Pre-season chances and lack of depth mean promising opportunities for centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Article by Steven Benton @stevnbentn
The 18-year-old from Southend in Essex could see his current playing time as building for an immediate future. He should be pleased that Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino, played him the full 90 minutes against Juventus and Atletico Madrid. Carter-Vickers was the only Spurs player to not be subbed at all during the tournament in Melbourne. The team now travel to Oslo, Norway to take on Inter Milan in their final pre-season tune-up on Friday. Toby Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer will see their first minutes on the pitch since they represented their respective nations in the Euros. Being only a friendly, CCV will likely be called upon when ready as a substitute. With Jan Vertonghen still out with injury, Federico Fazio off to Roma on loan, and with Pochettino’s decision to not look for a new centre-back in the transfer window, CCV doesn’t have to brush this off as playing time so the first-team can rest. He could perhaps see it as an opportunity to move into Pochettino’s first team of centre-backs.
With Toby Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer being the only two first-team centre-backs healthy at the moment, Cameron Carter-Vickers could find himself on the first team bench come the start of the Premier League season on 13, August. Now, I know Mauricio Pochettino will not risk an 18-year-old defender against Everton’s attacking front, but what if Vertonghen is still declared unfit for the trip to Goodison Park? If Pochettino wants to rest the Belgian to ensure he’ll be fit for the rest of the season, then we might see Carter-Vickers make the trip to Merseyside. It would be Cameron’s debut on the first team bench in a Premier League fixture. If that’s the case, Alderweireld and Wimmer will no doubt play the full 90 minutes in the PL opener. CCV has seen the first team bench four separate times when he trained with the squad in preparation for matches in the Europa League from December 2015-March 2016.
Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld started almost 30 games together in the Premier League last season. The two centre-backs helped Spurs finish tied for the best defensive record in the league. This season, the duo will see caps in the Champions League and more starts in the Premier League, if they stay healthy. If the competitive season started today, Mauricio Pochettino could only experiment with three centre-backs. There’s always the option of putting Eric Dier or Victor Wanyama in the center of the back four if necessary. Pochettino, however, prefers for the two to play in front of the defensive line in the midfield. This will be a certain tactic considering Mousa Dembele being suspended for the first four PL fixtures of the season.
These are exciting times for Cameron Carter-Vickers. He gained Mauricio Pochettino’s favour in Australia and will probably see more time in Oslo. Even if Carter-Vickers doesn’t get his chance in the Premier League, he’ll be a trusted man in the squad for the League and FA Cups. Carter-Vickers is currently an under-23 U.S. International and could soon be adding 'Tottenham Hotspur first team' to his CV.
Tottenham and Inter Milan kick off at the Ullevaal Stadion on Friday, 05/08, at 4:00 pm UK time.
© e-Media Group 2016 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of @e_media_group
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Please keep all comments:
1-Clean (non-offensive)
2-Spurs related
3-Interesting