When Spurs failed to sign a striker in January fans were split as to whether it was fair game to complain, or whether Mauricio Pochettino and the club had earned to right to be trusted.
With the team currently doing so well Pochettino and his staff surely deserve the benefit of the doubt, but if we are to trust in them, they must start to show trust to the squad as a whole.
When pressed about the lack of alternatives to Harry Kane up front, Pochettino has stressed that he is comfortable with the ability of Nacer Chadli and Heung-Min Son to play in the position. Yet despite these reassurances, Chadli and Son have scarcely been picked as the lone striker.
Kane is one of a few players that Pochettino has rarely rotated. Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier and Christian Eriksen have also been tasked with playing in most games, with Dier leading the way this season with 32 appearances.
These players form the spine of the team and they must be rotated in the coming weeks. Pochettino has selected strong sides in the cup this season – especially in Europe – but now is the time to have faith if he wants to avoid the burnout of his best players.
Son has occasionally started in place of Kane and it would make sense if he did so again in one of the upcoming cup matches. The home match against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup seems to be the ideal opportunity.
In defence it may be trickier to rotate due to the injury of Jan Vertonghen. When Alderweireld is rested Dier has been required to step back into defence. Assuming he gives both Alderweired and Dier a one-match break, this may mean that the team will play two games without Dier in midfield.
Considering that Nabil Bentaleb was such an important player for Pochettino last season, he’s been curiously overlooked during this campaign. Pochettino doesn’t seem to really trust anyone but Dier in the shielding role, but with the England midfielder close to earning a two-match suspension, it’s vital that there are alternatives.
There is quality throughout this squad and now is the time for them to shine. There are a lot of talented players who are still fresh, raring to go and able to make the difference as Tottenham compete on three fronts.
my team would be as follows.
Vorm
Trippier, Wimmer, Ald, Davies
Bentaleb, Mason,
Onomah, alli (or lamela), chadli
Son
Those players should get a good result this Thursday. If not tomorrow, than the team sheet should represent something like that on Sunday.
spot on mate
What a weird title. Of course Poch trusts his squad. If he didn’t, he would have brought in a slew of players in January. It’s because he trusts his squad that he didn’t.
Alex, I see the point being made in this article. Poch has continuously said he doesn’t need another striker as he trusts the squad, yet starts Kane in the FA cup against colchester. That’s not proving to us he trusts son or chadli as striker. I think this is pointed at maybe we need to see some rotation to fully believe his words. Dier, eriksen and Kane could do with starting on the bench. And mason, bentaleb and chadli could do with game time! The fact we didn’t bring in someone in January could be due to a plethora of issues, not just because poch didn’t want to. Saying that, in poch we trust!
Yall do understand that be taken does these fancy flicks and Switches when he shouldn’t but just pass backwards. He does stuff that makes my heart not trust him fully. I think poch feels that as well. Dier straight forward.