Tactical Nuke At The Lane

It’s clear for all Spurs fans to see that Mauricio Pochettino values work rate more than any other boss in the premier league. To some, this may come as a sigh of relief, the stressful thoughts of a lethargic Paulinho or an error prone Kaboul are long in the memory and surely won’t be troubling the minds of our fans as long as the Argentine is in charge. However, the lack of flair to be signed up and placed into the dressing room this summer may have a few fans on edge. And rightly so…

The pros and the cons of the transfer window so far result in what is an unbalanced squad. In some aspects we look strong, very strong, maybe strong enough to push for that all important fourth spot. Yet, in some areas, we look weak, ordinary, and quite simply below par.

Transfer business carried out by Pochettino and Levy so far (and maybe Baldini) has significantly improved the confidence of the fans regarding our defence. All three of our signings so far are set to bolster the back line. Wimmer, Trippier and Alderweireld all come with great pace and a solid share of premier league experience, bar the Austrian international. A mixture of the both will surely enable them all to fit straight in to Mauricio’s high pressing, high tempo and hopefully high quality game.

However, there are also quite a few faults in our transfer doings thus far. We haven’t signed an attacking player, an exciting player, someone who will get the Tottenham Hotspur faithful on their feet. Yes, we have Harry Kane and yes he scored thirty plus goals, but is one twenty one year old really the key to the Champions League? I think not, and I’m sure many spurs fans will see eye to eye with me. Mirallas, Iturbe, Sissoko and most recently Veretout are all just a few of the names that have been rumoured to be an item on Levy’s shopping list, but with two weeks to go until the trip to Old Trafford, does Mauricio Pochettino have something else in mind?

The lack of transfer activity by the Spurs board in recent weeks is exactly what brings me to my theory, Tottenham’s ‘tactical nuke’. When recognising that we now have five attacking full backs and a worrying lack of midfielders entering the lane, is a new and diverse formation on the cards at N17. A three at the back set up is what springs to mind. Toby, Eric and Jan at the back, Walker and Rose bombing up and down the flanks with less defensive duties. Nabil Bentaleb and Christian Eriksen pulling the strings… it sure is a dream to think about but would still require a dream partnership. Harry Kane and… Timo Werner, Javier Hernandez, Saido Berahino? That, perhaps, is a debate for another day.