When Tottenham allowed Kieran Trippier to depart and make his way to Atletico Madrid (BBC) over the summer it looked like the Lilywhites would have a real issue in their right-back position. Mauricio Pochettino has no faith in Serge Aurier, and with Kyle Walker-Peters and Juan Foyth both injured, Davinson Sanchez was used there against Arsenal.
However, that doesn’t mean that things aren’t okay in the role. Moussa Sissoko is touted as a man who can also fill in there if needed, as per Football.London, so there are more options than were first thought. Meanwhile, at left-back, things are looking very different.
Over the summer, Ben Davies signed a new contract at the club keeping him at the club until 2024, and Ryan Sessegnon was also brought in from Fulham (BBC), however, both of those two are injured and Danny Rose has been relied upon from the start of the season, despite fears over his future.
Back in July it was reported that Rose was heading up a list of eight players who could be sold this summer, as per The Daily Mail, but now he’s starting, and he’s not having the best of times so far this season, although he has had to face the likes of Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Pepe in the opening four games.
If Rose was to be dropped it would require Jan Vertonghen to shift across to left-back given the current state of the left-back role, and for now, that certainly makes it more problematic than right-back, purely because of the limited options as opposed to the right-hand side where Pochettino is seemingly willing to use anyone, other than his only natural fit right-back Aurier.