It’s been a crowded midfield at White Hart Lane for a number of years now and with so many players battling for five starting slots at most, it is starting to seem likely that someone will be allowed to leave the club at the end of the month.
However, none of us would have imagined that Nabil Bentaleb would emerge to become virtually un-droppable in the run in to the end of the campaign but that leaves a real selection issue for Tim Sherwood when Sandro and Paulinho return to full fitness.
Meanwhile, Christian Eriksen’s displays in recent games surely make him an automatic choice while Sherwood has plenty of options on the right flank where Aaron Lennon is the current incumbent. Andros Townsend and Erik Lamela can both push Lennon when they regain full fitness.
So the question is in the centre of the park and what happens when the two Brazilians become available again? Sandro has been back to his immense best and could comfortably take Bentaleb’s position while Paulinho has added a goal scoring threat behind the striker this season.
We don’t know how highly the coach rates Sandro in particular but one solution is to switch Bentaleb, who is naturally left footed, over to Dembele’s position. From there, Sandro, Paulinho, Lennon and Eriksen could complete a five man midfield.
One thing that does seem clear is that Tim Sherwood is reluctant to rotate to AVB’s extent but when his midfield is fit, which way will he go?
i would line up 433 when everyone is fit like this
Lloris,walker,chiriches vertonghen rose sandro dembele paulinho lamela adebayor eriksen.subs friedel soldado chadli lennon holtby capoue kaboul.
just change chadli for bentaleb,but buy an experienced left back .
Great Headache to have …….top top players coming back and soon to be available for Tim Sherwood , fingers crossed to a strong end to the season in the league and europa league.
Hopefully nicking 4 spot in the league would be nice and Two V’s up at the Mail and evening standard for dowing this great club ………………..UP THE SPURS 3 POINT AGIANST THE MAN SHITTY NEXT WEDNESDAY !!!
Sharewood will use attaking 4-2-3-1 & 4-4-2 after january LLORIS WALKER CHIRICHES VERTOGHEN RICARDO RODRIGUAZ – STROOTMAN PAULINHO – ERIKSON (GIVOINCO) – BERNARD (TOWNSED) – ADABAYER(BENTEKE)- DI MARIA
OMG, you should really lower your mind bending drug dosage. I didn’t think you could get any worse!!!!!
Who woke him up!!
Lmao funny funny!!
Sandro and the great Paulhinio must start when fit IMO, and so must Erickson. Not that fussed about Djembele and Bentalb been in the starting 11 when the above are fit but my oh my what a big strong squad we will have. Rub me down with a wet lettuce HHXX
We’ve got so many CM options which is partly the reason AVB stuck to his 433 formation. It’s great for controlling games but not very adventurous and obviously didn’t lead us to score often or even create very much.
I’m sure TS would love to stay 442 but he’s realised Soldado isn’t playing well enough to start so he’ll stick with 4411 with Eriksen behind Ade. Not convinced by Chadli on the left but probably more of a TS player than Lamela. Would like to see Townsend on the left against City with Lennon on the right, might as well have a go at them. Not sure if Sandro & Paulinho are fit enough to start, most likely will be Dembele and Bentaleb though i think Sandro & Paulinho will be the first choice pairing going forward
Why not 3-4-2-1? Dawson-Vertongen-Chirches/Kaboul; Lennon-Sandro-Dembele/Bentaleb-Townsend; Eriksen-Paulinho; Adebayor
Injuries are part and parcel of football, so he’ll rarely get these kind of choices. The point of Spurs’s large squad is to ensure there is cover. Also, people forget that players like Paulinho, Townsend, Lamela, Chadli, Sigg can play different positions during matches. So it’ll always be about who’s fit and the opposition. It is also vital to have options on the bench who can change matches. There is no one, single ‘first team’. That disappeared from the Prem in about 1994
Spot on mildew !! , Man City & Chelsea have big squads as well there no issue they trying win everthing out there …………..we need to look beyond just the 1st eleven players on the pitch we must have quality players that can come in to the team to replace players that have either loss form or are injured.
We need to compete with the other rivals period Tottenham are a big club and need silverware.
Although Bentaleb has made a great start Paulinho needs to be back in there against City with Dembele and Eriksen. I’d play a front three of Ade, Lamela and Townsend/Lennon. Soldado, Bentaleb, Chadli and Siggi all very good bench options.
Is Lamela fit and available?