It’s Hard to Break into Tottenham’s Starting XI this Season
Some players who joined Tottenham Hotspur last January and this past summer have found it hard to earn regular playing time. Why is that? Let’s find out.
The term roadblock is a perfect analogy to sum up DeAndre Yedlin’s move from the Seattle Sounders to Tottenham Hotspur. Here is a player who, in his own words, has said that he’s been a starter for club and country until he reached the Premier League.
“From when I started with Seattle all the way through the World Cup, everything had gone pretty smoothly. Then there was this roadblock.
I’d never experienced that before. So it was a time I really had to learn about myself and figure out how to get through it.”
That’s not to say that DeAndre Yedlin wasn’t cut out to play in the Premier League — he obviously is since he’s playing for Sunderland (five Premier League starts, six total appearances) — but he needed time and experience to fully adapt. Something that most foreign players go through; it’s a learning curve.
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Moving on, Yedlin was only able to make one appearance for Tottenham last season against Aston Villa. If this wasn’t proof that Mauricio Pochettino felt he wasn’t ready just yet, even though Kyle Walker was lost for the rest of the 2014-15 season against Burnley, six days earlier. Then DeAndre Yedlin wouldn’t be an option at right-back for the 2015-16 season. Now with that being said, there’s a dilemma with the 22-year-old U.S. international: Is Yedlin a right-back or right midfielder? Here’s what he had to say.
“At right back, when you attack you can see the whole field. So in the attack it’s a little bit easier, at least for me, but you also have more defensive responsibilities.
You have to find that balance.”
This is an important question to ask because the right-back position is crowded at the moment. At right midfield, there’s an open spot if Andros Townsend is loaned or sold. Even if Mauricio Pochettino said that Townsend would be restored to the squad, it might not last for an entire season and definitely not through next year.
If Andros Townsend is gone, it’ll be Clinton N’Jie and DeAndre Yedlin as Érik Lamela’s backups. Not bad, it could be better. But it is a start for Yedlin to make it onto the bench rather than trying to start over either Kyle Walker or Kieran Trippier.
So let’s get back to the main topic of why certain players, regardless of injury at this point in time, can’t make it into the starting lineup this season. We’ll also include five other Tottenham players to help get the point across.
Now, if DeAndre Yedlin’s transfer to Spurs is considered a roadblock, then for other players, a different analogy must be used. For Kevin Wimmer, Kieran Trippier, Nacer Chadli, Clinton N’Jie and even the nearly departed Miloš Veljković — perhaps as soon as January — they have been placed behind a brick wall. A wall that won’t be breakable anytime soon due to three factors: chemistry, consistency and experience.
Granted, all of Tottenham’s players have playing experience before joining the club. They can’t not have experience unless they’re a youth player who was recently signed and/or promoted. But the problem is, can they replace a starter who has done well consistently and has great chemistry with other starters on the pitch?
Take Kevin Wimmer for example. A 23-year-old center-back (his birthday was three days ago) who has accumulated 73 appearances for 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga.
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Will he have the same partnership with Jan Vertonghen that Toby Alderweireld has right now? Sure, of course. No doubt. The problem is, it’ll take time. Kieran Trippier. A 25-year-old right-back who has appeared in 185 games for Burnley could be Tottenham’s starting right-back ahead of Kyle Walker. But Kyle Walker right now is a better player than he’s ever been in quite possibly, his entire career.
Want more examples? Nacer Chadli (26), 123 appearances for FC Twente and Clinton N’Jie (22), 43 games for Olympique Lyon. What do all four of these players have in common? Besides talent, they have experience. But do they have chemistry with the other seven starting players on the pitch if they were to play? Not yet.
Nacer Chadli has enjoyed 90 games for Spurs since arriving in the summer of 2013. But if there’s one thing he’s consistent at, it would be consistently disappearing for certain stretches during the season. Scoring double-digit goals last year was good but his current injury plus Son Heung-min and Clinton N’Jie is putting his spot in the club at jeopardy. Not necessarily surplus to requirements per se, but not a starter anymore.
Time isn’t of the essence for Mauricio Pochettino right now. This season has been a wild one for all 20 Premier League clubs, most notably the defending league champions, Chelsea. Trying to give these four aforementioned players above playing time in the Premier League isn’t a good idea. It’ll undo the consistency and chemistry of Mauricio Pochettino’s starting lineup who have helped Tottenham get to fifth place in the league table. So what about 20-year-old Serbian center-back Miloš Veljković?
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Giving a promotion to Miloš Veljković would be a great idea this January except he’ll be faced with a brick wall as well. If Kevin Wimmer is a third-choice center-back, that’ll make Veljković the fourth best option. Fifth, if Federico Fazio is still on the team.
So whether it’s a roadblock or a brick wall, it’s not these players’ faults that they can’t break into the first team or return as a starter due to injury. Mauricio Pochettino just wants to maintain complete consistency and chemistry in his starting lineups, even if it could potentially cost all starting eleven players to receive minimal rest through three competitions: Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup once January arrives.