Tottenham are in disarray and it has to be time for Mauricio Pochettino to take action. The Argentine has done a superb job in North London, but into his sixth season with the Lilywhites it’s time for the club to undergo their first re-build of his time at the club, and there’s only one place for it to start.
With the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura readily available to lead the line at Spurs and players of the calibre of Tanguy Ndombele, Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso in the middle of the park, the smart place to start is at the back, and boy do Spurs need a lift.
The last few weeks have been nothing short of shambolic, and when you look at the back five that started against Watford on the weekend, of Danny Rose, Serge Aurier, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez, the only one you can make a case for as a long-term option is the Colombian Sanchez.
The two Belgians are looking shakey and will be out of contract at the end of the season, Transfermarkt (Vertonghen), (Alderweireld). Danny Rose headed up a summer list of eight players that The Daily Mail claimed could be on their way out of the club, and Serge Aurier hasn’t been silent over his desire to leave the club either.
With that in mind, it could time for Pochettino to lay the foundations for a new defensive line, and Sanchez will no doubt be key to that. Alongside the ex-Ajax man, the likes of Kyle Walker-Peters, Juan Foyth and Ryan Sessegnon all look like capable young options who can make a solid back four.
Sessegnon joined the club from Fulham for £25m over the summer (BBC), whilst Walker-Peters is a talented young defender who hasn’t been given a decent run of games yet. Then there’s Juan Foyth, who can play as both a right-back and a centre-back and at the young age of just 21-years-old has the potential to be one of the club’s shining lights.
It certainly won’t be an easy job to do for Pochettino and given that this potential young back four are 23, 22, 21 and 19-years-old, there will be mistakes made and lessons to learn, but changes have to be made and the young quartet of defenders deserve the chance to show what they can do.