Dele

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Dele is at his best as a #10 playing within 10-15 yards of Harry Kane.

With Kane as the focal point, he can run in behind the defence and beat ball watching midfielders who are supposed to be marking him.

Out left, he lacks the pace and left foot needed to get the ball into dangerous areas.

Lying deeper, he's not aggressive enough defensively to play a holding role.

Dele is one of our best players. He needs to be the #10 playing off Kane or another target man, as Mourinho used him early on after getting the job, to be at his best.
 
In early 2017

Yeah. Dele's first two seasons he was used in this role.

Then with Eriksen's emergence as Pochettino's preferred #10, and Son's emergence as the best Left Attacking Mid/Forward on the team, Dele hasn't been able to play in his best position. Rarely was he allowed to play as close to Kane as he did early on in his Spurs career.

Jose finally put him there and referred to him as a forward the first month or so, but then the injuries kicked in over Xmas and without a centre forward to play off of, Dele's play has declined.

We know Dele can be a difference maker in that role. I think we should build a team around him in that position as someone who can produce a lot of goals for us offensively.
 
Dele is at his best as a #10 playing within 10-15 yards of Harry Kane.

With Kane as the focal point, he can run in behind the defence and beat ball watching midfielders who are supposed to be marking him.

Out left, he lacks the pace and left foot needed to get the ball into dangerous areas.

Lying deeper, he's not aggressive enough defensively to play a holding role.

Dele is one of our best players. He needs to be the #10 playing off Kane or another target man, as Mourinho used him early on after getting the job, to be at his best.

Nailed it
 
Nailed it

Right now I see 4 positions in our squad being settled heading into next season.

Kane is the #9, Dele is the #10, Son out left as the #7 and Lo Celso as our box to box #8.

Those are the guys we need to formulate an attack around for next season.

The right attacker is up in the air. Let Lucas, Bergwijn, Lamela and possibly Gedson compete for that role. We have plenty of depth here which is good.

In the middle Dier has looked better lately. He was quite good with Lo Celso on the weekend. I'm not convinced he's the long term solution (I think we need someone who covers a lot more ground), but I think he's got some steel in him which this team desperately needs.

Ndombele doesn't have a role for me. Right now he's Gio's backup, and being honest he might be behind Winks and Skipp as well in the cue for playing time.
 
Right now I see 4 positions in our squad being settled heading into next season.

Kane is the #9, Dele is the #10, Son out left as the #7 and Lo Celso as our box to box #8.

Those are the guys we need to formulate an attack around for next season.

The right attacker is up in the air. Let Lucas, Bergwijn, Lamela and possibly Gedson compete for that role. We have plenty of depth here which is good.

In the middle Dier has looked better lately. He was quite good with Lo Celso on the weekend. I'm not convinced he's the long term solution (I think we need someone who covers a lot more ground), but I think he's got some steel in him which this team desperately needs.

Ndombele doesn't have a role for me. Right now he's Gio's backup, and being honest he might be behind Winks and Skipp as well in the cue for playing time.

Ndombele hasn’t been awful though. He’s been patchy and disappointing. He’s still well ahead of Winks and Skipp.
 
Ndombele hasn’t been awful though. He’s been patchy and disappointing. He’s still well ahead of Winks and Skipp.

Debatable.

He might do more when he has the ball, but the problem is that he's essentially a pylon when we don't have it. Doesn't run, show, doesn't defend.

He's definitely more talented, but he's proven to be a liability a lot of the time. He puts our back line under immense pressure when he's on the pitch.

I'm not a Winks fan (I'd sell him this summer because he's clearly peaked), but I think he offers more right now simply because he tries harder. He's got a fraction of the talent but gives exponentially more effort particularly on defence.

Right now I'm planning my 2020/21 attack around the 4 guys I mentioned. Pair Lo Celso with a destroyer in midfield and I think we're on to something.
 
Debatable.

He might do more when he has the ball, but the problem is that he's essentially a pylon when we don't have it. Doesn't run, show, doesn't defend.

He's definitely more talented, but he's proven to be a liability a lot of the time. He puts our back line under immense pressure when he's on the pitch.

I'm not a Winks fan (I'd sell him this summer because he's clearly peaked), but I think he offers more right now simply because he tries harder. He's got a fraction of the talent but gives exponentially more effort particularly on defence.

Right now I'm planning my 2020/21 attack around the 4 guys I mentioned. Pair Lo Celso with a destroyer in midfield and I think we're on to something.

I don’t disagree with your other suggestions. I just think Ndombele is a better player than Winks or Skipp. Yes he’s been lazy off the ball and that has to improve, but we should give him the opportunity to get up to speed. Winks offers absolutely nothing, sadly.
 
I don’t disagree with your other suggestions. I just think Ndombele is a better player than Winks or Skipp. Yes he’s been lazy off the ball and that has to improve, but we should give him the opportunity to get up to speed. Winks offers absolutely nothing, sadly.

Agreed. I'd sell Harry this summer.

He's not good enough defensively, and doesn't do enough offensively. He starts for no one else in the top 7 of the Prem and should be replaced. We need someone better who covers more ground and puts in more tackles.
 
Debatable.

He might do more when he has the ball, but the problem is that he's essentially a pylon when we don't have it. Doesn't run, show, doesn't defend.

He's definitely more talented, but he's proven to be a liability a lot of the time. He puts our back line under immense pressure when he's on the pitch.

I'm not a Winks fan (I'd sell him this summer because he's clearly peaked), but I think he offers more right now simply because he tries harder. He's got a fraction of the talent but gives exponentially more effort particularly on defence.

Right now I'm planning my 2020/21 attack around the 4 guys I mentioned. Pair Lo Celso with a destroyer in midfield and I think we're on to something.

The destroyer being Sissoko of course
 
Yeah. Dele's first two seasons he was used in this role.

Then with Eriksen's emergence as Pochettino's preferred #10, and Son's emergence as the best Left Attacking Mid/Forward on the team, Dele hasn't been able to play in his best position. Rarely was he allowed to play as close to Kane as he did early on in his Spurs career.

Jose finally put him there and referred to him as a forward the first month or so, but then the injuries kicked in over Xmas and without a centre forward to play off of, Dele's play has declined.

We know Dele can be a difference maker in that role. I think we should build a team around him in that position as someone who can produce a lot of goals for us offensively.

You build a team around a Hoddle, a Gascoigne or a Maradona. This guy played probably the worst half of football I can remember seeing someone play on Saturday. He has issues with control, ball retention, speed of movement and decision makingthat have nothing to do with being played out of position. For me you build a team around someone that inspires everyone else to play better - not as in the case of Ali someone who needs the presence of others ie Kane etc to make him play better.
 
You build a team around a Hoddle, a Gascoigne or a Maradona. This guy played probably the worst half of football I can remember seeing someone play on Saturday. He has issues with control, ball retention, speed of movement and decision makingthat have nothing to do with being played out of position. For me you build a team around someone that inspires everyone else to play better - not as in the case of Ali someone who needs the presence of others ie Kane etc to make him play better.

Fair enough.

I guess I'm suggesting Kane and Alli is the attacking partnership we should build around.

Both were at their best when playing together in close proximity to one another.

I think Kane gets the best of Alli and Alli gets the best of Kane.
 
I don't think Sissoko has any role under Mourinho.

He probably doesn't have much value, but I'd try to sell him this summer.

I don't see him fitting into our squad anywhere as either a starter or primary backup.

Why do you say all that?

Interested to hear it

So presumably if he’d been fit and played he wouldn’t have made any difference?

Really?
 
Fair enough.

I guess I'm suggesting Kane and Alli is the attacking partnership we should build around.

Both were at their best when playing together in close proximity to one another.

I think Kane gets the best of Alli and Alli gets the best of Kane.

With Sissoko behind them
 
Why do you say all that?

Interested to hear it

So presumably if he’d been fit and played he wouldn’t have made any difference?

Really?

I think Lo Celso needs to be paired with a proper destroyer in midfield. Someone who is going to put in 2+ tackles a game and screen the defensive back line.

That's not Sissoko. His defensive production has always been minimal and I don't think he's very good on the ball. He played a very specific role under Pochettino and now that the system has changed I don't think he's going to have much of a role.

Sissoko might be a guy who can come on as a primary sub. Like if we have a lead maybe he could be Gio's primary defensive replacement next year to add some athleticism to the midfield, but I don't see a starting role.

I don't think he fills the right attacking role. Bergwijn, Lucas, Lamela and even Gedson all seem like better fits based off who Mourinho has played there in the past.
 
I think Lo Celso needs to be paired with a proper destroyer in midfield. Someone who is going to put in 2+ tackles a game and screen the defensive back line.

That's not Sissoko. His defensive production has always been minimal and I don't think he's very good on the ball. He played a very specific role under Pochettino and now that the system has changed I don't think he's going to have much of a role.

Sissoko might be a guy who can come on as a primary sub. Like if we have a lead maybe he could be Gio's primary defensive replacement next year to add some athleticism to the midfield, but I don't see a starting role.

I don't think he fills the right attacking role. Bergwijn, Lucas, Lamela and even Gedson all seem like better fits based off who Mourinho has played there in the past.

Fair enough but of course I disagree with you and we need him playing in front of a back three or four to break up play and drive forward imv
 
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