Spurs players formed England’s core in 2018, but now only Kane remains

With a week to go until the final squad announcement, Gareth Southgate has released a provisional Euro 2020 squad of 33 players which will be trimmed to 26. The current crop of talent at Southgate’s disposal is likely to excite England fans. However, with an abundance of attacking flair in the likes of Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling, the question begs as to who the man in the waistcoat will choose to play alongside England captain Harry Kane. Or alternatively, who he decides to drop in order to accommodate the more reticent talents of Kalvin Phillips and James Ward-Prowse.

Danny Rose and Harry Kane celebrate Eric Dier’s decisive penalty against Columbia.

Tottenham fans will have noticed the scarcity of players picked from their club, with Kane being the sole representative of the Lilywhites. This is unlikely to shock those who have followed the performances of other England hopefuls currently playing in N17. This couldn’t be more contrasting to the 2018 World Cup Squad in which Southgate named Danny Rose, Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier and Eric Dier alongside Kane; making Spurs the most represented club in the squad.

With La Liga champion Kieran Trippier making the current squad, the obvious stagnation in the performances of Dele, Dier and Rose compared to the improvements in rival players is particularly noteworthy.

Danny Rose

A player who made five appearances for England in the World Cup finals just two years ago, Rose’s recent decline has seen him exiled to train with youth teams at Hotspur Way. After failing to gain the trust of Jose Mourinho, the left-back has played just two Premier League 2 matches, as well as zero first-team appearances in over a year.

Rose in action for Tottenham Under 23s.

After scenes on Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing’ documentary showed Rose clashing with Mourinho concerning his lack of playing time, as well as wishfully asking Daniel Levy about interest from Italian giants AC Milan, it was clear that Rose would be phased out of the club.

Still only 30-years-old, Rose will no doubt attract a number of suitors at the lower end of the Premier League as his contract ends this summer. Having once been widely considered an elite European left-back, Rose’s fall off can be closely correlated with that of Spurs themselves.

Eric Dier

Dier has always given his all for Spurs.

Right-back, centre-back, central midfielder: Eric Dier has plied his trade in each position, whilst seemingly mastering none. Dier’s form in the latter stages of the Premier League campaign has left a lot to be desired. With countless calamitous errors and a lack of quality on the ball, it is a mystery how the 27-year-old has managed to cement himself into both Mourinho’s and Mason’s first choice teams.

Dier was a bit-part player at the 2018 World Cup, but did however provide one of the most memorable moments when he slotted the winning penalty in the Round of 16 versus Columbia. The man ended years of penalty shoot-out dread and now finds himself exiled from a Euro’s squad in just a two-year spell.

With Football.London reporting Spurs’ interest in numerous centre-back options this summer, Dier’s days in North London may well be coming to an abrupt end.

Dele Alli

In perhaps the most shocking decline of recent Premier League years, Dele is under threat of becoming a ‘streets won’t forget’ baller.

It is becoming increasingly easy to forget the player who won back-to-back Premier League Young Player of the Year awards in 2015/16 and 2016/17. The extravagance has is still apparent in Dele’s play, but poor ball retention and the tendency to let games drift him by seem to have become all too regular an occurrence.

Much like Rose, Dele’s relationship with previous boss Mourinho was somewhat fragmented. Is it time to cash in on the 25-year-old, or does he still hold an important future at Tottenham?

Will Dele be sold to make space for new attackers this summer?

Time to move on?

If Spurs are serious about being a Champions League level club that can challenge on all fronts, it is essential that the quality of the squad reflects these ambitions in the upcoming campaign. In my opinion, this would mean selling players who are no longer at an International level of quality, and clearly Winks, Dier and Rose fall into this category.

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.

Spurs intensify Meunier negotiations

Tottenham Hotspur have intensified their negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain’s  Thomas Meunier, according to the French newspaper, L’Équipe.

Meunier, 28, is available on a free this summer, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.

Spurs will be hoping that the Belgian international can solve their right back problem that has been an issue since Kieran Trippier’s form tailed off after the 2018 World Cup.

Trippier has since been sold, Kyle Walker-Peters loaned out and Serge Aurier has made a catalogue of high profile errors. Juan Foyth regularly plays at right back for Argentina but has made just four appearances for Spurs this season and Japhet Tanganga, while impressing at full back, is a natural centre half.

‘The Right-Back Dilemma’

This week, I join host Johnny Burrow, Ricky Sacks and Lee McQueen for the #SpursFansShow on Love Sport Radio.

The panel discusses Kieran Trippier’s transfer to Atletico Madrid and the quest to solve Spurs’ dilemma at right-back.

The lads also discuss the very latest transfer news and which includes both potential new signings and also those that could depart the club before the end of the transfer window, along with our love for Jan Vertonghen!

Listen again here: www.audioboom.com/posts/7320116-the-right-back-dilemma-love-sport-radio