Six Busy Weeks Ahead for Tottenham

Upon their return from the last international break of the calendar year, Tottenham will be faced with a steep acceleration of their fixtures straight through to the beginning of January. As the games begin to come quick and fast, what are the chances that the club can sustain its form of the first third of the season?

Over the course of 100 days from the August 8th kickoff of the Premier League to Sunday’s North London Derby, Tottenham have played 17 matches in all competitions, enough for a rate of one match every 5.9 days.

Between with West Ham’s visit to White Hart Lane on Sunday, November 22nd and ending with Tottenham’s visit to Everton on January 3rd, the club will play ten matches at a rate of one every 4.3 days. Tottenham will have an average of one and half less days of rest than they did through an already crowded beginning to the season.

Thankfully, the beginning of this busy chunk of the season coincides with a good number of injured players returning to fitness. Up until recently, all of Ryan Mason, Heung-min Son, Nabil Bentaleb, Alex Pritchard and Nacer Chadli have been unavailable for selection due to various ailments. A handful of other minor injuries have also kept Mousa Dembélé and Christian Eriksen out of contention for several weeks. In all, it wasn’t the healthiest of starts to a season that will only get more taxing.

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There’s reason for hope, though. Of the players listed, only Nacer Chadli and Alex Pritchard remain unavailable in the coming games, and the former is expected to return at the beginning of December. Barring any more injury issues, Tottenham are ostensibly well equipped to handle a denser fixture list.

But what of the quality of the opposition? Tottenham’s standing at the top of Europa League Group J isn’t exactly tenuous, but it’s by no means a guarantee that they will win the group and thus face a weaker opponent in the first stage of the tournament’s knockout round next February. The final two games away against Qarabag FK and home against Monaco feel like must wins, especially if Mauricio Pochettino continues to abide his newfound affection for Europe’s lesser international club competition.

At least on paper as of this writing, Tottenham’s domestic duties over that time period should actually be rather easier than what came before. Over the eight games, Spurs will play only three teams currently in the top half of the Premier League table – West Ham, Southampton and Everton – and three teams currently 15th or lower – Chelsea, Newcastle and Norwich- with West Brom and Watford rounding out the list.

While Tottenham might count themselves fortunate to not have to deal with either Manchester club or Arsenal over this time period, they would do well not to underestimate those three top half teams. Each of those three will not suffer from the overconfidence that has given Tottenham the advantage in games against City and Arsenal. They’ll actively attempt to exploit Spurs’ weaknesses, something Pochettino will have to keep in mind as he lays out his teams and tactics.

Rotation has become a tool of last resort this season at Tottenham, even during Europa League matches, but to get the most from this vital set of fixtures Pochettino should find players that can fill in when needed. Not only will this mitigate the risk of injury, but it will also keep Tottenham’s most vital players fresh to push in the second half of the Premier League season.

Jose Mourinho paid the price for failing to properly rotate his Chelsea squad early last term. The Blues might have gone on to win the Premier League title, but they spent much of the second half of the season earning increasingly narrow results with often negative tactics. Some have even cited last season’s fatigue as a reason for Chelsea’s historically poor start to this current season.

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Pochettino should be anxious to avoid this fate. To do so will mean finding increasingly more meaningful roles for Clinton Njie, Kevin Wimmer, Kieran Trippier and Josh Onomah. None of these players need become regular starters, but they should be given the chance to cover for the players they understudy when the situation suits it. Games against Qarabag and Newcastle in particular should be used as proving grounds for these younger, less experienced players.

The pressing style Tottenham’s Argentine manager proselytizes is demanding enough on his players that they need regular rest, even if they are the fittest team in the Premier League. Giving those second string players minutes could be the single best thing Pochettino can do for this Tottenham team both in terms of the busy winter schedule and the season as a whole.

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