please log in to view this image Saturday 10th August 5.30pm Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Our transfer business is out of the way, our stadium is pretty much finished and the football is back. A new campaign kicks off with a fixture that's been missing for a few years, as we welcome back Villa. It's unusual for us to start a season at home, so it'll be interesting to see what the atmosphere is like. The evening kick-off may also affect this, as may the presence of our new signings. Will we get off the mark with a bang or can the newly promoted club give us an early setback? Our visitors return to the Premier League after a three season absence, having been promoted via the play-offs. Steve Bruce's failure in the previous campaign to match that achievement caused issues and cost him his job. Dean Smith had a rocky start as his replacement, until a 10 win run in March launched them up the table. Play-off wins against fellow Midlands sides West Brom and Derby completed the turnaround and got them up. Here are the highlights of their final win: The summer was a busy one for them, as they needed to replace a substantial part of their squad. Their reliance on old heads and talented loanees, including top scorer Tammy Abraham, came at a cost. 19 players were sold or released for virtually nothing, while 16 came in for a total of around £138m. A number of those were on loan for the last campaign and were given permanent contracts. Comparisons have been made to Fulham and they'll be eager to avoid a similar fate. This is Dean Smith's first season in the top-flight and he'll be looking to make an impact. His time at Walsall and Brentford didn't lead to much success, but he built a reputation for playing good football. Villa's style of play was also vastly improved in the last campaign, as he took over from the dour Bruce. I don't think that this will change, so any successes will probably have to be hard earned. It's tough for newly promoted to compete, but doing so while entertaining is incredibly difficult. There were no head-to-head matches in the previous campaign, so have some goals from older ones, instead: Son and Foyth are suspended for this one and the Argentinian defender is also injured. Alli, Davies and Sessegnon join him on the treatment table, while Dier, Aurier and Wanyama are all doubts. Chester misses out for the visitors and Luiz probably isn't fit enough to start. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies; Sissoko, Eriksen, Dele; Lamela, Lucas, Llorente. Subs: Gazzaniga, Aurier, Trippier, Wanyama, Skipp, Marsh, Janssen. Villa: Steer; Elmohamady, Tuanzebe, Mings, Taylor; McGinn, Hourihane, Grealish; Adomah, Abraham, El Ghazi. Subs: Kalinic, Hause, Whelan, Jedinak, Lansbury, Green, Kodjia. Referee: Chris Kavanagh. TV: Sky Sports. How would you like to see us line up for the opening fixture? Who needs to start, who should we bench and which system should we use? Would you bring in any of the new players or go with what we know?
We’re back baby! Boooom. Hugo KWP, Dave, Jan, Rose Tanguuuuuuy, Sissoko Lamela, Eriksen, Lucas Kane Hopefully see Sess and GLC feature even though we know Poch usually has like a 3 month waiting list for new signings.
By his own admission, Tanguy is still a month away from getting himself up to Poch Pace fitness levels. I don't think we'll see any new faces in the starting XI. It's a bit upsetting that we have so many players unavailable - it's like last season just picked up where it left off. Same team as yours with your favourite player Winksy instead of Tanguy. The bench might look a bit peculiar, something along the lines of: Gazza, Dave, Georgiou, N'Dombele, Skipp, Lo Celso, Parrott.
Hugo KWP Toby Jan Rose Winks Sissoko Lamela Eriksen Lucas Kane This is what I think we’ll start with, though I imagine we’ll see Tanguy at some point. We might have to wait a week or so to get introduced to GLC. For Sess it depends on where we intend on playing him. What I want eventually is below, because it’s ****ing tasty: Gazza KWP Toby Jan Rose NDombele Winks GLC Moura Kane Son
Knew you’d enjoy that one - to be fair I would question Winks in there too because you’d want more solidity. But Vic is never fit and I’m not sure about Dier these days. Next summer we need to go after a DM, we’ve got some really exciting options going forwards now.
Not necessarily, considering Amos' loan to QPSpurs coupled with Skipp presumably getting more opportunities this season means we might be covered in that position while also helping the CG quota at the same time
If Eriksen stays then I’d like to see a ‘total football’ midfield three of him, Tanguy and GLC. Lacks any true grit/ anchor but it’s one you’d fancy to dominate possession against almost any side apart from City. I felt last season that despite Sissoko having a blinder, our central midfield wasn’t dominating games like we did back with Mousa-Dier/ Vic and that’s why our defence looked worse than what it actually is as they had to deal with too much in the end. If going forward we can have a midfield three that opposition are **** scared of, I’d love to see how it could pan out. In some of the bigger games against elite opposition it’d be wise to stick a Dier/ Sissoko in there but in 80% of games I do wonder if an outright DM is a necessity if you’re a side that controls the middle of the park.
I think there’s a case for a DM in all the games, particularly as although Dier isn’t exactly Pirlo, he’s got a bit more about him than just being a water carrier. Particularly if you’re pushing the FBs on then it’s probably wise to have someone like Dier to help screen against breakaways, especially as Jan and Toby get quite advanced at times as well.
You are spot on about our midfield last season, and I do hope that once Eric is fit he can regain the form that made him a mainstain of both our side and the England team. Good on paper as the GLC, CE, TD Midfield looks I do think that we will always need a player who can sit in and help protect the back 4 if we get caught. City are still a better team when Fernandinho plays than when he doesn't.
Yeah you’re probably right and if Dier can get back to his old form then it makes a lot of sense for him to slot in there but whilst no one seems capable of actually protecting the back four for a while, I wouldn’t be against experimenting.
It will actually be interesting to see just what Poch’s first XI will be once (or if!) everyone’s fit and settled. Tanguy and GLC won’t have joined for bench roles, if Eriksen stays he’s nailed on to start, an in form Alli is unplayable, the Dier of old would expect to be in the XI and after Sissoko’s season last year it’s hard to imagine him being dropped, whilst Son and Lucas are both high class wing forwards. Eight players to squeeze into an expected five spots between the defence and Harry. Of course there’s plenty of rotation to be done but top players want to be in the XI on a regular basis. Nice headache for Poch to have should we have a full house.
I think we'll have to score so many goals to be in the title race we need to do something like that, and should play 433.
I'm hoping Amos has a great season at QPR. They're already raving about him. Long term successor to Wanyama and means we won't have to rely on Dier who, as is well documented, I rate less than DH rates Winks.
