Tottenham Team For First Match Of Season At West Ham?
By Logan Holmes
A possible Tottenham team for the opening Premier League game of the season against West Ham. Who will be in Mauricio Pochettino’s first Spurs team at Upton Park?
It is just eight days until the start of the 2014-15 season but it is difficult to predict the Tottenham team for the game at Upton Park. Mauricio Pochettino has yet to see all the players in a pre-season match with the delayed return of the World Cup players and through injury.
Of the players who were in Brazil, only Nabil Bentaleb has had time in a pre-season friendly, having played in the second half against Celtic.
Due to injury Sandro has also made only a brief appearance as a second-half substitute in that game while Vlad Chiriches has yet to play. Emmanuel Adebayor has also made only one 45-minute appearance. The final pre-season friendly against Schalke 04 will give those players an opportunity for some game time, with the likelihood that the manager will again make changes at the interval.
Further uncertainty comes with continuing transfer speculation with Tottenham linked with at least three players – Mateo Musacchio, Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin. If any of those deals are to be completed before the start of the season, the one needed most is probably Musacchio as a central defender to partner Jan Vertonghen.
Assuming that everyone is fit and available for selection, and allowing just one new signing, my selection for the Tottenham team for the first match of the season would be:
Defence
Hugo Lloris is the automatic choice in goal .
Kyle Walker, if fit, at right-back and new signing Ben Davies on the left side of the defence.
In central defence, Jan Vertonghen is assured of his place in the team but who will partner him is a matter of waiting to see. If the reported transfer negotiations for Mateo Musacchio frpm Villarreal are completed in the coming days, I would include him in the starting eleven. If there is no new signing before the first game, I would select Younes Kaboul rather than Michael Dawson.
Midfield
Etienne Capoue
Etienne Capoue has impressed in pre-season and could well start ahead of the returning World Cup players who have had no match practice and only a couple of weeks of pre-season training.
With Sandro, Dembele and Paulinho having very limited game time in pre-season, I have selected Ryan Mason who has played well alongside Capoue although Nabil Bentaleb could start to bring a more energetic and competitive presence in midfield. West Ham are sure to be up for the game, whatever their pre-season results have been, and will want to add to their three successive victories of last season.
Across midfield, I would select Lewis Holtby, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela. All three have performed well in pre-season, especially Holtby and Lamela. Eriksen has played fewer matches but is central to Tottenham’s creative play.
Striker
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The lone striker is between Emmanue Adebayor and Roberto Soldado.
I’ve chosen Soldado as he has had a full pre-season whereas Adebayor missed the tour in Canada and America with malaria and has only played in the second half against Celtic last weekend. He doesn’t look fully fit and unless he’s made a dramatic improvement, then I would start with Soldado who has linked well with the players around him in the games to date.
Subs: Vorm, Naughton, Dier, Paulinho, Bentaleb, Townsend, Kane
Captain
That only leaves one final decision – who should be captain? Your choice in this week’s poll was Hugo Lloris. As one poster said, ” He commands respect throughout the team.”
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Saturday’s match against Schalke could give us some indication of Pochettino’s thoughts on his first team selection and also on the fitness of players like Walker who is returning from injury and the World Cup players.
Your Choice of Tottenham Team
What team would you select for the opening match at West Ham?
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