Who is best suited, with Gareth Bale cementing his spot in the starting team, to line up as Tottenham’s number 10?
Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura, Dele Alli, and, to a lesser extent, Giovanni Lo Celso and Steven Bergwijn are all in competition for the honour.
Bergwijn and Lo Celso, however, are outsiders, as the Dutchman is better suited on the wing while Lo Celso will take time to gain match fitness. While the Argentinian has seen most of his time at Spurs in a deeper midfield role, he easily has the skill set to, potentially in the near future, try his hand in a more attacking position.
Lucas Moura
Moura staked his claim on the role with a lively, adventurous and high-octane performance against Burnley this afternoon. Although Moura usually patrols a wider position, he looked incredibly comfortable attacking centrally. The Brazilian scored with a venomous left-footed drive in the first half in today’s route of Burnley, giving Jose Mourinho a lot to think about when selecting his team for Fulham on Thursday.
His formidable pace sets him apart from most of the other candidates. Moura plays to his strengths, driving directly at opposing defences with pace and verve. He has played extremely well in the Europa League this season, but has experienced domestic inconsistency. Though the Brazilian has now scored in two successive domestic matches and, like a number of his colleagues, is consistently gaining confidence.
Erik Lamela
Another strong option to support Tottenham’s triumvirate, Erik Lamela has made it hard for Jose to leave him out of the side. Erik, who is amongst the side’s best players this season, always puts in a workman like effort. He tracks back, shows commitment and thrives while running at players. In that way he’s similar to Moura, but, otherwise, the players couldn’t be more different. Lamela relies on his preferred left boot and is one of the side’s best playmakers.
However, Lamela struggles in front of goal and doesn’t have the killer instinct many deem mandatory for the No. 10 role. Playing the devils’ advocate, does he really need to score a lot of goals when he’s in a side with Bale, Kane and Son? If he can do his part in creating chances for the trifecta, surely he is an excellent candidate to claim the role.
Dele Alli
An entirely different prototype , Dele offers an array of alternative threats. Just coming back into form, Dele is as proficient a passer as he is a finisher. He has the ability to turn the game on its head with a single miraculous effort (like we saw from a spectacular overhead against Wolfsberger), and is able to split the defence with an incisive pass.
He’s also fitted, like Lamela, with extremely deft skill, often pulling off moments of trickery others couldn’t even manage on the training ground. However, there are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to Dele.
Is he ready to take on a more prominent role in Tottenham’s starting team, and does he have the resilience to forge a resurrected path?
He has the distinct advantage of knowing exactly how to play with Son and Kane, which he did so exceedingly well during Mauricio Pochettino’s time in charge. If Dele is in top form, it would be almost impossible for the others to unseat him from his preferred central No. 10 role. And wouldn’t it be something to see Dele added to an already formidable attacking triumvirate of Kane, Bale and Son.