What is Really Going on At Tottenham

src
A loss to second division Colchester this week in the Carabao Cup really had people asking questions about what is going on at Spurs. Pochettino admitted in the presser after the game that the squad is indeed unsettled. I published a post last week about a rift between Harry Kane and Jan Vertonghen in pre-season but the cracks are deeper than this. There is a divide in the dressing room and it is really showing. So who are the players that are unsettled. If you look at the contract situation you can see that Eriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen all have contracts expiring at the end of the season. The players refused to sign new deals preferring to let their contract run so they can go on a free at the end of the season. Danny Rose is another player whose contracts runs out shortly after.
The main issue is that Pochettino wanted to do a clear out at the end of the champions league final and he only ended up selling 1 of them. That was Kieran Trippier. The other players he was willing to sell was Alderweireld , Erikson, Wanyama and Danny Rose.

source

Tottenham have been trying to sell Danny Rose now for 2 years.The players has always rubbed other squad members up the wrong way but his form was good so Poch decided to keep him. Fast forward two years later and we are trying to offload him to Watford but the player refused to go. Eriksen also refused to go to Manchester. Nobody else came in for the Dane. Los Celso was the player that was set up to be the long term replacement for the Dane. But Tottenham had to sign him on loan because of the lack of offers for Eriksen. Alderweirald lost his place last year when he refused to sign a contract extension. Vertonghen lost his place this season for what was apparently lack of fitness but a fall out with the manager was really the situation.
When layers cross Poch in the past they are normally cast aside but due to necessity and the new batch of players arriving too late he cannot change the team. Sessegnon is injured, Ndombele has yet to find his feet, Los Celso is injured and Deli Ali is still out of form.
As Alex Ferguson once said a team normally becomes stagnant and stale after 4 years. This is why he got rid of certain players like Beckham and Stam and rebuilt his teams. Ferguson rebuilt Utd around 4 times to keep things fresh. Pochettino knows that he has to do the same at Tottenham. January will be massive for Spurs when we will try to offload the unsettled players once again in the transfer window. Probably for a cut price fee. But this may have to be done to ensure the club reaches the top 4 and maybe even a run in the champions league. Tottenham were unlucky against Leiceister and I remember this time last year when we lost to Watford and Liverpool in a row there were reports calling panic stations. I am not there yet. The Carebao cup loss was bad but this is a cup for reserve players to ply their trade like Troy Parrott making his debut the other night, But quite frankly I care little for the cup. But on the other hand it may mean that the FA Cup is the only chance Tottenham will get for a cup this season. The champions league is unlikely at this stage. Who knows? I hope I will be writing about it again next May.