Tottenham couldn’t believe their eyes when a final day defeat at the hands of Newcastle, resulted in them finishing below their North London rivals Arsenal. The final day defeat ended a run of four winless games for Tottenham, which also saw their title ambition fade away. However one can’t deny that Pochettino and his boys had an excellent season. They were lethal in attack and solid at the back, they showed that they can’t only compete with the big boys but could also defeat them. For the second season in a Harry Kane finished the season as Spurs highest goal scorer and also won the Golden Boot for his efforts.
What hurt Tottenham was the vast gap in the quality of the starting XI and the players on the bench. Whenever Pochettino was forced to call upon players from the bench due to injuries or suspension, the quality of the team went down. The fact that Tottenham had a huge number of draws also hurt them, they were unable to kill teams off, something that Pochettino will definitely work on in the summer. Pochettino has brought in Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen this summer, both the players carry a lot of quality and will help strengthen the squad depth next summer.
However, with every new player coming in there are those who will be shown the exit door. The manager recently confirmed that Nabil Bentaleb, Federico Fazio and Alex Pritchard aren’t in his plans for next season. The trio wasn’t included the Spurs squad which travelled to Australia for the International Champions Cup.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Pochettino said: “The situation of other three players – Bentaleb, Fazio and Pritchard – is very clear. They are not in my plans and they know. I have communicated with them and it was made very clear. It’s not a problem.
Pritchard has struggled to make a place for himself in the Spurs team, which is why he has been sent out on loan numerous times. He has only 2 senior appearances, therefore a permanent or a loan move will not be a bad idea. The attacking midfielder is highly talented and won’t have problems finding suitors. With reports linking N’Koudou with a move to Tottenham, the need for Pritchard decreases even further.
However centre back is one position, where Pochettino might want quality backup next season, given the fixture pile up that is going to come up due to their participation in the Champions League. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Anton Walkes did well in the summer but Pochettino will be hesitant to deploy them on a big stage. Therefore the experience of Fazio would have very handy.
Sending three players out will create space for new arrivals but Pochettino might have made a mistake in letting Fazio leave this summer.
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