Hotspur HQ
Fansided

Toby Alderweireld: Euros Can Help Tottenham Players Mature

By Alexander Balano

Lombaerts Nicolas defender of Belgium, Vertonghen Jan defender of Belgium and Alderweireld Toby defender of Belgium pictured during a FIFA international friendly match between Belgium and Italy as part of the preparation of the Belgian national soccer team prior to the UEFA EURO 2016 at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by William Van Hecke/Corbis via Getty Images)
Lombaerts Nicolas defender of Belgium, Vertonghen Jan defender of Belgium and Alderweireld Toby defender of Belgium pictured during a FIFA international friendly match between Belgium and Italy as part of the preparation of the Belgian national soccer team prior to the UEFA EURO 2016 at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by William Van Hecke/Corbis via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

With Tottenham Hotspur well represented in the upcoming European Championship, Toby Alderweireld believes that Spurs’ players can mature and it will only benefit the club ahead of next season.

With 24 national teams in this year’s 2016 edition of the Euros, Tottennham will have 11 players represent their nations. Already half of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad from this past season will be on international duty (after you factor in player departures from the winter transfer window), which is a huge accomplishment for Spurs.

Related Story: Tottenham Pair Could End Up as Center-backs for Belgium

Only Juventus and Liverpool have the joint-most players from their clubs suiting up for the European Championship in France with 12 players apiece.

To recap which Tottenham players will be gone this summer before returning to pre-season after Copa América and the Euros are completed is as follows:

Spurs players on international duty:

Austria: Kevin Wimmer

Belgium: Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembélé, Jan Vertonghen

England: Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker

France: Hugo Lloris

Wales: Ben Davies

Eleven players on five different national teams is quite a haul and for the ones who are representing Tottenham this summer, Toby Alderweireld believes that Spurs will be better next season because of the experience that they will gain from taking part in a high-profile European competition.

ENFIELD, ENGLAND - APRIL 21: Toby Alderweireld looks on during a Tottenham Hotspur training session at the Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on April 21, 2016 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
ENFIELD, ENGLAND – APRIL 21: Toby Alderweireld looks on during a Tottenham Hotspur training session at the Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on April 21, 2016 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images) /

“Of course, it’s good for the club that we have a lot of internationals going and the experience the players are getting from going to this kind of tournament is massive as well,” Alderweireld said (via Tottenham’s official site).

“You take it all back to your club afterwards and you get better, you become more mature and get extra experience from it.”

Experience will greatly aid three of Tottenham’s youngest players on England’s squad: Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Harry Kane.

Obviously all three are talented and have gained experience this past season on a title run-in as well as another season in the Europa League (it was Alli’s first taste of European football).

More from Hotspur HQ

But like Toby Alderweireld said, playing on an international stage and fighting for a championship with veteran players, you can only learn from that and take it back with you to the club level.

No doubt Harry Kane can learn from Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney. Likewise for Dele Alli and Eric Dier picking the brains of James Milner and Jordan Henderson.

Little things like this can go a big way to helping benefit Tottenham.

Continuing on, Alderweireld took some time to reflect some more on his debut season with Tottenham in which he played in every single game during the Premier League and Europa League.

“Of course you hope for those kinds of things, to play every game, but from day one I tried to work very hard to show what I’m about and tried to help the team.” Toby Alderweireld continued.

Next: Tottenham's Yedlin Praised by USMNT Teammates

“The lads helped me a lot to settle in as well. At first I had the Belgian guys who obviously I knew and that was beneficial and the rest were very nice to me too, so it all helped.”

“As a team we had a lot of good games during the year, we developed quite well and with the fantastic team and fantastic fans that we have I think we achieved something special.”

“In all I was very happy with my first season for Spurs. I can always play better but I think for the first season it was quite good.”

Home/Europa League