart Lane, with Defoe scoring arguably the best goal of the game, skipping past two Arsenal defenders and then putting it as top right corner of the goal as you could possibly get leaving Lehmann stranded.

5. Dele Alli – Arsenal 0 – Spurs 2 – 19 December 2018:

With Spurs’s 1-0 up and in the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup and on the back foot, brilliance from Alli and Harry Kane sealed the victory for Tottenham. A beautiful ball over the top from Kane was met with a perfectly timed run from Alli who controlled it and then dinked it over Petr Cech sending the Spurs away fans crazy, with their first win at the Emirates since 2010.

4. Christian Ziege – Spurs 1 – 1 Arsenal – 15 December 2002:

A stunning 35 yard free-kick from the German flew into the top right corner leaving England keeper David Seaman with absolutely no chance.

3. David Bentley – Arsenal 4 – 4 Spurs – 29 October 2008:

The second strike from this memorable night at the Emirates in 2008 is a wonder goal from Bentley, who picks it up just beyond the halfway line controls it setting himself up beautifully or a volley after spotting Almunia off his line and from 40 years manages to lob the keeper giving Spurs the lead.

2. Harry Kane – Spurs 2 – 2 Arsenal – 5 March 2016:

A superb strike from the England captain takes second spot and arguably his best goal in a Spurs shirt, definitely his best against Arsenal. The deadly duo Alli and Kane link up again with Alli chasing the ball down in the corner a backheel fooling Per Mertesacker and Kane picks up the ball wide on the left around 20 yards out. He then proceeds to use Gabirel almost as a training mannequin bending the ball around him, with the ball going in off the post beating David Ospina, White Hart Lane going crazy.

1. Danny Rose – Spurs 2 – 1 Arsenal – 14 April 2010:

Top of my list is a goal from Danny Rose on his Spurs’ debut which was a special moment and a superb strike, Arsenal fail to clear the corner and the ball falls to the debutant around 25 yards out Rose hits it first time on the volley on his left foot, with too much power behind it for Almunia to get back into position and save it.

Which goal is your favourite let us know by voting in the poll down below:

Where did it all go wrong for Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs?

A lunchtime kick-off at 12:30 on the 23rd February 2019 at Turf Moor was a massive turning point during Mauricio Pochettino’s reign as Tottenham boss, where Spurs lost 2-1 to Burnley, dealing a huge blow to a potential title challenge.

A win would’ve seen Tottenham two points off Manchester City in 1st and, unhappy with decisions in the game, Pochettino confronted referee Mike Dean after the final whistle, an action which later resulted in a touchline ban for the Argentine.

Including the loss to the Clarets, Spurs went five games without a win in the league, ending any hopes of the title heading back to [New] White Hart Lane.

The season wasn’t all over, however, with the Lilywhites beating Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Ajax on the way to a Champions League final for the first time in their history; albeit with the help of VAR in Manchester and Lucas Moura in Amsterdam.

However, a Mo Salah penalty within the first two minutes of the final starting in Madrid set the precedence for the game where Spurs’ luck had finally run out, losing 2-0 to Liverpool in the final.

Surely after making it to the Champions League final Pochettino’s job was safe for the following season? Apparently not. A 1-1 draw to Sheffield United at home was Pochettino’s final game as Tottenham manager after a run of five games without a win in the league, leaving the club in 14th place.

So where exactly did it go wrong for Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham?

Defensive decline

Spurs had the best defensive record for both the 15/16 and 16/17 seasons in the Premier League, conceding an average of 0.84 a game over both seasons. 

However, the loss of both Danny Rose and Victor Wanyama through long-term injuries made it difficult for Spurs to cope defensively at the start of the 17/18 season. Both players then struggled to regain form which contributed to Spurs conceding more than a goal a game in 2018/19. In 2019/20, Spurs’ strong defence had all but crumbled.

The loss of Kyle Walker to Manchester City for £50m before the start of the 17/18 season was significant. Kieran Trippier was a dependable player, and was exceptional for England in their 2018 World Cup campaign, but he didn’t offer the same outlet as Walker and this left Pochettino short of pace at full back. Added to this was the ageing of the Belgian trio of Moussa Dembele, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

You could argue that none of these players were ever properly replaced in the transfer market, with squad players such as Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Trippier being selected by Pochettino but unable to steam the ever increasing amount of goals Spurs were conceding year on year. 

But despite these defensive shortcomings, you could argue the Argentine was never properly backed in the transfer market by Chairman Daniel Levy.

Lack of spending/poor signings

Prior to the 19/20 summer transfer window Mauricio Pochettino had a net spend of -£24.27m, with Spurs making no signings in the 19/20 season, the only club in Premier League history to do so.

Even when Pochettino made signings he was somewhat restricted due to money problems, leading to some questionable signings such as Moussa Sissoko for £30m, Vincent Janssen for £20m, both of whom failed to make any sort of impact on the team initially. Sissoko, it must be said, has gone on to become a crucial squad player with his consistency and tireless performances.

Many other signings flopped after Pochettino was unable to get his main targets because of the lack of investment from Levy. When Pochettino got his actual targets such as Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld and Heung-Min Son, it turned out to be worth the money.

After the Champions League run Pochettino finally had money to spend in the transfer window and bought his main targets of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon, all of whom were unavailable to the Argentine for large parts of his tenure due to injuries.

Which leaves the question would Pochettino still be Spurs’ manager had Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sessegnon been fit and firing?

Trophies

It’s hard to ignore the fact that no silverware was won during Pochettino’s tenure with Spurs always falling at the final hurdle, finishing second in the league twice and reaching two finals, both of which they lost 2-0, one to Chelsea in the League Cup in 2014 and the other to Liverpool in the Champions League in 2019.

Had Pochettino have won against Chelsea in his first season his time as manager may have been completely different with Spurs kicking on and winning more trophies, but the constant falling at the final hurdle may have unsettled players as well as frustrating the team and fans and most importantly Levy.

Change of stadium

Moving from White Hart Lane to Wembley definitely affected the team with a lack of atmosphere at Wembley as many fans couldn’t justify the journey. During their final season at the Lane, Spurs went unbeaten winning 17 out of their 19 games.

The following season, Spurs played at Wembley and dropped 14 points out of a possible 57 which is far from title winning form. Demolishing White Hart Lane was awful timing and Spurs may have mounted a serious title challenge had they managed to turn White Hart Lane into a fortress.

Mauricio Pochettino, will go down as one of Spurs’ greatest managers in history thanks to how he turned the club around and if he was backed in the transfer market, you’d think his trophy drought would have been a different story.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City – Match Preview: Team News, Predictions and Line-Ups

Tottenham face Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night, with victory putting Spurs top of the Premier League table, if only for 24 hours.

There are no new injury concerns after the international break for either side, however Spurs will be without Matt Doherty who tested positive for coronavirus while with the Republic of Ireland. Erik Lamela “is still in the last period of his recovery” and Harry Winks has a “little problem” putting both in major doubt ahead of Saturday’s fixture.

Steven Bergwijn is training at Hotspur Way and is said to be available for Saturday despite being dropped by the Netherlands national team after being deemed “not fit enough” following a groin issue. Japhet Tanganga is also back is training after being out with a back injury for nearly two months.

Manchester City are without Fernandinho who has ‘stomach problems’, meanwhile Raheem Sterling, who missed international duty with England, and Sergio Aguero have both returned to training for City and could possibly feature on Saturday. Reports suggest defenders Nathan Ake and Benjamin Mendy are also doubts.

Spurs fans would’ve been worried about the availability of Heung-Min Son earlier this week with 10 of South Korea’s playing and coaching staff testing positive for coronavirus, however Spurs fans will be happy to know that Son has returned two negative tests and “is fine to play”.

Both teams face a busy period with both teams having to play at least two games a week until after the new year due to European commitments as well as the EFL Cup quarter-finals. It is an especially difficult period for Spurs who have to face City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Leicester all within the next month and they’ll be hoping to kick off this period in the right way by beating City on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho will face Pep Guardiola for the 24th time in his management career on Saturday with Mourinho looking for his 7th win over the Spaniard, and Guardiola looking for his 12th win in what is always a fierce contest no matter the teams that they manage. In their time in England however it has been even, both managers winning three times and drawing once.

Mourinho and Guardiola both marked this week with personal milestones – Mourinho has now been Spurs’ manager for a full year, while Guardiola has renewed his contract until 2023.

Both teams have players rich in form following the international break with Ferran Torres scoring a hat-trick against Germany for Spain, whilst Phil Foden scored a brace for England against Iceland. Meanwhile Spurs had four players record a brace of assists during the break: Son, Lo Celso, Bale and Winks.

Spurs are yet to lose since the opening day defeat against Everton in the league and are looking to continue this run. City are unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions. 

Tottenham’s win over City in February at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium courtesy of a goal from debutant Steven Bergwijn was their first victory over Manchester City in their last six premier league fixtures.

Spurs and City have varying records in the league with both teams having the joint best defence in the league only conceding nine albeit Manchester City have played one less game, while Spurs are the 2nd highest scorers in the league with 19 goals, City only with 10.

The match will be refereed by Mike Dean who will be accompanied by Kevin Friend on VAR at Stockley Park.

Possible Spurs starting XI: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguillon, Højbjerg, Ndombele, Sissoko, Bale, Kane, Son

Possible Manchester City starting XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri, De Bruyne, Foden, Sterling, Torres, Jesus

Prediction: 1-1.

Where to watch? The game is live on Sky Sports Main Event on Saturday at 5:30 pm GMT.