Tottenham Hotspur continue to impress under Mauricio Pochettino, and look like genuine title contenders.
Tottenham’s Danny Rose in action with Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta
Writing a column for Sky Sports, former Premier League defender Danny Higginbotham explained how Tottenham’s full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker are key components in enabling Mauricio Pochettino to implement his philosophies.
Spurs currently sit second in the table, and just one point behind Manchester City, after an extremely impressive start to their campaign that has seen them go unbeaten in their opening seven league outings.
Higginbotham analysed Spurs’ 4-2-3-1 formation, and explained how their full-backs are crucial in the success of their playing style, when writing for Sky Sports:
Tottenham’s Kyle Walker
“4-2-3-1 is a more traditional modern-day formation. One of the teams who utilise this system well are Tottenham. What they do very well is attack with both full-backs, who are expected to play both left-back and left midfield at the same time. Spurs transfer from defence to attack so quickly and the full-backs are key to that as they break into open space with pace. One second they’re defending, the next the ball’s in the back of the net.”
Both Rose and Walker have become equally as important for England as they are for Tottenham, and would now be considered first-choice full-backs for the national side.
Tottenham’s Danny Rose
It will be interesting to see if they are as effective for England as they are for their club, however, with international football being predominantly played at a far slower pace than the Premier League.
Spurs head to West Bromwich Albion next weekend in the Premier League, before their trip to Germany to take on Bayer Leverkusen in their crucial Champions League game, where it will be an absolute necessity to avoid defeat if they have any hope of progressing to through to the knock-out stages.
Tottenham’s Kyle Walker
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