Pochettino selection dilemma
Mauricio Pochettino has a bit of a selection dilemma tonight in what is now a must win game for Tottenham if we are not to make life difficult for ourselves.
We have played 2 games and only scored 1 goal, we haven't won thanks to a piece of ineptitude and sit third in the group with a tough away tie to finish in Turkey. We have to finish the group off before then. That means winning our next three games, the home and away fixtures against tonight's opponents Asteras Tripoli from Greece and the home tie with Partizan Belgrade.
Asteras Tripoli beat Partizan and drew away to Besiktas so surprisingly sit top of the group. What does Mauricio Pochettino do then, does he trust the misfiring second eleven, who sometimes look like strangers or does he sprinkle a few first team players in.
Hugo Lloris is likely to start in goal, he rescued us against Besiktas and our defending often means we need the best behind the team in goal. Tough on Michel Vorm but this is a must win tie.
Eric Dier is having to play every game at the moment thanks to injuries but we can not afford him to get injured with Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton both out. There is no other back-up so there has to be a case of asking Vlad Chiriches to play right-back. Against Besiktas however, Asteras Tripoli attacked mostly down the left side so a dependable right-back is needed. Much as every fan doesn't want to see Chiriches anywhere near the centre of our defence it is unlikely he will be deployed at right-back unfortunately. Eric Dier is likely to get the nod.
Federico Fazio is banned in the Premier League after the referee on Saturday gave Manchester City all the help he could. One of the two centre-backs will therefore be the summer signing from UEFA Europa League holders Sevilla. The other presumably is going to be Vlad Chiriches, although I'd play Vertonghen and move Chiriches to right-back myself.
Left-back picks itself, Ben Davies will continue to get used to life at Tottenham, he needs to start upping his game to become a realistic challenger to Danny Rose as at the moment he is a long way behind him.
With Nabil Bentaleb out injured, the two central defensive midfielder will presumably be Benjamin Stambouli and Mousa Dembele. Paulinho is so out of touch and this game so important having two centrally you can rely on is essential, the Frenchman and the Belgian provide that and are thus likely to get the nod.
The three in front of them is, as ever, the concern as this is where our creativity comes from. Aaron Lennon, Andros Townsend, Harry Kane and Paulinho have thus far been vying for three places with Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela on the bench if needed. That policy may well be the way to go although obviously there is an argument for playing both to win the game and then taking them off later.
It depends how much faith he has in his second team. Paulinho has been tried as a defensive midfielder, as an attacking central midfielder and as a wide attacking midfielder in this seasons UEFA Europa League and none has seen a half decent performance. Can he be trusted to put in a shift and if so where do you pick him?
It all revolves around who you put up front as the lone striker. Do you play Roberto Soldado or Emmanuel Adebayor, in which case Harry Kane would play the central attacking role or do you pick Kane as your lone striker in which case Paulinho would play as the central man behind him.
I'd be picking Emmanuel Adebayor up front with Harry Kane behind, meaning Townsend and Lennon play the wider roles with Paulinho on the bench. I'd probably side with:
We have played 2 games and only scored 1 goal, we haven't won thanks to a piece of ineptitude and sit third in the group with a tough away tie to finish in Turkey. We have to finish the group off before then. That means winning our next three games, the home and away fixtures against tonight's opponents Asteras Tripoli from Greece and the home tie with Partizan Belgrade.
Asteras Tripoli beat Partizan and drew away to Besiktas so surprisingly sit top of the group. What does Mauricio Pochettino do then, does he trust the misfiring second eleven, who sometimes look like strangers or does he sprinkle a few first team players in.
Hugo Lloris is likely to start in goal, he rescued us against Besiktas and our defending often means we need the best behind the team in goal. Tough on Michel Vorm but this is a must win tie.
Eric Dier is having to play every game at the moment thanks to injuries but we can not afford him to get injured with Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton both out. There is no other back-up so there has to be a case of asking Vlad Chiriches to play right-back. Against Besiktas however, Asteras Tripoli attacked mostly down the left side so a dependable right-back is needed. Much as every fan doesn't want to see Chiriches anywhere near the centre of our defence it is unlikely he will be deployed at right-back unfortunately. Eric Dier is likely to get the nod.
Federico Fazio is banned in the Premier League after the referee on Saturday gave Manchester City all the help he could. One of the two centre-backs will therefore be the summer signing from UEFA Europa League holders Sevilla. The other presumably is going to be Vlad Chiriches, although I'd play Vertonghen and move Chiriches to right-back myself.
Left-back picks itself, Ben Davies will continue to get used to life at Tottenham, he needs to start upping his game to become a realistic challenger to Danny Rose as at the moment he is a long way behind him.
With Nabil Bentaleb out injured, the two central defensive midfielder will presumably be Benjamin Stambouli and Mousa Dembele. Paulinho is so out of touch and this game so important having two centrally you can rely on is essential, the Frenchman and the Belgian provide that and are thus likely to get the nod.
The three in front of them is, as ever, the concern as this is where our creativity comes from. Aaron Lennon, Andros Townsend, Harry Kane and Paulinho have thus far been vying for three places with Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela on the bench if needed. That policy may well be the way to go although obviously there is an argument for playing both to win the game and then taking them off later.
It depends how much faith he has in his second team. Paulinho has been tried as a defensive midfielder, as an attacking central midfielder and as a wide attacking midfielder in this seasons UEFA Europa League and none has seen a half decent performance. Can he be trusted to put in a shift and if so where do you pick him?
It all revolves around who you put up front as the lone striker. Do you play Roberto Soldado or Emmanuel Adebayor, in which case Harry Kane would play the central attacking role or do you pick Kane as your lone striker in which case Paulinho would play as the central man behind him.
I'd be picking Emmanuel Adebayor up front with Harry Kane behind, meaning Townsend and Lennon play the wider roles with Paulinho on the bench. I'd probably side with:
Hugo Lloris
Vlad Chiriches Federicio Fazio Jan Vertonghen Ben Davies
Benjamin Stambouli Mousa Dembele
Andros Townsend Harry Kane Aaron Lennon
Emmanuel Adebayor
I think Mauricio Pochettino may side with:
Hugo Lloris
Eric Dier Federicio Fazio Vlad Chiriches Ben Davies
Benjamin Stambouli Mousa Dembele
Andros Townsend Paulinho Aaron Lennon
Harry Kane
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