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How Not To Pick A Starting XI

By The Boy -

Yes, yes, Spurs are still in the FA Cup. Rejoice one, rejoice all.

What’s clear is that we yet again have decided to dick about revisit the tinkering.

Rotation in the 21st century is a good thing. Squads without depth do not achieve anything.

But with a week before having to face West Brom I don’t understand why Pochettino would opt to compose such cut and shunt side.

The net result was that Vincent Janssen was taken to the front of the class and had his pants pulled down.

You could have played Cristiano Ronaldo in Vinny’s spot last night and he too would have probably floundered.

The supply chain wasn’t there.

Alli, Kane and Eriksen were behind 30 of Spurs’ 51 goals this season, and the same 3 were responsible for a third of the 33 assists.

Instead of finding the game a useful opportunity, Janssen lost his head and tried so hard he lost sight of how to play football.

Alan Shearer on MOTD summed it up perfectly whilst showing the Dutchman’s poor positioning across various stills from the game.

“Vincent Janssen is making life far too easy for defenders. He keeps coming towards the ball instead of getting into the six-yard box where he could actually score goals. He is taking the easy way out and he looks to me that he is frightened of missing chances. Unless he starts getting into the right areas, he is not going to score goals.”

The fundamental problem here is that Poch is persisting with the politicising of team selection, opposed to simply playing the best side for each game.

If yesterday was anything to go by then the priority is Champions League qualification.

That starting XI will not progress in the FA Cup and will teach us nothing that we don’t know already.

The Janssen purchase will of course be defended by the Flat Earthers. He was inexpensive and mumbling something or other about Poch improving him in time almost sounds plausible if you don’t think about it too deeply.

In the meantime, Liverpool have can summon Sturridge from their bench, Manchester United have not just Martial, but Rooney and Rashford in the wings. Manchester City use Nolito and Iheanacho, the Arsenal haveWellbeck, Iwobi and Giroud.

Spurs? We have what is commonly referred to as the ‘Tottenham way’, which has come to mean ‘doing it on the cheap whilst crossing one’s fingers’.

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