Rotating 1/4 or 1/3 of the starters every game, regardless of who we play, seems like a good idea to me. We’ll have to hope Pochettino is reading your posts. Also, I hope we only play Lamela in the center or on the left in the future. We know he isn’t the answer on the right, and have a number of players who might be, including Son, Alli, Townsend and Pritchard.
I think I'd go with: Vorm; Trippier, Fazio, Wimmer, Davies; Alli, Carroll; Townsend, Lamela, Pritchard; Kane. Try to get Kane scoring again and replace him either at half-time or early in the second half with Son and/or N'Jie. Might be an idea to see if they can form an attacking partnership, as our options there appear to be very limited. A side that young would probably put a fair amount of pressure on Fazio, as he's easily the most senior outfield player selected. It would be something of a risk, especially as a lot of the team won't have played much football together or at all recently. I feel that we need to get chunks of our squad up to speed for the coming fixtures, though.
Largely boring, low intensity training session clip: The usual suspects, including everyone from our last game apart from Mason, as far as I could see. Good to see Eriksen, N'Jie and Onomah included, plus those that have been mentioned in various selections above. Fazio, Wimmer, Trippier, Pritchard and Winks all there. Rose clearly still having an issue with his thigh. No sign of Dembele.
Erikson was close last week and maybe the week before. I have no trust in clubs’ injury reports. American sports are much better about giving fans the facts about injuries because they both penalize teams for not revealing the extent of injuries, and have disabled lists with time frames. You put someone on the 15 day or 90 disabled list so you can bring another player into the squad. Football clubs are honest or not depending on their strategy and what they ate for breakfast.
A difficult one this, as we must make sure we don't risk certain players for the premier league and the match against arsenal, IMO. Trippier and Wimmer need a game, as does Vorm. I don't think Chadli has been great for us so far, so I'd like to see him played in this one, with someone else getting a chance on Sunday. Vorm Trippier Wimmer Toby Davies Carroll Alli Pritchard Chadli Lamela Son That may seem a bit weak/inexperienced, but with injuries and lack of striking options, we have to be careful. The Europa is perfect for the fringe players and really gives them a chance to impress, so I say we give them the minutes and put our faith in them. Also think Townsend should be given more game time on Sunday and would rather save him for that one. He looked lively last weekend. I'd also like to see more of son at the weekend too, so perhaps taking him off not too late in the game would be a good idea. If N'jie is unavailable, I suppose it means Kane might have to play as our options are short, but I really hope if he plays, it's not for long.
I would go for Vorm Trippier Fazio Wimmer Davies Carroll Winks Lamela Pritchard Chadli N'Jie Big guns on the bench and primed to go in case, hopefully N'jie is ready to start. I could see Kane getting started regardless to be fair, and looking a bit worse for wear if he plays too much come the weekend. (Edit: completely forgot Onomah, who will surely feature at some point) With a hopeful lineup at the weekend of Lloris Walker Toby Jan Rose Dier Alli Townsend Eriksen Son Kane Unless the prognosis for Mason is good, in which case he starts the PL game instead of Alli, who gets a start in the EL instead of Chadli with Pritchard moving out to the left.
Give trippier and wimmer a game, the rest full strength. These are no mugs and if we start changing the whole team then I feel like they might show us up, let's get the points in the bag early then rest players if needed later on once we have qualified.
Three players I see definitely shouldn't start: Lloris, Dier and Kane. I understand that it's good to play Kane and maybe get him a goal or two but really we need to wrap him in cotton wool for now. Have him start on the bench so he's there if we need to push for a goal. I'd also go for whatever back four will not be starting against Palace: Trippier, Fazio, Wimmer, Rose. I prefer Rose to Davies so far but it'd be good to give him game time since he's not been playing. If he has a blinder he can start Sunday. Since we'll be missing our best attackers we'll need the extra attacking pace of Rose. Where does Wimmer normally play - to the left or right? Anyway - now we have a settled CB pairing I would also like to start neither Verts or Toby. Reckon Carroll and Ali is a good call for CM. Then I'd want to give Pritchard a run out with Lamela and Townsend. In a way it would be an audition for all three of them to grab a spot in the league team. Townsend right, Lamela central and Pritchard left? Does Pritchard play there? Seem to remember him popping up there in all those Brentford goal and assist videos I watched last season. I can do without Chadli starting Sunday so maybe it would be a good sign if he starts, though. In place of Pritchard but with Pritchard definitely being someone I'd want to introduce as the game wears on. In a way I think it can be a confidence boost for a youngster to come on against tired legs and after having had a chance to assess the game so long as they get a good half hour at least. Lamela I want to see for a whole game though. Still playing "Spot the Talent" with him and desperately want to be proven wrong about him. Up front Son. Well he's a forward, isn't he? I know they're they're the league champions in Azerbaijan and only just lost to Celtic and beat Young Boys but come on...read what I just wrote again: Champions of Azerbaijan...lost to Celtic...beat Young Boys. It's not seriously scary stuff. If ever there was any truth to this being a squad sport this *has* to be a game to play your second string. I never like the idea of changing the whole team but I think there are just a number of positions (GK, CB, CM, ST) where we cannot afford injuries to the first choicers. And lots of players like Trippier, Townsend, Carroll, Rose who need a game.
Also, they've travelled a fair distance. We _should_ be rolling these guys over fairly easily, at home. Away will be tougher because a) its away and b) its so damn far
"If ever there was any truth to this being a squad sport this *has* to be a game to play your second string. I never like the idea of changing the whole team but I think there are just a number of positions (GK, CB, CM, ST) where we cannot afford injuries to the first choicers. And lots of players like Trippier, Townsend, Carroll, Rose who need a game." Indeed. Management means exactly that : choosing the weakest possible teams strong enough to overcome any given opposition, while ensuring the entire squad have sufficient competitive game time in their legs to be ready to step up on demand whatever the task/reason. For the past two seasons, Spurs had the fullest fixture count possible for any PL club in the period up to the new year. Therefore the manager must be capable of doing the above at the minimum.
Its not quite that easy though. You have to balance resting players, getting non-first-teamers up to speed so they are ready to go and getting the first-team up to speed and on form in the early part of the season. We have a lot of games, which means we have less time at the training ground for Poch to work with the squad. To an extent these matches have to act as a sort of training. Kane perfectly sums this up. Do we play him hoping he gets goals (form) or do we rest him because he's important despite it being early in the season? Or do we rest him in order to help get Son up to speed.
I’m glad I don’t have to pick teams to play weaker teams in congested fixture lists. Play a weak team and get the win, and you get, at best, tepid applause. Play a strong team and get the win and people are furious you played such a strong team. Play a weak team and get the loss and everyone is bursting a vein. Play a strong team and get the loss and it proves you’re completely incompetent and ought to be sacked. Having said that: I’d play an entire second team, since in this case I’m not convinced a youth team which has experience playing together is any weaker than quite a number of other possibilities.
"Its not quite that easy though. ..." Of course not. But it is a problem Spurs have to address, given the need to play so many fixtures and still be strong enough to hold it together for the final third of the PL season (a persistent weakness since Spurs first got back into UEFA land) . Therefore I expect the on/off pitch playing personnel to be investigating all useful methods to try and deal with the above.
The key point here is that it’s not even remotely clear who our best attacking midfielders are. Rotating them should both help to clear that up while providing everyone with enough rest. Our backup defenders also have to play some time, and there will never be a better game than Qarabag at home.
"The key point here is that it’s not even remotely clear who our best attacking midfielders are. ..." The Europa generally provides the opportunity to discern this. As does League Cup games against lower league opposition. I expect the manager to try and find the line between the Arry 2011 take the p*ss and the AVB 2012 'fear of losing = field too strong' a side.
It's less working out who the best is, given we already know that Eriksen is one of them, it's about getting the right mix. Case in point, I don't think Chadli and Lamela should be in the same starting lineup: both of them prefer to cut inside from the wing, so if the opposition pack the middle that nerfs the pair of them - because if a player coming inside from the right gets crowded off the ball time and time again, what's the advantage of a different player coming inside from the left?
