Three questions Tottenham Hotspur still need to answer this summer.
It’s been an interesting summer so far for Tottenham Hotspur. After finishing the 2019/2020 Premier League season strong and securing qualification for the Europa League, Spurs wasted little time making moves in the transfer window.
Tottenham have already addressed some of the biggest positions of concern including central midfield and right back, but there are still questions to be asked for Spurs this year.
To make it an even more interesting summer, Spurs have been featured in Amazon’s new docuseries, “All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur”, which is available on Prime Video. Three of the nine episodes are available on demand and give some great insight into the day-to-day running of the club. It’s interesting to see how Jose Mourinho interacts with the players and chairman Daniel Levy.
The docuseries goes behind the scenes on what was an up-and-down year for Tottenham, but certainly an interesting one. The cameras won’t be following the club around this year, but Spurs will be hoping for more success in the Premier League and in the cup competitions.
However, there are still some big questions left for Tottenham to answer in the coming weeks as the new season nears. Here are the three questions Spurs still need to answer.
1. What’s next for Tanguy Ndombele?
What’s next for Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele?
It was only a year ago that Tottenham signed Ndombele for a club-record £63 million. But his role in Jose Mourinho’s team has been tough to read. Ndombele’s price tag won’t bother Mourinho one bit, especially as he wasn’t the manager when the deal was made. If Jose doesn’t think Ndombele is ready to be in the starting 11, he won’t play. It’s as simple as that.
Will Ndombele even be a Tottenham player once the transfer window shuts? We still have no more clues as to what his future holds as we did when the transfer window opened. According to Alasdair Gold of football.london, Spurs have no plans to sell Ndombele. But his lack of game time suggests Mourinho doesn’t have big plans for the midfielder. At least not right now.
Ndombele didn’t feature in any of Tottenham’s final four Premier League games of the season in July, not even making an appearance off the bench once. Maybe Mourinho sees Ndombele as a player for the future, but it was surprising to see him get such little playing time in the final stretch of the season.
So, what’s next? Is Ndombele staying at Tottenham, and if so, what role will he have in Mourinho’s team this season?
2. What is Tottenham’s best 11?
And that leads us on nicely to the second question. What actually is Tottenham’s best starting 11? Due to the fixture congestion as Spurs play in multiple competitions this year, they will need to keep rotating the squad in order to stay fresh and compete on all fronts. That said, when Spurs come up in a key match against Chelsea or Arsenal, who would make the best starting 11?
Hugo Lloris will almost certainly retain his starting spot after a great season. Toby Alderweireld will start in the middle of the defense, but alongside who? Eric Dier? Davinson Sanchez? Ben Davies is the best option at left back and Matt Doherty slots in as the top choice at right back.
The formation? That’s another question. Will Spurs go with two central midfielders, such as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the middle with Harry Winks? Where does Tanguy Ndombele fit into the lineup? Will Dele Alli still be an every-week starter for Tottenham or will he be rotated more often?
Much of it will depend on the opposition, of course. But it’ll be interesting to see who Mourinho favors in the back three or four, how many central midfielders he goes with, and who plays in the attacking positions.
3. Any more signings?
Up to this point, Spurs have made three signings in the transfer window. They’ve added two possible regular starters for Mourinho — midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and right back Matt Doherty — while also strengthening the depth in goal by signing free agent Joe Hart.
It’s been a smart window for Tottenham who haven’t had to break the bank but have been able to strengthen at key positions. The question now is whether Tottenham are done in the transfer market or still have plans to make more signings before the window closes.
If Spurs are still active in their search to strengthen the squad, which positions could they look to improve?
Signing another striker would make sense. Bringing in a backup for Harry Kane, and a player who can even start up top next to him, would be a good move. There are also concerns with depth at center back, and it also wouldn’t be a surprise if Tottenham looked for another creative midfielder, despite some of the great options they already have.
There will still be time to make signings even after the Premier League season begins as the transfer window doesn’t shut until October 5. Should Tottenham make any more signings in the coming weeks?