1st September 2020

‘Fixture Chaos’

The early season schedule has led to a sense of panic amongst some Spurs fans, but I just wanted to briefly attempt to allay some of that panic by illustrating how we could manage the congestion.

The below assumes that George Marsh, Anthony Georgiou and Serge Aurier are gone, but that Tanguy Ndombele and Juan Foyth have stayed. It shows the absolute necessity for us to sign a deputy for Harry Kane, and assumes that we will sign someone.

In addition, it recognises that we can still loan players out *after* the final game listed here.

It is based upon Mourinho prioritising the league (as I believe he will) and using the squad against the weaker opposition that we will face in the cup competitions.

17/09 – PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (A)

Hart; Gedson, Sanchez, Foyth, Cirkin; Winks, Ndombele; Sissoko, Roles, Bergwijn; <striker>

20/09 – Southampton (A)

Lloris; Doherty, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies; Hojbjerg, Lo Celso; Lucas, Dele, Son; Kane

22/09 – League Cup Third Round

Gazzaniga; Tanganga, Carter-Vickers, Sanchez, Sessegnon; Sissoko, White; Clarke, Lamela, Bergwijn; <striker>

24/09 – Europa League Qualifier, Romania or Macedonia (A)

Hart; Gedson, Foyth, Dier, Cirkin; Winks, Ndombele; Lucas, Roles, Dele; <striker>

26/09 – Newcastle United (H)

Lloris; Doherty, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies; Hojbjerg, Lo Celso; Sissoko, Bergwijn, Son; Kane

29/09 – League Cup Fourth Round

Gazzaniga; Tanganga, Carter-Vickers, Dier, Sessegnon; Winks, White; Lamela, Ndombele, Dele; Lucas

01/10 – Europa League Qualifier, TBC

Hart; Gedson, Sanchez, Foyth, Cirkin; Sissoko, Lo Celso; Clarke, Roles, Bergwijn; <striker>

03/10 – Manchester United (A)

Lloris; Doherty, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies; Hojbjerg, Winks; Lucas, Dele, Son; Kane

Obviously there will be some fans that feel that some of the above teams are too inexperienced and that we need to go full-strength (or close to full-strength) in the majority of matches. The above is an extreme example of what we *could* do if we were to rotate fully. The reality will probably see us make fewer changes, but puts the players at risk as they are not getting as much time to recover during games.

Even with a squad that we perceive to be quite small, though, it shows how it’s possible to manage such an intense run of matches.

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Sweetsman1st September 2020 at 20:33
I think he will only use two GKs and that Gazzaniga will miss out. It is quite a gamble to put young players into single game knockouts in Europa and opens Mourinho up to a lot of egg on face. I think he will want to make sure he is getting through cup competitions in the early part of the season.
Latchmere1st September 2020 at 20:51
Agreed @Sweetsman. That team to play the first Europa League game has never played together before, and is handing full debuts to up to three players. I think the club needs all the revenue it can get right now, and missing out on the group stages of the EL will damage our ability to attract players at the end of the window. I think we need a LB, RB, ball carrying CM (assuming Tanguy is off) and another striker, all of whom are at first team level, and only then can we compete
Keith2nd September 2020 at 16:14
We need European football till at least March but hopefully May . As for the League Cup that’s only important if you make the Semis . So play a young team in that competition.
jod7th September 2020 at 14:55
Fans believe we should put full strength teams into all games because they believe players can play an unlimited number of games without their performance levels dropping or injuries increasing. I struggle to understand how anyone can actually believe that but then there are people who still don't believe in global warming so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. The crazy thing is with modern sports science managers in pretty much every sport have the numbers to understand exactly where their players are. If the fringe players can't get us through the early cup games then our squad is simply not strong enough to sustain multiple competitions. We saw from Wolves how you can play a lot of football and come away with nothing.

‘Fixture Chaos’

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