Tottenham might not thrive with Kieran Trippier

Tottenham’s next starting right-back remains about as unclear as it did when Kyle Walker’s sale was first announced in July.

The lack of activity on the transfer market since that sale suggested that Tottenham might just be content with Kieran Trippier as the presumptive starter in that role.

That impression was underlined upon Trippier being granted the traditional right-back number 2 shirt, the same that Walker wore before his departure.

Injury against Juventus one week before the season started precluded his involvement in opening day, and it seemed for a brief moment that youngster Kyle Walker-Peters might be given a shot while Trippier recuperated.

Trippier’s inclusion against Chelsea for the home debut last Sunday at least temporarily snuffed those dreams out however. He is, after all, the more experienced option, and one that Mauricio Pochettino evidently trusted enough to not only start here but also in some of the bigger matches toward the end of last season.

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Now, the real question: did Trippier acquit himself well enough on Sunday to earn that presumptive starting role?

Short answer, no — longer answer, maybe.

Pochettino elected to utilize a rather lopsided set of tactics that freed Trippier to burst forward whenever possible while also relieving him of defensive duties he doesn’t always excel at.

The result was that he often looked isolated on the flank, especially as Chelsea deemed him so little of a threat that they rarely bothered marking him. He would get on the end of a few balls and sent some crosses into the box, but none of these efforts created a real advantage for Spurs on the day.

So if Trippier didn’t exactly blow people way, it could rightly be said that he was shoehorned into a role that was probably superfluous and maybe even damaging. Accounting for his relatively weak defense prompted a good amount of compromises that Pochettino likely would rather not have made.

Those compromises, incidentally, were never needed when Walker was still around. He is a true full-flank right-back, capable of owning that touchline both in attack and defense. There’s a good reason why City paid as much for his services as they did.

That price also hints at just how rare a player like Walker truly is, at least in the current market. Pochettino was never going to replace him easily, even if Trippier seemed to hint at a similar capacity late last season.

Properly replacing Walker might just be a dream that evaporated with the £40 million acquision of Davinson Sánchez last week. There likely isn’t enough left in the kitty to go out and find another elite full-back.

Which, combined with Trippier’s underwhelming return from injury, might explain the increasing-by-the-day rumored interest in Paris Saint Germain’s Serge Aurier.

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The 24-year-old Ivorian is closer to the type of player Spurs’ need, but he comes saddled with a considerable amount of baggage. Most Spurs fans might prefer the club to not be associated with homophobic drama merchants, even if he performs on the pitch.

Which brings the club back to square one. With barely more than a week left in the transfer window and all other prospects effectively dried up, it could just be that Tottenham press on with Trippier for as long as they can.