I hope they fly straight after the game, sleep on the plane. They will have 2 full days to recover and be ready for Sunday. I assume we are on BT, so thank your lucky stars we are not playing 12:45 Saturday.
Lloris (c), Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Mason; Alli, Eriksen, Son; Kane Subs: Vorm, Wimmer, Carroll, Townsend, Onomah, Winks, Clinton
Looking at the lineup, the plan seems to be getting into a strong lead by half time (or, at the latest, the 60 minute mark) before bringing off Kane and Eriksen so the Monaco match is a dead rubber to rotate a few of the team. The issue is that this strategy is a gamble, as what happens if the score is 0-0 (or even we're leading 1-0) at that point, will we still bring off Kane and Eriksen early? At the very least, I was expecting Wimmer and N'Jie to start this one - I would've expected Bentaleb until he wasn't spotted and/or confirmed to travel, as he's the latest player to be the dreaded 90% match fit.
A surprising selection given the team in the Capital One Cup in a game we had to win to go through whereas a draw or a 1-0 loss in this one is not fatal by any means. The last quarter of the game on Sunday is going to be tough.
Lack of squad rotation cost us dearly in Harry's last season. I hope the same doesn't happen this year. It's strange because on the one hand we have a well-earned name for giving young players a chance to shine...but on the other hand why aren't players like Wimmer, Carroll, Winks and Clinton trusted to put in a shift against Qarabag??
The importance of Spurs being seen in Europe is perhaps much more important in marketing terms than success in the capital one cup. Plus referring to my earlier post the fact that they have flown there is likely to be a bigger factor than whether they actually play or not so I am not surprised by the selection with possible exception of Eriksen.
I think our current squad is younger and fitter than Harry's squad so more resilience to be expected perhaps!
Absolutely zero evidence so far that we'll have this wrapped up in time to rest a few more players. Alli not suited to playing further forward, he keeps getting in everyone's way.
