Four Spurs to Start Against Germany

Germany and England play each other this Saturday in a friendly match leading up to this summer’s European Championships. Four Spurs players look to be in the starting line up for the Three Lions.

International breaks are never fun for supporters of club football. They either cut a team off when they are starting to get into a groove, or create a tense waiting period for teams to try and re-find their form. Coming off of a dominant victory against Bournemouth in their last match, this is more of the former for Tottenham Hotspur.

However, with four players looking to start against Germany on Saturday, it could give Spurs fans at least something to hold us over until the Liverpool match on April 2^nd.

Kane and Alli

Much has been made of the offensive connection at Spurs between Dele Alli and Harry Kane. Following the Bournemouth match, Kane now sits at the top of the Premier League scoring race with 21 goals. Meanwhile, Alli sits in fourth on the assists board with 10, level with David Silva of Manchester City. Of Alli’s 10 assists, 7 of them have been for Harry Kane goals. While this isn’t a blog about Three Lions football, those numbers should make English fans salivate.

One of the most difficult tasks for national teams is to quickly create a sense of team chemistry. Roy Hodgson is blessed here with having a healthy dose of scoring chemistry handed to him via the Spurs duo of Kane and Alli. Now Hodgson has to determine if he plays Alli in the number 10 role, or in a more retreated position. While not a decision that could make or break England’s Euros, it is certainly one that could greatly increase Kane and Alli’s productivity numbers.

Dier vs. Ozil Round 3

Since coming to the Premier League from Spain, German international Mesut Özil has done a fine job fitting into the Arsenal’s plans. Between him and Alexis Sánchez, the two of them have created countless chances for Arsenal and have been two bright spots in a relatively inconsistent line up.

Similarly, since being converted into a holding midfielder Eric Dier has proven to be arguably one of the most important pieces of the Spurs line up this season. As has been mentioned many times before, Dier plays a very important role that allows the full-backs to get forward and for the high press of Spurs to function as smoothly as it has been.

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With that in mind Eric Dier will be tasked with the responsibility of keeping Özil in check on Saturday in Berlin. The two have run into each other twice so far this season with both matches ending in draws. Dier did play in the Capital One Cup loss, but Özil did not.

With the German side that Özil will be playing in on Saturday, less of the creative responsibility will fall onto his shoulders, so it will be interesting to see how much of a 1-on-1 battle he and Dier get into. But rest assured there will be a noticeable physical battle between the two of them for the duration that they’re both on the pitch.

Danny Rose

Danny Rose plays a very specific type of full-back for Spurs. His defensive responsibilities are almost equally important to his offensive responsibilities. Throughout the course of the season though he has matured from a relatively one dimensional, pacey full back into an intelligent, attacking threat in the final third.

The question then becomes, what kind of instructions will Roy Hodgson give to Danny Rose? Will he have the freedom to maraud up the wing as he does for Pochettino, or will his main responsibility be to work to contain (presumably) Karim Bellarabi? These are obviously answers we won’t get until Saturday, however if Hodgson is going to include Rose in the starting line up, it would make the most sense to allow him to do what he does best.

Next: Spurs' Son and Mason to Benefit from International Break

With all of this being said, it’s important to remember that his is a friendly and that reading too much into what happens in a such a match is never a good idea. Both teams are mainly looking to experiment with one or two things, work to create some kind of team chemistry, and above all stay healthy.

With everyone already very much in the business ends of their respective club seasons, don’t expect anybody to take any major risks. Again, especially from a Spurs perspective, the main goal for everyone is stay healthy, stay healthy, stay healthy.