We shouldn’t rule out Pochettino playing a bit of mind games with his press conference comments yesterday, but if we take what he says at face value, there will likely be no switch to three at the back tomorrow.
Prior to the City game, we had gone on a 14 match unbeaten run, and Poch says this will be the main reason for keeping a four man backline against United:
“I think after 14 games unbeaten in the Premier League, using a similar system, I think it’s not a point to change. But I’m a person that is always open to improving.”
“I’m so flexible but we’ll see what happens on Saturday. It’s different ideas and ways to play and it’s sure it’s one more idea or one more way to play. But we’ll decide how to play tomorrow.”
For some, the second half of the quote above does leave things open for change, but if he was going to make the switch, I think he probably would have decided earlier than a day before the game. He could spring a surprise, but my gut instinct is that we’ll see the back four of Kieran Trippier, Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen and Ben Davies starting at Wembley.
In midfield, after being rested at Brighton, Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele, with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen ahead of them. The only position I am not certain of is who he will pick between Son and Erik Lamela.
The Argentine was on the bench at the Amex while the South Korean played the full 90 minutes. With the manager resting key players on Tuesday ahead of the FA Cup clash, the favourite has to be Erik, even though he wouldn’t get my backing to start ahead of our no.7.
With Harry completing the line up, it is a formidable eleven nonetheless, but picking the exact team that lost at home to Man City may leave Poch open to the accusation that he’s being a bit inflexible with his approach.
I have already made my case for Toby to be included, while I think Lucas’s pace against somebody like Ashley Young at left back could prove very useful as well. I know many would advocate a move to three at the back as well although I’m not so convinced.
United did create chances against us in January, but they were open at the back as well. Playing with four at the back, we had the majority of possession and 22 shots on goal.
Certainly, we can’t expect an exact replica of what happened in that game. The fact that we scored so early forced Jose Mourinho’s men to come at us, and he will surely keep things tighter at the back for the semi-final with that in mind.
If that happens, we could dominate the ball early on, and we must make the most of our chances if they do come. If we can open up the game, we can then pick them off and hopefully punish them on the counter. As you can tell, I’m very excited to see what will happen tomorrow.