Tottenham full-back revolution continues apace

One of Tottenham’s greatest strengths seemed set to wane this season, yet somehow Mauricio Pochettino has found a way to sustain — and perhaps improve — the power of the full-back position.

The worrying began with Danny Rose’s injury half-way through Tottenham’s 2016/17 season, escalated with Kyle Walker’s departure in July and reached dizzying heights when Rose hinted at leaving near the end of the summer transfer window.

How exactly, the thought went, would Spurs survive without their marvelous flying full-backs?

It helps to have a bit of background to really understand the weight of this anxiety. While Harry Kane and Dele Alli occupied headlines, and Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld quietly became the best centre-back pair in England, Rose and Walker were changing what it meant to be a full-back.

Both were always electric, pacey and attack-oriented. Even from nominal defensive positions, they find ways to press up the pitch and support the attack when in position. No Spurs manager ever felt quite so bold as to name either Rose or Walker as a proper winger, but both continued to add sparkle to what was once perhaps the most overlooked position in any given team.

That full-backs like Walker are commanding £50 million transfer fees tells you everything you need to know about the world that both he and Rose helped create over the past few years.

In many ways, their ability to stamp their authority over the full length of the touchline made Pochettino’s Tottenham a success. Their presence in wide positions permitted the likes of Kane, Alli and Christian Eriksen to play an especially narrow game, one designed to funnel the ball and chances through a narrow advantageous corridor in front of the opposition goal.

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Without Rose and Walker stretching play and occasionally providing an outlet for passes, that system might have been a dud. They became absolutely invaluable, especially after Tottenham transitioned to a 3-4-2-1 formation that doubled down on the team’s narrow play.

To be stripped of Rose via injury and Walker via transfer then felt like it might legitimately make life difficult at Tottenham. Not only are these two gifted individual talents — both appeared in last season’s PFA Team of the Year — but their role in Pochettino’s system was nothing short of crucial.

Rose and Walker’s combined talents and their role in the side’s tactics were such that it felt reasonable to assume that even the likes of Pochettino could not adequately replace their contributions. Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier were fine rotation options for cup matches or against the Premier League’s relegation fodder, but until recently no one quite considered them first choice starters.

Even the arrival of Serge Aurier on the final day of the transfer window didn’t seem like the injection of pure quality Tottenham needed. The Ivorian was a better option than Trippier and his too-frequent defensive lapses, but it was up to debate whether or not he could live up to Walker’s singular talent.

Less than two months into the new season though and it’s much, much harder to be quite as dismissive. While Walker is thriving at Manchester City and Rose continues his recovery on the sidelines, Davies, Trippier and Aurier are growing into the void left behind.

It hasn’t always been clean. Trippier continues to struggle with dropping back and doing the defense half of his job, for instance. Concerns about Aurier’s attitude won’t be helped by the red card he received against West Ham last week. But there are clear signs that Tottenham will still be able to rely on the work of the men on the flanks just as much as they could with Rose and Walker.

Consider Saturday’s 4-0 win over Huddersfield.

Trippier notched two assists, while Davies scored his third Premier League goal for the club and contributed his own assist. Just one week prior, Aurier put on a defensive masterclass against a tricky West Ham side, even if it was marred by his dismissal.

That Tottenham’s transition from the league’s best full-back pair is proving to be so seamless is a testament to the players themselves, but also to the man who brought them into the club.

Next: Was Dele Alli's dive deserving of Pochettino's condemnation?

All three of Davies, Trippier and Aurier arrived at Spurs under Pochettino’s watchful — and discerning — eye. They were acquired to fit into a specific system, even if Walker and Rose were the ones who helped Pochettino hone and perfect it. No one should be shocked that they picked up the torch so easily.