My Spurs First XI

Article by Shaun Simon

Now that the anger and raw emotion from last weekends mauling seem to be simmering down, one of the hot topics at the moment is using players in their natural positions. It does appear to me that a few of our players are showing a slight bit of frustration with playing in roles which they are not entirely comfortable with. Since every man and his dog are having a stab at this months perfect eleven, I thought I’d weigh in with mine for a touch of fun.

Defensively I’d go Hugo Lloris in between the sticks, not much to elaborate on there. Right back I would go with Kyle Walker, solely because there’s no competition for his place which is doing him no favours in the grand scheme of things. In the centre I’d go for Younnes Kaboul. None of our defenders have been great this season, but I think the only way we're going to get him back to the Kaboul of two seasons ago is to keep playing him until he reaches full fitness, providing he doesn’t have any sort of crisis in form. The one thing he does give us is presence and he doesn’t suffer the same targeting from the opposition as Dawson does. Next to Kaboul I’d go Vlad Chiriches. I think he is now ready for a regular starting berth, he looks solid and can easily handle the biggest of games now. Left back I’d keep Jan Vertonghen, as unfortunately for him he is the best option we have. At present Naughton or Fryers would get torn apart by top class opposition or any rapid movement for that matter. It’s the start of December and I’m sure a real heart to heart with Jan would put him at ease about the current left back situation. I’m positive that if AVB assures him we’re making moves on buying competition or cover for Danny Rose, he’d know come January he would be back in the centre of defence where he belongs. Based on this point it would be criminal of Vertonghen not to sacrifice one more month for the sake of the team.

The 4-2-3-1 formation is so versatile that you can adapt it in so many ways. AVB likes to interchange it with a 4-3-3 system, but personally I’d be leaning more towards a 4-4-1-1. The wingers would be requested to show more responsibility in backing up their full backs then breaking from deep. The man in the hole would be working hard to pitch in with the midfielders defensively but become a second striker when in possession.

On the right hand side I’d have Aaron Lennon. I’d encourage him to use his pace to make more runs forward off the ball rather than being a ball carrying outlet, especially as he doesn’t tend to destroy left backs like he used to, playing with a quicker tempo we’d have him running onto balls instead of waiting for them. I’d have him on the right as an orthodox winger providing the much needed width, knowing I could trust him to track back and defend as it’s something I don’t see him getting much credit for. Next to him I’d have Sandro as the ball-winning beast. I’d have him do as he’s been doing but I’d have him a proper hard working partner next to him in Lewis Holtby. There would be a shared responsibility in doing the dirty work as Holtby doesn’t mind putting a shift in. That may reduce the card count that Sandro seems to be raking up as sometimes he’s overworked defensively as his recent partners haven’t been putting their foot in. Though Holtby hasn’t set the world alight yet, I believe the deep lying role is where he is most at home. He’d relish the challenge of setting the pace for the team with his often forward passing. He could become a mainstay in that position if we give him time to learn the position and he demonstrates the desire to learn and constantly improve. We’d become more dynamic in midfield with this mixture of enthusiasm and aggression. On the left, for the moment, I’d go with Andros Townsend. Young Andros isn’t mature or cute enough to be effective in that inverted role, especially now he’s a marked man. He is in that next phase of his development that all young wingers go through where the opposition know your threats and they try to nullify your moves He now has to work on a plan B and C to prevent himself from being too predictable. Stick him out on the left and his main threat would be his pace, also being left footed he’d be able to whip the crosses in much quicker. Allowing him to roam a few times per game he’d be able to cut in and shoot from central or right positions. We all know the boy can shoot, if only Lennon had that ability in his locker. The amount of shots that he attempts is only hurting his statistic count as his percentages will give the total opposite impression, taking six or seven shots from long range per game might get you a goal in three matches if you’re lucky, but still over three games that one goal scored in 21 shots would be giving him a 5 per cent scoring rate at best. As Bale did before him, perfecting his natural position is vital, then moving him around will at that point be giving him an extra string to his bow.

In behind the striker is the approach that would finally get the best out of Moussa Dembele. Between the other competitors for the role whilst Eriksen is injured, Sigurdsson doesn’t quite give you enough in terms making things happen. Holtby can only find space and pick passes from deeper so that will leave the striker isolated, hence why I’ve got him as a straight central midfielder. Lamela would have to play his way in, I can’t justify allowing his recent limp efforts in the hope that he’d catch fire. We are a big club in our own right and every shirt should be fought for to be worn with pride. What Dembele would offer given more of a free role would be to cause panic in the opposition defence with his direct running. He can’t pick a pass during slow built up play, but him moving at pace with runners who are trying to drive into space would allow him to lift his head up and slip people in on the break. It’s harder to find the killer pass when the pace is so slow and the opposition have had time to organise and fully prepare themselves for the coming attack. The type of panic he could create with Lennon and Townsend either side of him making pacey runs, either inside or out depending on the move, would give Roberto Soldado his much needed opportunities to ghost around the box on the defences blind sides and come alive. We should know how this works, we get caught out at pace often and see Dawson and Walker at times in total disarray because they’re not gifted the time to communicate. Soldado is a highly intelligent striker, more of a thinking mans predator and what he needs are chances to pit his wits against the opposition off-the-ball rather than on it. Also, on the break the physical assets of Dembele would be very useful as his magnificent close control and upper body strength would always allow him to hold things up waiting for support.

That team was for the present, given a fully fit squad Eriksen would occupy the number 10 position and go very advanced. Chadli is a tough one, on one hand he doesn’t look good at the moment but if, and key word being ‘if’, he does adapt he could be lethal. It’s just a matter of making that transition from a much weaker Dutch league to the unforgiving pace of our league. Paulinho is another one, the central midfield engine room doesn’t seem right for him until he fully adapts, but it would be interesting seeing how he operates as a number 10? Though I could never justify putting him before Eriksen or Dembele, it might give us the chance to see those late Lampardesque runs he is famed for in his homeland Brazil. He has got good feet, preferring to use his dribbling ability only when needed. Playing a fast paced attacking game with his making late runs could bulk up his assist count and have him make more attempts at goal. If that did work, Dembele or Lamela could easily be shifted into an inside right position and come in from the angle. The general approach being to pass, then look for space to give options to the man in possession. Avoid the ball dwelling, on the attack use to ball to force runs, play balls in behind for the pacey players to run onto. Keep switching things up.

It’s easy to be the boss from the comfort of my armchair but my overall belief is that giving the players more freedom of expression and letting the players do more of what comes naturally could have many benefits. As we are in a gelling transition, playing ones natural game will have the player more in tune with his responsibilities, also he’d be learning the strengths, weaknesses and ways in which his teammates want to receive the ball rather than wasting so much mental energy trying to make sure he is following such rigid instructions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting a free-for-all but with the necessary balance we’d be much more dangerous.

On a final note, let’s hope the game against Manchester United goes well. It would be great if we could at least see a burning desire within the players to put things right. Let’s create a turning point for the rest of the season. COYS.

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