This is an article I wrote back in November 2015 after Tottenham's defeat against Newcastle and what a terrific season Moussa Dembele and Eric Dier had for Spurs. In Eric Dier I really believe that Tottenham have a future England capitain in their midst. Enjoy the read.
Newcastle for the last few seasons have become our bogey team whenever we play them at home; so it could be said that Sunday’s result was on the cards. It also ended a run of 14 games undefeated, in which time we had only conceded 5 goals and had a goal difference of 13. This is testament to Pochettino, who in his 18 months at Spurs has toughened us up somewhat. Teams who play us know that they are in for a full BMF style workout. Pochettino ‘philosophy football’ is in full swing at Spurs and the game against West Ham is where we saw it executed superbly.
Since that glorious game under lights I have noticed that some teams are getting wise to this philosophy and are playing a smarter game. Chelsea, in their managers own words, ‘parked the bus’, West Brom kicked lumps out of us, and Newcastle executed a brilliant game plan.
So what do we need to beat teams like this and break our top four hoodoo? One word - Leadership: Hugo ‘the saviour’ Lloris is our deserved captain, leading by example in a similar vein to Ledley King. But I feel we need someone to take control of the middle park when teams prevent us from playing; someone with a little more experience who can calm down Dele Alli when he gets wound up (have you noticed how frequent this is becoming?), who can guide Carroll (or another academy graduate) through the match, and principally let others in the team know that the opposition have got our number.
So who can do this? In my opinion there are two contenders for this role:
Moussa Dembele An older respected member of the team who has come from the fringes to the forefront. His presence is highly valued by the team, feared by the opponent and adored by the faithful. He has cult hero status; strong, physical, and intelligent in how he reads the game. If he could be more vocal then I believe we would have a midfield General on our hands. His match winning strike against Anderlecht sums up how he can kill a team off when the pressure is on.
Eric Dier The story of how Eric Dier has risen from an underused central defender to defensive midfielder is one to behold, although not entirely unexpected. A graduate from the Sporting Lisbon academy, among alumni Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Luis Figo (to name but a few), he has big game experience and great positional sense due to training in every position throughout his time there. He has passion, hunger and is the engine room of the centre of the park. His powerful strike to level us on the stroke of halftime was fundamental in our 4-1 victory over Man City.
Pochettino’s Spurs have come a long way in such a short space of time, and I feel that we are on the brink of something special. Come match day, Pochettino can only stand in the technical area and for us to really push on, a leader is required on the pitch so we can finish the job.
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