Tottenham Player Review: And all the rest
By Ryan Wrenn
Not everyone on the Tottenham roster shined this season, or indeed were ever given that much of a chance to do so.
For some this isn’t too surprising. For others — really, for one player in particular — their failure to get minutes for Tottenham makes this a wasted year at best, a career set back at worse.
MIchel Vorm is clearly in the former camp. As Spurs’ backup goalkeeper, he might reasonably expect a cup game or two, maybe an appearance in Europe.
After Hugo Lloris went down injured early in the season though, Vorm stepped up to occupy the French captain’s place between the sticks for four starts.
Surprisingly, Spurs hardly missed a beat. The Dutchman isn’t quite at Lloris’ level when it comes to mobility or command of the box, but he’s a good shot stopper and proved better than expected when it came to vital things like distribution.
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A hip injury followed by a family tragedy limited Érik Lamela to only six starts in the league this season. Though he was plagued by rumors about moves abroad, it seems likely that he stays on as he recovers from surgery and again makes his mark on the team in 2017/18.
Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, similarly, probably can’t feel too aggrieved at his time on the pitch. He is still young and adjusting to the Premier League. There’s a chance that Mauricio Pochettino wants to move on from the Frenchman in the summer, just as he did with Clinton Njie last year, but it’s just as likely that he is allowed to continue to grow into this Spurs team.
Tottenham’s youngsters also played a very minor role, but once again there’s little reason for Pochettino to give up on them. Already the Argentine has promised bigger roles for Josh Onomah, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Kyle Walker-Peters next season.
Not every Spurs player’s future is so bright however.
Kevin Wimmer concluded his inaugural season at Spurs as the side’s clear third-choice central defender after Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen. He’d served in the latter’s stead for two months that season and proved himself to be well up to the team’s speed.
A groin injury over the summer and subsequent rumors of internal drama cast Wimmer to the outskirts of Pochettino’s thinking. He would serve occasionally, usually in cup games alongside Carter-Vickers, though his most memorable moment came when he scored an own-goal in November’s North London Derby.
The man with the highest hopes — or at least higher pricetag — was Moussa Sissoko. The club spent £30 million to acquire the Frenchman on the last day of the transfer window.
Nothing in Sissoko’s past indicated that he was capable of repaying that amount. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he managed to somehow fail to meet already low expectations over the course of the last season.
Perhaps in some vain attempt to get their money’s worth, Spurs started Sissoko eight times this season — more than Vincent Janssen received. He never looked up for Pochettino’s style of play, and was invariably the slowest and most disconnected part of an otherwise finely tuned machine.
Some of the aforementioned players might not wear Spurs’ lilywhites again after this summer. Others will stay on and, perhaps, grow into significant enough presences that they will earn their own full review next season.