Football Season Guide

Practically zero transfer activity, Spurs became the first ever side to complete no new signings since the introduction of a transfer window back in 2002, and a huge number of players tired after gruelling long runs in the World Cup are two very serious reasons that concern all Tottenham fans ahead of the start of the new season. Coach Pochettino knows that all of his main starters that were tested physically this summer will eventually find themselves struggling for fitness during the course of a long season and the gaffer has a difficult decision to make. He can either slowly reintroduce the likes of Kane, Alli, Trippier, Vertonghen and Alderweireld to first-team football during the course of two-three months early in the season, or he could use them a lot until Christmas and then start resting them during the quieter winter months. The second option is very tempting, but it comes with significant risk of injuries as the players’ muscles are bound to be overworked in the next few months. The absence of new signings, currently Tottenham are not even linked seriously with any new players, put Spurs in an awkward position as the huge number of internationals that didn’t have proper holidays this summer will need rotation and rest at some stage. Tottenham still have bright options on the bench and all of Davies, Aurier, Lamela, Moura and Sissoko should get involved in some kind of rotation as the season progresses, but one player that practically makes all wheels turn is playmaker Eriksen and he is absolutely indispensable. This fact is proven by the stat showing the Dane involved in 68.7% of Tottenham’s goals between January and May this calendar year. Kane will struggle to reach the same goal tally as last season after the busy summer he had, while Alli’s form has been declining steadily for nearly a full year now and many are worried that the young player is starting to lose touch with reality, which is more bad news for Tottenham. Spurs have a variety of options for formations and all of 3-4-2-1, 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 are systems they can easily accommodate.