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Tottenham Hotspur Links: Gary Lineker and Darren Anderton Praise Spurs’ 4-1 Win over West Ham United

By Alexander Balano

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Following Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 win over West Ham United, here are the latest links to read.

Tottenham came back from the international break and continued their fine form to put a hammering on West Ham (pun intended). Because of Spurs’ latest win, two former Tottenham players-turned-pundits were impressed and discussed what they liked on Twitter. Up next Toby Alderweireld is proving to be Tottenham’s best summer signing this year. Lastly, Spurs are supposedly tracking right-back Alessandro Florenzi.  and this is how the latest edition of Tottenham Hotspur Links begins.

  • Gary Lineker and Darren Anderton praise Tottenham on Twitter
    • [via Gary Lineker and Darren Anderton’s Twitter accounts]

Gary Lineker’s first tweet is spot on, on how to describe Mauricio Pochettino’s team this season. All eleven players are well organized once the game is underway. When Jan Vertonghen happens to press higher up the pitch with the ball at his feet, Eric Dier slips back down to cover in defense as a center-back. If Dele Alli makes his way forward towards goal, Mousa Dembele drops deeper to play alongside Eric Dier. Both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen move together as a unit. When one moves in any direction, the other mimics his movements.

RELATED: Matchday: Tottenham 4-1 West Ham

These are just three examples of how well organized Tottenham have become this season and it’s made them hard to break defensively. Offensively, a motivated and threatening Spurs team is a pleasure to watch.While they tend to keep possession for long stretches of time, it’s a part of their offensive gameplan to take calculated shots and not give away possession. Players will continue to ping the ball around and find scoring threats down the flanks from long diagonal balls or open seams up the middle with precise passing and through balls.

Despite being the third summer signing by Tottenham, Toby Alderweireld was the first new player inserted into Mauricio Pochettino’s starting eleven this season before Son Heung-min would be brought into the club before the transfer deadline.

The 26-year-old Belgian center-back has helped improve Spurs’ backline with great performances since the beginning of the season. Adding in a scoring threat on set pieces with two goals this season makes Toby Alderweireld very good on both ends of the pitch.

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But of course, it should be noted that the Belgian international’s main contribution this season is on defense and how his partnership with fellow compatriot, Jan Vertonghen, has helped Tottenham only concede 11 league goals in 13 Premier League games. A five-goal improvement from last year’s campaign in 13 games.

For only £11.5 million, this was a very successful signing and could help Tottenham shift their focus on players who might cost below £15 million since they’ve done well over the years: Hugo Lloris (£12 million), Jan Vertonghen (£10 million), Dele Alli (£5 million), Nacer Chadli (£7 million) and Christian Eriksen (£11 million) to name a few from these past four transfer windows including this past summer’s signings.

The article is more or less a bullet point based on Alessandro Florenzi’s strengths and weaknesses. At the moment, there’s no need to target another right-back with Kieran Trippier being signed. It wouldn’t make sense to sell him now after only six months this January. Plus DeAndre Yedlin is currently on a year-long loan and will return next summer ahead of the 2016-17 season.

What could Florenzi possibly bring to Pochettino’s team if Spurs are interested?

According to the link above, the 24-year-old Italian right-back is versatile and can play in the midfield or at right-back. This could prove interesting if Spurs need another versatile player and slot Florenzi at right midfield to provide Érik Lamela with cover alongside Clinton N’Jie. Or give Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier some cover at right-back in case of injury, which is always good thinking

Next: Tottenham Wins and Other Noteworthy News from the Game

Along with playing two positions, Alessandro Florenzi is known for his work ethic. In Mauricio Pochettino’s high-press system, he practically demands that players are fit to run up and down the pitch for 90 minutes. But running around isn’t enough, you have to help out in attack when needed. Florenzi fits the bill with his technical ability and pace in attacking areas which will only increase the scoring chances and threats for Tottenham. Still, despite all of these good qualities, unless Tottenham needs to sign Alessandro Florenzi in January it won’t happen unless a serious injury happens.