Questions for Tottenham as Champions League Final nears

With the UEFA Champions League Final nearing, Tottenham Hotspur will get  answers to some, but not all of the burning questions heading into the summer.

Like any other football squad at this point in the calendar year, Tottenham Hotspur face numerous questions heading into next season, but with the UEFA Champions League Final less than a week away – unlike first-team player signings – answers should be forthcoming.

If you would have told any Tottenham fan five years ago Mauricio Pochettino would take the Spurs to four straight Champions League appearances and a Champions League final, they would have signed up on the spot, particularly if that finals’ appearance was a win.

Of course, we won’t know if Tottenham Hotspur will be European Champions until Saturday, and the answer to that question will be the first of many facing Spurs between now and the new season in August.

Spurs XI Questions

Being in the final offers several questions for the club and fans alike. Who will make the plane for the extended squad numbers for Saturday’s showcase final. Other, more pertinent questions, relate to the squad’s success in the game, like who among the many injured/hurt Spurs will play?

Jan Vertonghen, Davison Sánchez, Harry Winks, and of course Harry Kane have all returned to training in the last couple of weeks. Who among them plays?

Who starts and who comes in off the bench and how much productive time can we really get from any one of the players back from injury?

The returning players’ ability to compete and complete their shifts doesn’t even begin to call into question the idea of their match fitness or sharpness. Not to mention who will be forced to sit if Tottenham does reintroduce some, or all, of their returning players to the starting XI.

Son has been a bit off the pace of late, but it he was, as recently as the quarterfinals, one of the best players on the pitch. Lucas Moura single-handedly brought Spurs to the finals with his hat-trick versus Ajax.

Christian Eriksen banged in the free kick to tie Everton and assure Spurs fourth place and a Champions League berth next term, even though they would have qualified for that spot regardless.

Dele is just coming back from some time out, so he may be the one who sits, but he is a big game player himself. I don’t see Pochettino playing all four PLUS Harry Kane, so someone, very possibly Kane, will be sitting out at the start.

Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko developed a great partnership before Winks went out with yet another injury. Bringing him back in gives the team more balance, but that again makes numbers tight when playing with a double pivot between the back four and the front four diamond.  All this might mean Pochettino will opt for a back four, leaving Davison Sánchez on the bench with Toby and Jan getting the nod.

Who gets the nod at the wingback positions?

Presumably Rose and Trippier, given how things went most of the last month. I don’t even know if Serge Aurier is healthy enough to play or if this will be Trippier’s last game in Lilywhite?

It is that last question that highlights most other uncertainties.

Spurs Questions Off the Pitch

Before any players in or out can be considered, question number one – win or lose Saturday – is whether Mauricio Pochettino is coming back next season. Presumably, given all he has built along with the opportunity of playing at a permanent home for the first time in two years won’t be something Pochettino can walk away from.

Honestly, everything hinges on Poch and what his next move is. It will be a much easier pill to swallow If he leaves after a European Championship, but I think everyone’s preference is Tottenham does win and Pochettino stays on for the next project that is Tottenham Hotspur. Can we have our cake and eat it too?

Beyond Pochettino, there are numerous questions about the squad composition and the backing Pochettino will or won’t get in the transfer market.

So many transfer questions remain, like whether Tottenham will try buy veteran assets to help impact proceedings immediately. Or do they decide to once again place priority on securing younger talent for future seasons?

The real question is who is playing or watching their last game as a member of Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday? Trippier? Eriksen? Alderweireld? Three of the starting XI, really? Really?

For now let’s put the foreboding, and improbable, idea of transfer-free season in the rearview, and focus on Spurs trying to win their final game of the season, the biggest in club history.