Who the Hell is Going to Start Against West Ham?

I’m writing this on August 7^th, 2014. The Premier League season begins in less than two weeks and the transfer window closes in less than a month. For all I know Tottenham Hotspur could look dramatically different well before then, maybe even in the next few days. But even if nothing further changes I am sitting here struggling to imagine what Spurs’ starting lineup will look like when they open their campaign at West Ham. Iago Falque and Gylfi Sigurdsson are already gone. Most of the club’s World Cup representatives have barely trained, let alone actually had any game action.  Rumors continue to swirl that the club are looking to add new players in defense, on the wings and in the midfield. Players like Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend are returning from serious injuries. Michael Dawson is already hurt, and as far as I know there has been no public update on his status. So the question remains: who the hell is going to start against West Ham?

Brad Friedel wouldn’t be the opening day starter anyway, but he’s fallen further down the depth chart with the arrival of Michel Vorm. So Hugo Lloris is a pretty certain favorite to begin the season between the posts.

In front of him things are hazy, as usual. At center back, I would be surprised if Jan Vertonghen makes it, given that he has only recently re-joined the squad. He also made public comments implying that he was still nursing a minor injury. Hopefully he gets major minutes against Schalke on Saturday and demonstrates that he’s fit. Dawson, as mentioned, appeared to hurt himself against Celtic, so his health remains a question mark. That leaves Younes Kaboul, Zeki Fryers and Miloš Veljković. Of the three, Kaboul is by far the most likely to make the start, with one of the two youngsters perhaps making the bench. Eric Dier, the England u-21 international who Spurs signed from Sporting Lisbon will probably be more slowly integrated into the squad. So the question remains whether Daniel Levy will be able (or willing) to complete the rumored transfer for Mateo Musacchio from Villareal. Recent reports indicate that Levy is willing to play the waiting game, perhaps delaying the eventual transfer, if it happens, until after the start of the season. If I were a betting man, which thankfully I’m not, I’d peg Kaboul and Dawson as the opening day starters. I would also hope to not see that particular pairing again in the 2014-15 season.

At full back, much depends on the health of Kyle Walker, who played one half during Spurs’ North American tour. I naively figured he’d be further along in his recovery from the groin injury he suffered last season, but in his brief appearance he looked pretty sluggish and slow. That’s not shocking in early August, but if Walker can’t go at right back that means Kyle Naughton will get the nod. Everyone has a player on their favorite team who irrationally makes them crazy. For me it’s often a tie between Kyle Naughton and Danny Rose.  I get the sense that both could very well be playing. Excuse me while I hyperventilate into a paper bag. Let’s silently pray together that Ben Davies has been assured of the starting left back spot from day one.

Look, I read, watch and listen to a metric ton of Spurs related content on a daily basis and I have zero clue who will be starting in Spurs’ midfield aside from Christian Eriksen. Here are the options for the likely two remaining spots: Mousa Dembélé, Paulinho, Lewis Holtby, Etienne Capoue, Sandro, Nabil Bentaleb and the biggest long shot, Ryan Mason. Does manager Mauricio Pochettino want a double pivot? Does he prefer a deep-lying passer? Maybe he likes a destroyer alongside a box-to-box player? I don’t think we can read too much into what we saw in North America because of how many players were missing, nor do I think we should assume that Pochettino will simply graft on the same system he used at Southampton. It may depend entirely on fitness, but who knows. You could literally pick names out of a hat at this early stage. Also, there remains the outside possibility that Spurs could complete a deal in the next two weeks to either deal a midfielder or bring one in. The initial fireworks surrounding Morgan Schneiderlin appear to have died down amidst public statements from his club that he is not for sale.  I don’t really see the need for the Frenchman, but I freely admit to suffering a strange kind of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to Spurs’ incumbent midfielders.

On the wings I fully expect to see Aaron Lennon starting, because Aaron Lennon always starts. I look forward to seeing Erik Lamela begin the season (strongly!) on the right. Lamela has looked reborn so far in preseason and I hope Pochettino looks to continue that momentum. That would mean Lennon on the left where he’s looked poor in the past, although he has played well there so far this summer. Unless Spurs swing a deal for Memphis Depay (at which point the name on my new kit is suddenly sorted), Nacer Chadli and Andros Townsend will also be options. Chadli probably won’t start given his lack of training time and Townsend has not looked 100% in his injury recovery. One constant in Pochettino’s system so far is the interchange between the front four, so perhaps the initial formation won’t really matter. If he really wants to mix things up he could also start Harry Kane as a wide forward, which would unfortunately leave whoever starts at left back woefully exposed defensively.

Up front, things are significantly clearer, at least in the short term. Emmanuel Adebayor is still recovering from a bout with malaria and Harry Kane is probably not ready to lead the line every game. Roberto Soldado has looked good so far, especially in his hold-up play, his passing and his movement. He’s also developing a nice connection with Lamela, both on and off the field. I hope to see that continue.

Spurs fans have been somewhat negatively conditioned by the two previous managers to anticipate bananas lineups and to be ready to rage the moment they’re announced. In this case only a few spots seem obvious so we can only trust in Pochettino to know exactly what he wants to begin the season strongly.

Here’s my predicted lineup, in a 4-2-3-1.

Lloris, Naughton, Dawson, Kaboul, Rose, Capoue, Holtby, Lamela, Eriksen, Lennon, Soldado