Tottenham ahead of the new season: The need to improve defensive standards. Son returns to the wing

Tottenham are still waiting for any trophy since 2008, even since 1960 to win the Premier League. Will the curse be broken this coming season? Every Spurs fan has to put their hand on their heart and say that it probably won’t be this year. Ange Postecoglou may be doing his best to strengthen the team, but it still won’t be enough to take on Arsenal or Manchester City.

• Tottenham scored a lot of goals from standard situations last season
• Dominic Solanke is Spurs’ most expensive signing yet, can he handle the high expectations?
• Spurs have been waiting for a trophy since 2008 and the wait is only likely to get longer in the new season

The Australian manager hasn’t changed much in the implementation team. The only change is the addition of fourth and fifth assistants Nick Montgomery and Sérgio Raimundo.

There was a marked improvement in Spurs’ play last season, although it was the first season without Harry Kane. At the same time, there is a lot of work to be done for the team from North London as they cashed in from such standard situations far too often.

Defence

There were only departures within the defence. Eric Dier, as it was known, headed to Bayern Munich as a free agent. Emerson Royal joined AC Milan, Ryan Sessegnon and Joe Rodon also left. Bottom line, four players left and no reinforcements appeared.

Pedro Porro is one of the most offensively minded fringe defenders in the entire competition, but if he doesn’t work on his defensive game, he may do more harm than good to his team.

This leaves the coaching staff with 8 players, which is not a staggering number. If we add to that the fact that Tottenham will play in the Europa League, which has become even better with the creation of the Conference League, Spurs players are not expecting anything easy. Moreover, any long-term injuries in this part of the squad could cost the whole club the season.

Backup

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has gone on loan to Marseille and that ends the list of departures. The arrivals of Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall offer a promising future, both are 18 years old. Gray impressed in the Championship last season in a Leeds jersey and his transfer cost the Roosters more than 41 million euros.

However, the midfield should belong to the pair of Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr, as it did last season. Rodrigo Bentancur may fight for his place in the starting lineup, who at 27 years old certainly doesn’t want to sit on the bench. The offensive midfielder position is very clear, James Maddison won’t let anyone else in.

Attack

Tottenham’s attack has clearly seen the biggest boost. Dominic Solanke arrives for 65 million and with high expectations from Bournemouth. the 26-year-old scored 21 goals last season and was one of the league’s top goalscorers.

However, the finger is raised at Liverpool where he scored just 1 goal in 27 games. His arrival means relegating Heung-Min Son to the left wing.

An inconspicuous but possibly very good reinforcement could be Korean Min-hyeok Yang. The 18-year-old winger registered 8 goals and 6 assists in 26 games in Korean K-League 1 and his transfer cost only 4 million. Significantly more is expected from Richarlison and also Brennan Johnson, who can be one of the stars of the whole competition.

Tottenham’s probable line-up:

Vicario

Porro – Romero – Van de Ven – Udogie

Sarr – Bissouma

Johnson – Maddison – Kulusevski

Son

Source: Tottenham Hotspur, Transfermarkt