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OMT *** Tottenham Hotspur vs Fiorentina***

I think Dier really needs a rest, considering the kind of shifts he puts in. For that reason, I'd keep Alderweireld at CB, rather than push Dier back. Hopefully, we can keep it tight and nick a draw plus an away goal and go finish them off back in London.

--------------Lloris-----------
Trips--Wimmer-TA---Davies
-Nabil---Carroll---Mason----
Lamela--Nacer--Sonny
 
The first leg in Florence is the key match. If we can get a result with an away goal, we put serious pressure on Fiorentina. They host Napoli the Sunday after visiting WHL. They beat Inter 2-1 at home last weekend. Good team, but in a serious dogfight for third and final CL placing with Roma and Inter and it's tighter than our situation.

They have been consistent in beating or not losing to lower sides and the win over Inter comes after a 1-1 away draw to derby rivals Bologna, who are in hot form. If they can beat Napoli, while Inter lose at Juventus, it sets them up nicely for a crucial away game at Roma the week after.

So, we can encourage them to focus their major assets on maintaining a strong league position by either winning or earning a score draw on Thursday. Since we've got the FA Cup tie with Palace after that, I think we'll see most of our best squad fielded in Florence.

And would you put it past the Premier League and/or The FA to have a word with Daniel Levy about how crucial a win over an Italian club would be in maintaining England's ever-slimmer lead over Italy for the third-place UEFA nations' rankings and qualifying four teams for Champions League?
 
Jordinho said:
Playing our strongest side 3 days before Swansea is better than taking them to Italy this week and getting a better result?

We're at home after both legs, there's no need to rest anyone except against Palace.
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I'm not sure either Fiorentina game will see us play a 100% first choice 11. We put in a ton of effort against City and with 3 cup games followed by the Swansea game I think the smart thing to do might just be decent rotation for all those 3 cup games making sure that all the players that will start against Swansea are fresh. But that doesn't mean some of them can't play at home to Fiorentina before that. Our players have shown that they can manage two games close together just fine as long as it wasn't preceded by another game or two just before that.

I would say arguably only centre backs, goalie and Dier at defensive midfield would be fine or fine-ish playing 3-4 of these games in quick succession. Other than that we need to rotate quite a bit. Luckily we have a very strong squad with players raring to go when they do get a start in a situation like this.
 
Would rotate fairly heavily for this one. We have two bites of the cherry and the rotation doesn't leave us with a side that isn't capable of a decent result out there. Palace at Home and Swansea at Home are vital for momentum and the fact that beating Palace leaves us one game away from the Semi final at Wembley.

Vorm - Trippier, Wimmer, Dier, Davies - Bentaleb, Carroll - Chadli, Mason, Lamela - Son

Give Kane, Lloris, Dembele, Alderweireld and Alli a little break and a chance to be fresh for Palace and the return leg if required.
 
braineclipse said:
I'm not sure either Fiorentina game will see us play a 100% first choice 11. We put in a ton of effort against City and with 3 cup games followed by the Swansea game I think the smart thing to do might just be decent rotation for all those 3 cup games making sure that all the players that will start against Swansea are fresh. But that doesn't mean some of them can't play at home to Fiorentina before that. Our players have shown that they can manage two games close together just fine as long as it wasn't preceded by another game or two just before that.

I would say arguably only centre backs, goalie and Dier at defensive midfield would be fine or fine-ish playing 3-4 of these games in quick succession. Other than that we need to rotate quite a bit. Luckily we have a very strong squad with players raring to go when they do get a start in a situation like this.
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I agree. We can rest three or four players for each of these cup games, still put out strong sides and give key players a breather.
 
thfcsteff said:
One thing the press, indeed everyone, has missed, is that having 25 players who can all play at approximately the same level has been of vital importance here. I agree. Keep rolling as we have done and things will continue as they have done...
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I know I have said this a few times but Poch has done wonders with our players, in the short space of time he has had them together he has got them playing as a unit and they all know what their job is and do it without thinking.

It may look a easy thing to do to some but having worked in football most of my life I can assure those who do think that its not. You have to have EVERY player buying into your plan and that is the hard part.
 
I would play a strong team Thursday and get a convincing win. We are likely to field a weak team in the FA Cup as suggested by the line-ups in both Leicester matches. Win Thursday and we may be able to rest our top players until the Swansea fixtures.

----------------Lloris-----------
Trippier--Toby--Wimmer--Davies
-----------Dier---Dembele----------
-Lamela-----Alli-------Eriksen---
--------------Kane------------------
 
Personally see the Europa league as the most "dismissible" of the three comps we are in but having said that, with the strength of our squad and the mentality we have, there is no reason why we can't keep firing in all three. I fully trust our "rotation" players to be able to get a decent result in Italy. Why the hell not?
 
Time for a bit of careful rotation imo:


Vorm

Trippier, Alderwiereld, Wimmer, Davies

Dembele, Mason, Bentaleb

Lamela, Son, Chadli
​

Keep Kane, Eriksen, Alli on the bench (or even at home like Dier) and have them fit/firing for Palace and the return leg

COYS
 
For me Dier is more likely than Dembele to play more of the 3 cup games coming up. He has done that in the past (from my memory) and Dembele has had problems with packed fixture lists in the past. Dier's more holding role is also one that perhaps requires a bit less than Dembele's more box to box role in terms of high intensity runs etc.
 
Vorm

Trippier, Alderwiereld, Wimmer, Davies

Dembele, Mason, Bentaleb

Lamela, Son, Chadli​

Swap Carroll for Dembele and that would do nicely
 
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