Ranking Tottenham Hotspur's Top 4 Players for 2015

Tottenham's 2015 began with the sensational 5-3 win over Chelsea and, despite a few setbacks, has largely been a year of great progress. 

Defeat in the League Cup Final, again to Chelsea, was disappointing, but Mauricio Pochettino's young team have continued to develop and now sit just four points off the top of the Premier League table at the halfway point of this season. 

Spurs' success, as ever, has had many fathers and, although Pochettino deserves a significant amount of praise after a good year, today we focus on the players. 

From Harry Kane and his 27 league goals to Hugo Lloris' ascension to yet higher levels of brilliance in Tottenham's goal, there are plenty of candidates for this list, so let's begin. 

Honourable Mentions

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Two of Tottenham's new arrivals for the 2015-16 season, Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld, have been vital to the significant progress already made this season. 

Tottenham are a drastically better team in the first 19 games of 2015-16 than the second half of last season, and much of that improvement comes down to the presence of these two players. 

Alli is the goalscoring midfielder that Spurs have lacked at least since Rafael Van der Vaart's departure, while Alderweireld has been the equivalent of two signings, so significant has his presence been to Jan Vertonghen's improvement this term. 

Alli's phenomenal energy levels help Tottenham create overloads in both attacking and defensive phases, and he is seemingly always available as an outlet ball when teammates are under pressure. 

Both have been good enough in just half a season to be in the conversation. 

Neither gets a place on this list as they only joined the team over the summer, but both seem odds-on to be on next year's. 

Erik Lamela

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The blossoming of Erik Lamela has been one of 2015's more under-reported storylines. 

The Argentinian winger spent the latter part of the 2014-15 season evolving into a workaholic on Spurs' right flank. 

Almost becoming a primarily defensive wide midfielder, Lamela's work-rate was remarkable, and he was vital to the continued implementation of Mauricio Pochettino's pressing game. 

Lamela was contributing less in attack than might have been hoped for, but he locked down his flank and showed a level of toughness that helped him secure his place in the team. 

In the first half of this campaign, Lamela has married that defensive efficiency with a similarly improved attacking output. 

Before the turn of the year, he has already enjoyed his best Spurs campaign in terms of goals and assists. 

He's scored eight times and laid on three goals for his teammates in just 25 appearances in all competitions. 

Only two players have scored more goals in this season's Europa League than Lamela's five, and the Argentinian appears to be relishing a more senior role in Spurs' squad. 

Performances like those that have been Lamela's benchmark in 2015 have more than silenced the ridicule that once accompanied any reference to him and the significant transfer fee that brought him from Rome to London. 

Eric Dier

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Eric Dier has been one of Tottenham's brightest stars in 2015. 

Joining the club just 18 months ago, Dier was initially expected to be one for the future. Instead, he forced his way into Mauricio Pochettino's first team and has rarely been out since. 

Last season he deputised at right-back and spent significant time in central defence alongside Jan Vertonghen. 

Dier seemed a little raw as a centre-back but showed exciting potential. 

An off-season shift into central midfield surprised many, but the success of that move serves to underline why Pochettino is a professional football manager and some of his critics are not. 

The 21-year-old is now an England international and a Premier League star. 

Dier has been a sensation as a defensive midfielder. 

He deserves a large part of the praise for Spurs having tallied the meanest defence in England's top division as he has expertly screened the Belgians in behind him. 

Against Watford, he showed his tactical flexibility when he dropped in as a third centre-back for much of the game, helping to fight off the brutally strong Odion Ighalo.

Dier has been fantastic in 2015 and should continue to improve next year and beyond. 

Hugo Lloris

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Hugo Lloris does not get the plaudits of some of the Premier League's other top goalkeepers. 

His consistency is so remarkably high that his match-saving heroics seem almost predictable. 

Another superhuman save from Lloris? Well, of course. 

The Frenchman's excellence as a goalkeeper is more than enough to earn him a place on this list, but Lloris is playing dual roles in 2015. 

Not only is he arguably the most important player at the club, he is also the captain. 

Sang-froid personified, Lloris is the archetypal deeds-not-words leader. 

Inspiring for his individual brilliance and unflappable personality, he is a worthy successor to Ledley King as Tottenham skipper.

Harry Kane

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Who else could it be but Harry Kane? 

The local lad has led Tottenham throughout 2015 and has been easily their finest player in this calendar year.

With more league goals in a calendar year (27) than any Tottenham player in Premier League history, Kane is a phenomenon. 

Late in 2014, Kane's consistent ability to meet and exceed his own standards seemed implausible. Even his biggest fans could not have expected that he would continue in that vein for over a year. 

Kane is not equal with Emmanuel Adebayor on 35 Premier League goals for Spurs. Only six players have scored more.

Even without his goals, Kane's leadership, work-rate and creativity make him one of the standouts for 2015, but such a significant haul puts him over the top.