A young, ambitious Tottenham side have instilled confidence in the White Hart Lane faithful this season, and despite the fact that the North Londoners may fall short in their pre-season objectives, there is real reason for optimism.
Mauricio Pochettino has forged a talented young side and unearthed a number of exciting players from the club’s youth system, none more so than Ryan Mason. However, the most promising aspect to Tottenham’s play this season has been the form of two attacking talents that have taken the Premier League by storm.
Harry Kane has been given his chance after initially excelling in cup competition cameos, with the England under-21 forward developing into a real superstar at White Hart Lane. The homegrown hero has netted an excellent 14 Premier League goals this season, with some memorable performances from the striker – namely a brace against London rivals Chelsea in the New Year’s Day 5-3 victory.
Kane has been ably supported by superb attacking midfielder, Christian Eriksen, who has built on a promising first campaign in English football with a breathtaking second season. The Danish playmaker has been in excellent goalscoring form also, hitting the back of the net nine times, with a number of those being decisive late strikes for Pochettino’s men.
With the pair combining well and still having room for individual improvement, this youthful duo could be the players to build a team around for Tottenham. However, despite Spurs having unique talents in their attack in the form of Kane and Eriksen, there is an argument to suggest that the club are becoming overly dependent on the pairing.
The duo have netted a combined 23 of the North London club’s goals this season and one or the other has proved the match winner more times than Spurs fans would care to admit. This over reliance is natural; every team in world football leans on its best players to make the difference in close games.
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However, the difference is that most of the top teams have able deputies that can contribute if the star men are unavailable for one reason or another. This is not the case at White Hart Lane though, as the disparity between Kane, Eriksen and their respective back-up options is sizeable.
In terms of strikers, Roberto Soldado cuts a forlorn figure on the sidelines and has zero confidence, while Emmanuel Adebayor has gone off the boil and agitated the home support. If Eriksen is not at his best or unavailable, the likes of Nacer Chadli, Andros Townsend, Erik Lamela and the infuriatingly inconsistent Mousa Dembele are the next in line to grab a game by the scruff of the neck.
Although Chadli has improved this season and is starting to show his ability, the other three attacking midfielders are just as frequently completely ineffective as they are influential. Spurs have issues at the back still to sort out, but the main priority this summer for Pochettino is to reinforce his attacking options if the club are to consistently challenge for a place in the top four.
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