How could you improve on that squad? What area of one of the Premier League’s best teams needed the most work this summer?
The answer lies in the one area that critics agree prevented Tottenham from being the best Premier League team in the league last season: the bench.
Like the champions Leicester City, Pochettino proved overly reliant on a fairly set group of players. While that level of consistency helped propel Leicester to a historic title, Tottenham’s obligations in domestic cups and, in particular, the Europa League meant that eleven top notch players were far from enough.
Pochettino was forced to consistently name more or less the same XI in an often densely packed schedule. He often got the results he wanted, but by the end of the season it was clear that all of that exertion weighed heavily on the legs of much of the starting XI. Tottenham earned just two points from their last four matches, dropping first out of the title race then losing second place to local rivals Arsenal.
Such a late collapse could have been avoided had Pochettino more faith in the players on his bench. The prior season didn’t do much for the reputation of Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb, and newcomers Heung-min Son and Clinton Njie both struggled with injuries and poor form. This was far from the bench Pochettino wanted to fall back on.
Perhaps Pochettino could have brought those players on, and perhaps they would have exceeded expectations. After a certain point in the season where it seemed clear that Tottenham were in the running for a Champions League place and maybe even the title, perhaps no longer cut it. Pochettino needed players he knew could perform, and he called upon those players time and time again.
And so only full-backs Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier were regularly rotated. Tottenham’s spine of Kane and Dier and Alderweireld missed precisely one Premier League match between them, and that was due to a yellow card suspension.
If Pochettino wanted to ensure that those same players could improve, he needed to have a practical way of resting them when appropriate. And the team could not trade longevity for competitiveness either — these bench options would have to be talented in their own right.
Let’s take a look at how he accomplished that mission by putting together an XI comprised solely of Tottenham’s revamped and renovated second choice squad.