[dropcap]W[/dropcap]elcome to the first installment of This Week in North London, a blog that will specifically talk only about Tottenham Hotspur and the happenings around the club from White Hart Lane. The EPL season is upon us once again, so let’s jump right into the happenings for the Lilywhites.
Tottenham Hotspur and Seattle Sounders reach agreement for transfer of DeAndre Yedlin.
We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Seattle Sounders for the transfer of DeAndre Yedlin. pic.twitter.com/nfBTmI96Kv
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 13, 2014
DeAndre Yedlin is pictured playing in the 2013 MLS All-Star game. The Tottenham Hotspur announced Wednesday that they signed a deal with Yeldin. Photo/Wikimedia Commons
This has been rumored for several weeks, though Spurs only jumped into the race for the 21-year-old right back about a week and a half ago, or at least, that’s when the silly season rumors started up. Spurs, of course, just completed a North American tour that included a stop in Seattle. If rumors are to be believed, Yedlin caught the eye of Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy during their friendly. AS Roma had been rumored to be interested in Yedlin as well, but those talks apparently fell through long enough for Spurs to sign the right back.
The transfer is worth an estimated $4 million, and due to his “homegrown” status, Seattle is reportedly going to get 75% of that transfer fee, per the MLS transfer rules that make absolutely no sense to anyone.
The deal is not a buy-and-loan but, rather, a delayed transfer. Yedlin will complete the 2014 MLS season with Seattle, then it is believed that he will join Spurs when the January window opens up and, in all likelihood, be put on a short loan elsewhere, more than likely to the SkyBet Championship League. Don’t expect to see him take the pitch for Spurs until the 2015 season unless an absolute disaster happens and Spurs are rocked by injuries.
Spurs open up the season against West Ham United.
Spurs start out the season with a short trip to the Boleyn Ground to take on the Hammers of West Ham United. The Hammers have not had a great pre-season as they made a trip down under to do a tour of Australia, dropping decisions to the likes of Wellington Phoenix (1-2) and Sydney FC (1-3). They did manage to grab their first win of the preseason against Sampdoria on the 9th, a 3-2 decision. However, the attack has looked lackluster and Sam Allardyce is already under fire. He will need a great start to keep the rumors of his eventual sacking away. The Hammers are expected to finish mid-table and stay out of the relegation zone, but you never can tell with the East Londoners.
Predicting the Starting XI for Spurs.
This is difficult, as Pochettino has made it clear he did not have a lineup ready to go just two days after a 2-1 victory of Schalke 04 of the German Bundesliga. Let’s take a look at the projected Starting XI after watching the rotation of players in the pre-season.
Pochettino has favored a 4-2-3-1 attack that is a high press, so that immediately eliminates Michael Dawson from the back line as he was shredded last season in a similar system, as well as much of the preseason. Kaboul and Vertonghen should be fit and ready to go, though there’s an outside chance that newcomer Eric Dier could even be considered, though this is extremely unlikely.
Etienne Capoue has had a fantastic preseason and should be in the DM position. Nabil Bentaleb saw ample minutes in the 6-1 thrashing of Celtic and the victory over Schalke 04. I have him slotted into the second DM/DLP position.
The attack is a toss up. The only sure things are Christian Eriksen at the 10 and Erik Lamela out right. The left side could be filled by any combination of Andros Townsend, Aaron Lennon, or Nacer Chadli, though Chadli is a long shot and has been linked to several clubs as a possible transfer exit. My money is on Townsend to take the left mid/wing position.
The striker position is anyone’s guess. Roberto Soldado, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Harry Kane have all seen significant time in the preseason, though Adebayor only in the last two matches as he dealt with a bout of malaria that kept him home for the North American tour. It’s good to see him up on his feet, let alone playing as malaria is nothing to be trifled with. Soldado seems to be the safe choice, but Harry Kane has impressed a lot of supporters and coaches in this preseason and could very well steal the start in the opener. No matter who Pochettino goes with, this attack should have more teeth than last year as all three are itching to get to it in this new system.
Spurs draw AEL Cyprus in Europa League play-off
Next Thursday, Spurs will take on AEL Cyprus in the first of two legs of the Europa League play-off. We’ll cover the preview more in depth next week, but Spurs will make the journey to the Mediterranean island first before the return leg at White Hart Lane the following week.
