da casino： Once the home of world football’s most illustrious names, having a hardworking team rather than a collection of brilliant individuals feels more important than ever in the Premier League.
da bwin： Tottenham are the perfect example; whilst there’s plenty of individual quality in the ranks at White Hart Lane, it’s organisation and team spirit that has seen the Lilywhites consistently perform beyond their means during Mauricio Pochettino’s spell in charge, coming within a whisker of the Premier League title last season and well on course for Champions League qualification this term.
With that in mind, we posed a difficult question to Spurs fans last week, asking them who Pochettino’s most important player actually is. The results of our exclusive poll are now in but before we get onto the not so small matter of who made the top three, we can reveal that shot-stopping captain Hugo Lloris and midfield prodigy Dele Alli surprisingly didn’t make the cut.
So, without further ado…
3. Harry Kane
A fundamental aspect of Tottenham’s successes under Mauricio Pochettino has been Harry Kane’s consistent supply of goals, contributing a whopping a staggering 75 over the last three seasons. The England international has been crucial once again this term, in some way contributing to 37% of Spurs’ 46 league strikes whilst putting away 14 himself. They say goals win games and that’s what Kane does for the Lilywhites, but the fans reckon two players are more pivotal to their side’s results.
2. Mousa Dembele
Underappreciated by the rest of the Premier League but certainly not by Tottenham fans, Mousa Dembele is an integral presence in the Spurs’ engine room, offering extra physicality alongside Victor Wanyama whilst possessing the balance, close control and ingenuity to also make a difference on the ball. Spurs always seem less fluid without the Belgium international at the heart of the action and he provides much-needed variation in an otherwise beefy deep-lying midfield.
1. Toby Alderweireld
Much of Tottenham’s progress during Pochettino’s tenure has been underpinned by an exceptionally resolute defence and although that’s very much a team effort at White Hart Lane, Toby Alderweireld has to take a significant chunk of the credit for the last two seasons. Indeed, Spurs boast the joint-best defensive record in the league and the Belgian stopper has been crucial, with a unique offering of composure, physicality and quality on the ball. Perhaps acknowledging how solid their side are defensively, Tottenham fans view Alderweireld as Pochettino’s biggest asset.
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RESULTS