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Tottenham Hotspur at right fullback for the 2021/22 season

By Aaron Coe

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: Japhet Tanganga of Tottenham Hotspur battles for possession with Benjamin Mendy of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on August 15, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: Japhet Tanganga of Tottenham Hotspur battles for possession with Benjamin Mendy of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on August 15, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham, Matt Doherty
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 27: Matt Doherty of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur at Molineux on December 27, 2020, in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images) /

Crafty veteran – Matt Doherty

Matt Doherty had a good start to his season last year, however, the imbalance in the positioning of players and over-reliance on the defensive midfield to cover for the wing-backs left Spurs exposed far too often. Doherty is a player more in the mold of a Trippier than Tanganga, where his calling card is his aggressiveness with the ball.

Doherty can swing in a cross from either side of the pitch and really looks to get forward. Featuring recently on the left of a midfield four for the Republic of Ireland, Doherty has some of the same kind of flexibility we have seen historically from Tanganga and may need that to garner more playing time this season.

Having already played for new Spurs coach Nuno Espirito Santo before, it may mean Doherty has some trust others do not. Then again Santo did sell Doherty to Spurs last summer so maybe the trust is not what we think.

Doherty stayed while Aurier left N17

Going into the summer, it seemed either Doherty or Aurier would go and given Aurier’s stated desire to leave, it made sense he was the one to leave the club. Doherty is definitely going to have a role to play, particularly early in the season, and if either of the other two backs gets injured. Just how big Doherty’s role is may ultimately be decided by Spur’s new third right back, Emerson Royal.

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