Tottenham Hotspur Link: Townsend Nearing Exit, Pochettino Wants Options
There will only be one story for this edition of Tottenham Hotspur Links.
When Mauricio Pochettino didn’t pick Andros Townsend in Tottenham’s two matches against Leicester City in the FA Cup’s third round tie, everyone already knew that the 24-year-old’s time with the club was up.
But perhaps it was over from the very beginning as the England international hadn’t gotten much playing time since September and October, way before his incident with fitness coach Nathan Gardiner on November 2nd.
Of course, Pochettino didn’t want to touch on the subject that much during the January transfer window until now. Because during the Argentine’s press conference, leading up to Tottenham’s away game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, Mauricio Pochettino was forthcoming about Townsend’s impending sale — if any club meets Daniel Levy’s £14 million that is.
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“I think it’s obvious, the situation of Andros,” Pochettino told a press conference ahead of Tottenham’s league match with Crystal Palace. “It’s always about rumours but it is true that it’s obvious when some players are not too much involved in the games, the player always wants to play and try to find the solution.”
Finding that solution could have been giving Andros Townsend some playing time in Tottenham’s two FA Cup fixtures either as a starter or a substitute. But Pochettino believes that if England adopted Italy’s rule with regards to the amount of players who are available from the bench, Townsend could have played more often.
“You know that the rules in football and the Premier League is you can only pick 18 players, and 11 on the pitch. Maybe we will change the rules like Italy so that you can put all the players on the bench that you have in the squad. Maybe it will be better and help the managers in the future,” Pochettino said, with London 24 reporting.
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“This is a good point to start to discuss with the FA Cup and Premier League because I think maybe it would be a very good thing.”
“We need to analyse and assess that because you know all the problems happen when some players are out of the squad or not involved in the 18 players. You have the facility to have 24 or 25 players in the squad, and always you need to leave out seven or eight players.”
“Sometimes some players deserve to play but it’s impossible because you can only pick 18. Maybe it’s better you decide your starting 11 but all of the squad is on the bench and you can use every player that you have in the squad.”
This is an interesting idea and despite some purists who want to keep the rules as is because it works, there are times when a manager wants to rest his starters during cup competitions but maybe they don’t want to fully leave them off of the squad.
Or another idea is to have those extra spots be available for academy graduates to learn the game mentally by watching from the bench. And maybe get some minutes near the end of a match.
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One player who could benefit from this rule change is 19-year-old Harry Winks, who wasn’t allow to go on loan and only has one appearance this season with Tottenham’s first team. Perhaps Pochettino is onto something if teams are allowed to have their entire 25-man squad available.
Because if teams are offered this luxury then it could help clubs keep their best players and regular starters ready to play instead of simply resting. Plus, as an alternative, it’s another option than loaning players out for a half season or a full year so that they can get playing time.