Based on Alli's itinerary during his break, private jet for him a friends to USA, Ibiza etc., I think he will struggle to be fit. Bench perhaps. I'm not knocking it, I think the break will have done him the world of good, he was looking stale at the end of last season and in the world cup as well.
If Pochettino feels brave enough to try and win the first two PL + Watford games using as few of the WC SF players as possible, so be it. The Man Utd game is obviously the first one where we do need the strongest possible starting XI available.
He did post a pic just before returning to pre-season of him seemingly doing cardio work while wearing one of the elevation performance masks. Although I can't be certain, I'd like to think Poch would've asked the lads to have tried remaining in a good physical condition while on holiday, maybe even setting them certain fitness regimes? I'd also like to think that while players themselves will have wanted to be ready for the first game of the season and thus done all they could to remain in good shape whilst also enjoying a well deserved break. Time will tell though. I don't expect to see every WC player in the side but I think a few should be able to feature.
Looking at his girlfriend Ruby Mae I'd like to bet that he did quite a few press-ups as well, however, all of the travelling and night clubbing will have taken its toll.
please log in to view this image He still looks like he's going to give that silly wave to the camera!
Even without the travel and the night clubbing it's going to take him longer than a week to get over spending 3 weeks with her
A jacket that's too small and jeans with holes in What does fashion today tell us? Apart from the clothes they look like a pair.
Thanks to the heatwave, I think I managed seven weeks with sod all sleep and I'm perfectly well-adjusted, as is the Venusian gerbil who sits on my shoulder and teaches me German...
I'm in Africa, 2350 m up a mountain, a few degrees from the equator, no heatwave here. I've got the bloody heating on. However, the heard of cockroaches that share my room drive me fekking insane. I spend at least 3 hours a night killing the fekkers.
Hopefully the WC players are on the bench at the very least. Kyle Walker and Stones turned up for City and United had Rashford playing and a few WC players on bench. Our lads should be ready too...these 3 points are as important as those in the business end of the season
Every 3 points are important, without the first 3 the business end of the season could be of little interest.
Our WC players played well into July and although probably tired quite possibly have retained a semblance of fitness. After a bit of R@R the only thing they really need is some real match time to get the sharpness back. I expect the lineup will look something like : Hugo, KWP or Aurier ,Dave, Jan, Davies ,Dier, Sissoko ,Eriksen ,Son, Moura & Kane with Amos Toby Tripps Llorente Vorm among the subs
Not for Spurs : <BBC> Mauricio Pochettino's side have earned 40 points so far in 2018, second only to Manchester City's 41 </BBC> Spurs have matched/bettered the points taken by the eventual champions, over the second half of the season, for the past two seasons. The problem is that the gap between them and Spurs has been woefully large by the END of the FIRST half of the season. Therefore better performances overall are required over the first 15 games IMHO.
For the last couple of seasons, slow starts have been a real problem. Lots of draws in the first dozen games or so and generally sluggish. I see the same thing happening again this season to be honest, especially after the World Cup. At least many other clubs could well be in the same boat.
