This article is more or less a question and answer session between Spurs fans. Myself and Nikhil Saglani will be answering the questions posted by Spurs fans on twitter.
@Lukas_Bedford asks: Name a Spurs youth player who you believe will shine next season?
Declan: Iago Falque, if he stays. There have been some rumours about him getting fed up being loaned out, but I think he’ll get some game time in the Europa league for sure. Perhaps he could be a revelation like Townsend was when he came back from his loan spells. Falque may struggle to get game time depending on where he is played. The likes of Holtby, and Eriksen are players he will have to beat for a place in the first team.
Nikhil: This one depends on who we send out on loan. If we keep all the youngsters we have at the time of writing, I’d say Bentaleb. He’s already shown how good he is – both for Spurs last season and then Algeria in Brazil. He’s fast becoming one of my favourite players.
@JakeMantonTHFC asks: Passion vs Talent. Should we keep players like Dawson because they are passionate or sign more talented players?
Declan: You need a balance. Dawson isn’t all passion, he is a solid defender who is tactically sound and puts in a good tackle. His pace is a bit worrying sometimes however. You need a Dawson like figure to inspire the likes of Eriksen and Adebayor to up their game and play to their best. Holtby is an example of a player that has passion, but is also a very talented footballer.
Nikhil: It’s a fine line. I think we have to understand that some players, no matter how passionate, just don’t cut it anymore. In the end, it was talent like Christian Eriksen and Hugo Lloris that got us across the finishing line last season. However in some games, such as the North London Derby, the passion of players is called upon. I want all our players to understand the rivalry between the two sets of fans.
@JakeMantonTHFC asks: Which youth players should be given a chance this year?
Declan: I’ve already mentioned Iago Falque, who should be given a chance after all the loan spells. I’ll instead mention Tom Carroll, who’s had some game time before, and is well worthy of having some again. I would also like to see Cristian Ceballos and Milos Veljkovic. Two very promising players.
Nikhil: There are so many promising young talents in our youth academy. We’ve mentioned a few so far but if luck is on our side in the Europa League draw, I feel we should send a squad filled with youngsters to away games. The likes of Jordan Archer, Ryan Fredericks, Connor Ogilvie, Milos Veljkovic, Cristian Ceballos, Iago Falque, Shaquille Coulthirst, Nathan Oduwa and Kenneth McEvoy supported by some more experienced players are more than good enough to bring three points back from foreign lands.
@Spursviews asks: Should Soldado be given another year? Do we really need a new strike force or not?
Declan: Definitely. Soldado is a proven goalscorer. I don’t care about any comparisons between leagues of the BPL or La Liga. He scores goals. He will score plenty of goals for us, if we give him the right service. If he fails to impress this season, then his time may be up. I believe that we are in the capable hands of both Soldado and Adebayor, with support from Harry Kane. Adebayor was great last season and Kane proved himself capable of handling himself in the BPL. Still young and plenty of things to improve on, but give him game time and he could become a decent striker.
Nikhil: Yes, I believe he should. It’s easy to forget that in his final season at Valencia, he was the fourth highest goalscorer in Europe – only behind Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Radamel Falcao. That talent and instinct doesn’t just go away. Hopefully, a new start under a new manager with a fresh system will allow him to find his form and show just how good a goalscorer he is.
@AlwaysLilywhite asks: Should Dawson leave?
Declan: Absolutely not. He may not feature in as many games later on in his career, but he will still provide a vital role in the squad. Dawson is the familiar face in amongst the many new faces that have come to the Lane in recent years. He is a great leader and I’m sure he can share his experience with younger team-mates.
Nikhil: I don’t think so. As mentioned above, he’s the kind of figure the team look up to when we are down in a game – hopefully not often this year! His passion is unrivalled amongst our squad and he deserves one more year under a less gruelling system to showcase his abilities.
@_Peter_1980 asks: Do you think we are under less pressure this season? Others have/are spending more so surely focus is on them. This could work in our favour, players who have settled know what is expected and maybe, just maybe, the press will allow us to do that.
Declan: We found out last season that lots of signings in one window isn’t a good idea. They didn’t seem to blend, especially when you have a change of manager in the middle of that too. There will still be pressure on some of our latest recruits because some haven’t really shown their true ability.
Nikhil: I firmly believe so. SkyBet has us down to finish 6th next season. With focus on Wenger’s spending, the new reign at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho’s fantastic squad and a Suarez-less Liverpool, we may just be able to go about our job quietly. There isn’t any pressure for us to finish in a Champions League position and I do not expect us to either. I would like to see a solid Top Six finish and a cup run or two. A trip to Wembley would be lovely! I think we need to have one final transitional year and then push on to start challenging seriously again.
@MeCrazyMatt asks: Do you think Jan and Vlad will be our preferred CB’s next seasons? If not, who will?
Declan: Vertonghen and Chiriches would be a solid combination. But, I prefer Kaboul and Vertonghen for more experience, more strength, more height, more no-nonsense take both man and ball type of player. That depends on Kaboul staying fit and not getting injured again however. Chiriches is proving to be a little injury prone too.
Nikhil: Personally, I’m not in favour of that pairing. I feel that we need a defender with aerial presence alongside one ball playing defender. My ideal lineup would be Kaboul and Vertonghen with Dawson and Chiriches as back-up. Of course, this can change depending on signings and sales.
@Wiggo24 asks: Who do you think we should play in our midfield three next season? Packed.
Declan: So many different combinations. Injuries will force Pochettino to play certain players, but if all are fit then I would play Sandro, Dembele and Eriksen. But then, you could have Holtby, Capoue and Carroll.
Nikhil: The real conundrum. Do we go with Sandro or Capoue? Is it Paulinho, Dembele or Bentaleb alongside them? Do we put Holtby, Paulinho or Eriksen ‘in the hole’? For me, with our squad at the time of writing, I want Sandro-Dembele-Eriksen, but I was tempted to place Bentaleb in Dembele’s place. Of course, if we bring in Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin, he could slot in as a midfielder who already know’s Pochetinno’s system like the back of his hand.
@Daily_Hotspur asks: What realistic targets should we be aiming to achieve next season?
Declan: Win the league. Just kidding! As a club, as a fanbase, we’ve been searching for that illusive fourth spot for so long now. Minimum is 5th place.
Nikhil: Top Six and a Cup run or two!
@Colm_Lynott asks: How should Pochettino approach the Europa league next season?
Declan: Many hate the competition, but I seem to have affection towards it. I understand the extra matches against poor opposition comment, and the fact Champions league teams come in later in the competition, e.g Benfica, and then knock us out. I went to many games last season, and the atmosphere was pretty good at the home games. Especially against Dnipro, that was a special night indeed. Win the Europa league and you get into the Champions league.
Nikhil: It is well publicised that Pochettino wasn’t a fan of the competition when he was in the hot seat at St Mary’s, however I believe there are three reasons why this will change:
- We are Tottenham Hotspur and there is nothing like a European night at White Hart Lane. I am certain he has been asked to take the competition seriously.
- He’s got depth. At Southampton, an injury in certain positions would have seriously dented the squad. However, at Spurs, he now has the comfort of replacing one class player with another. Also, our academy squad is more than good enough to play some tricky away games in the Group Stage.
- The passage to the big time. Winning the Europa League will guarantee access into the 2015/2016 Champions League – providing the eventual winners qualify automatically, but with the money Real Madrid and Barcelona are spending should see to that.
@Daily_Hotspur asks: What are the reasons behind us constantly falling short of 4th place in the last couple of years.
Declan: Consistently inconsistent. Start of last season we had an impeccable defensive record. End of the season it fell to pieces. *cough* blame Sherwood *cough*. We’re capable of getting in the Champions league, but we need a good manager and a squad that fights to achieve the same goal.
Nikhil: The smallest of margins. There are so many excuses we can come out with, but it comes down to us not being able to hammer the final nail into the coffin.
@Mikow_ asks: Do you think Poch can bring out the best out of all our signings we did last season?
Declan: I don’t see why not. A few signings have been a bit indifferent, some really off form compared to their previous clubs, and one signing has been great and will undoubtedly improve again next season. A new season means it’s a new chance for the players to step up and show what they are worth.
Nikhil: Of course, why shouldn’t he? It’s already been quoted how much the players love him. We all know how much better it is to work under someone you get on with. I think he can do so.
@TalkingTHFC asks: Do you think top four is too much of an ask next season, considering our position last year and the new threat of United.
Declan: Manchester United are going to be a much bigger threat this season. Van Gaal is far superior tactically and in every other way than Moyes. Just look at The Netherlands in the World cup. Worrying. But, we’re Tottenham so we may as well set our targets high and see what happens. We beat Manchester City to fourth once, so I don’t see why we cannot do it again, but with the red part of Manchester.
Nikhil: I believe it may just be out of our reach, but I don’t think fans should actively expect it. Be open minded and allow Pochettino to settle in and implement his ideas. He’s stated his intention to win the League at Spurs, we have to allow him time to do that.
@tehtrunk asks: Should we sacrifice cups in hope of Champions league before we have the new stadium? Surely unsustainable until?
Declan: Winning cups is a dream many fans (including myself) aspire to, but Champions league, and the money and status it brings could be considered paramount to cups in our situation. Those champions league funds would be used to make up the money for our new stadium.This would mean more money would be available more quickly to spend on the squad and its development itself.
Nikhil: I don’t think a club with history such as ours should ever shun any competition. We all know that there is no feeling like lifting a trophy at Wembley or somewhere in Europe. We will be able to compete with the other Champions League sides once the stadium is built due to increased revenue; allowing us to offer more money on signings and wages, attracting bigger names.
That concludes our question and answer article. Thank you to Nikhil Saglani who helped contribute a mighty amount to this. You can follow @Nikhil_Saglani on twitter.
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