Toby Alderweireld’s answer on the best player he played with may surprise neutrals, but it will certainly not come as a shock to Tottenham fans.
Alderweireld was one of the linchpins of the Tottenham side under Mauricio Pochettino, with the club establishing themselves as a top-four side and coming very close to winning the biggest trophies in the game.
Spurs have not been able to recreate the same level of success since, despite experimenting with several big-name managers and different kinds of projects.
Tottenham supporters will be hoping that Roberto De Zerbi is the man to take the club back to those heights, with the club showing this summer that they are ready to back the Italian.
Toby Alderweireld reveals underrated aspect of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side
Spurs stumbled on a fantastic squad under Pochettino despite not investing the kind of amounts that their rivals were, with young players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Heung-min Son, Christian Eriksen and Kyle Walker blossoming under the Argentine coach.
While Tottenham’s attack at the time was much talked about, Alderweireld pointed out that they were also an extremely physical side, who could match any team in the Premier League for strength.
When asked what made that Spurs side so good, the Belgian defender told talkSPORT: “I think we were scary, like the names you said. But then in front of us, we had Mousa Dembele, Victor Wanyama, Eric Dier. That was a proper team. We were physically so strong. Pochettino made us very, very fit. And all the guys had a good mentality. They worked hard. They didn’t complain.
“We did everything the manager asked us to do. And yeah, and that’s what you saw from the first second. We were pressing, we were fighting. We were physically strong. And of course, we had the quality as well. Think about Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembele, Christian Eriksen. Those are very, very good players.”
Alderweireld names compatriot as the best he has played with
Alderweireld has played with the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Vincent Kompany over the course of his career.
However, the 37-year-old had no hesitation in naming Mousa Dembele as being the best out of the lot by far, confessing that it was great to have a teammate whom he could give the ball to, knowing he would never lose it.
When asked who would be the best that he played with, Alderweireld responded: “It’s a name that everyone is saying. And everyone is always a little bit surprised. But the best player that I ever played with was Mousa Dembele. 100 per cent. “He was so good. He was really strong. If he had the ball, you couldn’t get it off of him. The only small thing he lacked was maybe shooting to the goal.
“But the other parts, defensively, everything, and how good the guy is. Yeah, he’s my top number one. When you play big away games, and there is pressure on you, for example, Chelsea away, City away. He’s the guy in midfield who asks for the ball, and you can play to him. Because some players, they play hide and seek.
“They ask for the ball, but not really asking for the ball. But he’s the guy who asks for the ball and says, give it to me, and I will do something, and I will help. “As a defender…especially when clubs put pressure on you, you know, ‘Oh, this is a guy who can play the ball to, and he will hold it for me’.”