Plan B works

They often say that if Plan A isn´t working then you must have a Plan B.

Last weekend Plan A worked fine, albeit against a poor QPR team.

Last night Plan B – or to put it more bluntly, the B team – worked just as well, giving us a perfect start to the season.

Four games and four wins, ten goals for, just one against.

But did any of that “B team” do enough to force their way into the thinking of the manager for this weekend´s big test?

Lloris is currently going to be the first name on the team sheet and he did nothing wrong last night, barely being called upon to make a save and only twice having to rush from his goal to sweep up.

The defence were, in the main, sound but had very little up against them. Kaboul and Chiriches were even able to come forward with more licence to roam than under previous managers, while the two full backs also looked lively going forward.

In central midfield it was good to see Sandro back, hassling, intercepting and tackling, interrupting the opposition´s possession and causing turnovers, while Dembele and Paulinho looked solid without really being that influential.

Out wide, neither Lennon nor Townsend did anything special, they worked hard but unlike Lamela and Chadli last Sunday there was no real movement, no swift interchange, nothing to get excited about. Too frequently they ran into the corners and opted for a throw or a corner instead of trying to get a cross or pass in. Too often they were dispossessed and didn´t do enough to get the ball back.

This was the big chance for all the attacking midfield players to shine, to show what they were capable of, to prove a point to Pochettino. They didn´t.

The HurriKane, as he seems to be called these days, worked hard, missed a penalty, got close on a couple of occasions and scored a decent goal to cap a fine all round performance.

Many have given the MOTM award to Harry but that should really go to Limassol´s replacement goalkeeper Romero as he made a number of fine saves, including the first penalty, which managed to keep the score within the bounds of decency, but for me the best Spurs player on the pitch was Naughton.

He was always looking to get forward – agreed he didn´t have to do much defending – and twice when he got into their area he got penalties, the first was quite blatant while the second was a little harsh – more ball to hand than deliberate. And at least he wasn´t giving them away.

So did anyone do enough to earn a call up for the weekend?

Lloris will be in goal – that is a certainty. Kaboul will probably keep his place in central defence as I do not expect our new signing Fazio to be included but apart from them I cannot see too many having done enough to warrant their inclusion.

Dier, Vertonghen and Rose will almost certainly return to defence, our offensive quartet of Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli and Adebayor will remain in situ so it only leaves the central holding midfielders of Capoue and Bentaleb to consider.

Capoue has shown that he is a tower of strength in the middle of the park and his displays so far warrant his retention but did Sandro do enough to start alongside him and replace Bentaleb?

Bentaleb is a very fine prospect but last season he was found wanting when it came to the really big games – the games against Liverpool and Citeh in particular – so for me I would prefer to see Sandro (the Beast) sitting alongside Capoue (the Tank) protecting our back four.

Liverpool have not, as yet, hit top form, losing away to Citeh last week and struggling to come to terms with the loss of their most influential player and the influx of new signings – including the recently arrived Balotelli.

Will their new bad boy get a start? I hope not as statistics show that whenever he has started his first game for a new club he is on the winning side. When he comes on as a substitute for his debut they lose.

Let him warm the bench for a while.