Tottenham Hotspur welcome Manchester United to north London on Thursday looking to at least give their fans something to cheer about.
Spurs were named 90min’s crisis club of the week (again) after their 6-1 hammering at Newcastle on Sunday. Cristian Stellini has been replaced by Ryan Mason as interim manager.
Oh, and club legend Mauricio Pochettino is heading to rivals Chelsea.
In an attempt to ensure another battering isn’t on Spurs’ doorstep, here’s who Mason could turn to on Thursday.
GK: Fraser Forster – Hugo Lloris was hooked at half-time on Sunday with an apparent injury. Tottenham only conceded once with Forster between the sticks. Now I’m not saying he’s Spurs’ saviour but…
RB: Japhet Tanganga – Mason is likely to instil some of his own ideas from the off, starting with playing more defensive-minded players in defensive positions. Pedro Porro could do with a spell out of the XI.
CB: Cristian Romero – Clearly could not be bothered under Stellini’s management. On record insisting he cares deeply about the club but he needs to start acting like it again.
CB: Eric Dier – Very fortunate that Spurs don’t have a lot of strength in depth at centre-back.
LB: Ben Davies – Switching to a back four makes sense with actual full-backs rather than wing-backs.
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DM: Oliver Skipp – One of the only positives of this Spurs season has been Skipp’s reintegration.
CM: Pape Sarr – The unlucky sacrificial lamb during the Newcastle loss, hauled off for another defender in Davinson Sanchez despite not being a big reason behind the early collapse.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – Somehow part of Spurs’ ‘Player Committee’ which chairman Daniel Levy met on Monday.
RW: Dejan Kulusevski – Don’t be surprised if Richarlison or Arnaut Danjuma start on the right instead, but Kulusevski at least has the most quality of Mason’s options.
CF: Harry Kane – Linked again with a move to Manchester United in recent days.
LW: Son Heung-min – Has scored the opening goal in his last two home outings.
