Tottenham Hotspur Links: If Alan Pardew Had Harry Kane, He Would Help Crystal Palace
Here’s a late edition of today’s Tottenham Hotspur Links.
The first story today takes a look at Crystal Palace’s manager, Alan Pardew and how he thinks Harry Kane can push the Eagles into the top four and clinch a Champions League berth if he was on the team. Next, Mauricio Pochettino is pleased that Son Heung-min scored because he doesn’t believe new signings will help the club win the Premier League. And finally, Dele Alli could use a rest in Tottenham’s upcoming games so that other players can get minutes to help build on the team’s depth. To the links below.
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There are a lot of admirers around Europe who want Harry Kane on their teams and Crystal Palace manager, Alan Pardew, is the latest one. He feels that the 22-year-old England international would help the Eagles get into the top four and clinch a Champions League berth.
“They’ve got the best goalscorer, in my opinion, in the Premier League. And I include Jamie Vardy in that,” said Alan Pardew.
“Harry Kane is the best and we have to try and stop him. If Harry Kane was in our team, we’d be in the top four. That’s the difference a striker of that quality can make.”
Having a confident and proven goalscorer on your team always helps and this is something that Pardew needs on his team at the moment. This doesn’t mean he’s actively pursuing Harry Kane, he’s just making an observation that the Eagles are lacking at the striker position with Yannick Bolasie injured.
With Tottenham spending £22 million on the South Korean international, it was obvious that Mauricio Pochettino wouldn’t sign another expensive forward to help bolster his team’s chances of scoring more goals and climbing further up the Premier League table.
Therefore, the Argentine manager acknowledged that scoring against Leicester City should help Son Heung-min find his form so that he can return to the starting eleven.
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“It was important for him to score against Leicester,” said Pochettino. “We want him to fight for a place in the starting 11.”
Of course the easiest way for Son to become a starter again would either be switching formations from a 4-2-3-1 into a 4-4-2. Or move Dele Alli back into central midfield with Eric Dier to give him a much needed break (more on this below).
Because until the club finds the right profile for new players, Tottenham must ask themselves if spending more money will increase their chances of winning the Premier League. And right now, Pochettino doesn’t believe it will.
“I don’t know why we would have maybe more opportunity to win the league if we added another striker,” said Pochettino.
“I think that we have enough quality already. If we started the season happy with the squad we have, why now do we have to add new players?”
“If we find the right profile and we are sure that it would help us improve the squad, we’d sign someone, but we are very happy with the squad we have.”
- Dele Alli should get some rest
- [via Spurs Stat Man]
At some point, Mauricio Pochettino will have to rest his key players to keep them fresh and healthy when it comes to the big games. For example, the FA Cup and Europa League if Tottenham want to go far in both competitions.
And with three games in the Premier League against Crystal Palace (8th), Norwich City (16th) and Watford (12th), does Pochettino need a strong lineup? Rotating the squad will help Tottenham build on the depth that they have with Nacer Chadli and Son Heung-min, for starters.
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Resting Dele Alli will move Christian Eriksen back into attacking midfield and give the 19-year-old, Alli, a break. Doing this will benefit the team in the long run. It will prevent fatigue and produce competition throughout the squad.
In turn, Mauricio Pochettino could realistically have an A team and a B team who are equally good no matter which competition they’re playing in: Premier League, FA Cup or Europa League.