Mixed International Experiences Are Fuelling Tottenham Players in Different Ways

Perhaps a little surprisingly, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was not displeased with the timing of this current international break. Rather than rue an unwelcome halt to momentum sustained by their 2-0 win over league leaders Manchester City, he chose to look at the bigger picture.

"I think we are very happy it is the international break because we have time to recover some players like [Mousa] Dembele or Harry Kane, more time [for them] to arrive because we need all to compete," Pochettino told his post-City press conference.

"We have ahead a lot of games, I think October and November are very tough months to compete, a lot of games, and we need all, I think. Now is good to rest a little bit."

Then again, the Argentinian is not one to speak his mind too much. Rather than create some unhelpful headlines about the perpetual clashing of international and club football, he might just have decided it was better to keep schtum.

Of course, people are allowed to feel more than one way about something. The mixed experiences of Tottenham's players with their various national teams in 2016 lends itself to such an attitude.

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These days it may be easier to count the players at Tottenham who are not representing their country. Even several of their most-touted academy prospects are doing so at junior level. Indeed, some of the hype and hope surrounding players such as Marcus Edwards, Joshua Onomah and Harry Winks has come from exposure with England youth teams.

Edwards has impressed in tournaments with the under-17s while Onomah actually was actually part of the team that won the 2014 European Championship in that age group. He has since been promoted to the under-21 team, though he did not feature in the Euro 2017 qualifier win over Kazakhstan. Winks captained the under-20s in a game versus Canada earlier this year, earning plaudits for his performance.

Of the Tottenham senior squad these youngsters are endeavouring to break into, 11 were involved in this past summer's European Championship. This was joint with Liverpool for the most of any Premier League club, with the participating Spurs players exceeding the Reds when it came to actual match time, per Press Association Sport (h/t Eurosport).

Moussa Sissoko, a France team-mate of one of those men, Hugo Lloris, has since joined the club. Christian Eriksen, Michel Vorm and another new signing in Vincent Janssen missed Euro 2016 after their nations—Denmark and the Netherlands—failed to qualify.

Elsewhere, Erik Lamela was a losing finalist with Argentina in the Copa America, and Heung-Min Son missed the start of the Premier League campaign representing South Korea at the Olympic Games. Victor Wanyama is a Kenya international and...you get the picture by now.

Spurs' recent and current standing—title challengers last season, second in the league early in this campaign—is naturally informed by this calibre of player. But that there are pros and cons to having such talents has been seen in the ramifications of the greater profile and scrutiny their prominence brings.

The two sides are not always so entwined.

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Lloris captaining the host nation at this past summer's tournament was too big in its own right to have anything but the most tenuous relation to Spurs duties.

Less satisfaction in his day job might have made France's final defeat to Portugal make him think twice about staying at a more lowly outfit. But his own optimism in the group put together by Pochettino is such that the two sides of his career can operate distinctly (for now anyway).

For the most part, however, one side does shape the other and vice versa, with plenty of overlap too in this footballing Venn diagram.

International honours for some of the bigger football nations do not come without sufficiently impressive performances for your regular employers.

Initial recognition obviously comes via this. Players such as Danny Rose and Kane forced themselves into the England picture with attention-grabbing, great club form.

Others improve their status after perhaps only being a bit-part player. Lamela featured just once at the 2015 Copa America, but after a strong season with Spurs, he proved himself worthy of a greater role at the follow-up for Argentina, appearing six times.

The effect the collective international experiences have had on Tottenham this season or at least how it has influenced preparations and form is most interesting.

One of the more straightforward and positive examples is Ben Davies, one of those who did enjoy Euro 2016. Part of the Wales team that reached the semi-finals, he spoke on the eve of the Premier League's return about his hope to build on that.

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"The matches we played in the Euros were massive so it's nice to have that big game experience and hopefully when the opportunities come here at Spurs I'll be able to take them," he told the club's official website.

Davies is still competing for playing time with Rose at left-back, the latter their manager's preferred option when both are fit. But bar a mixed night against Monaco in the Champions League, the Welshman performed well in a recent run in his team-mate's absence.

While not a startling improvement, there was an assertiveness in his work in wins over the likes of Stoke City and CSKA Moscow that suggest he is benefiting from a confidence boost post-France. Davies' team-mate, the still-settling-in striker Janssen, will hope for similar after he scored a terrific goal in the Netherlands' win over Belarus.

Tottenham's Belgium contingent—midfielder Dembele and defenders Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen—are entering an intriguing new era. After going through the previous World Cup and European Championship cycles managed by Marc Wilmots, the Russia 2018 campaign is being coached by former Everton boss Roberto Martinez.

At times the obligation to fulfil the "golden generation" hype looked like it burdened rather than inspired that group. The team was solid under Wilmots but never quite came together to fulfil their potential—as evidenced by the surprise defeat to Davies' Wales in the Euros' quarter-final.

Vertonghen and Alderweireld enjoyed being able to play together in central defence for Tottenham last season, a combination their then-international boss did not utilise.

If the partnership was something of a safe haven, then, Martinez utilising it now could feasibly make it even stronger. Already starting the new season well for Spurs—the aforementioned Monaco game their only loss in all competitions—that is an exciting prospect for the club's fans and those of the Red Devils.

Both started Belgium's latest game, a 4-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Alderweireld also netting.

When discussing Tottenham players and their up-and-down relationship with the international game, the most notable examples are those involved in the England setup.

Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kane, Rose and Kyle Walker were all part of the Euro 2016 squad. Overall victory was always going to be a long shot, but there was hope they could contribute to a talented young group giving a respectable account of themselves.

It was not to be. England were extremely disappointing as the squad collectively underperformed, with manager Roy Hodgson failing to build on and harness encouraging pre-tournament displays.

Individually, Dier and Walker enjoyed solid tournaments, Alli and Kane more disappointing ones—the latter two still since contending with the issue of the unbalancing presence of veteran skipper Wayne Rooney. Rose was somewhere in between.

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They are not part of the only England team to underwhelm at a major tournament, but as the latest example, they are naturally in the firing line for fair and unfair criticism.

If an insult of "you let your country down" that a Spurs fan delivered to Manchester City's Raheem Sterling at White Hart Lane last time out is anything to go by, they have and will likely receive their own barbs elsewhere (Sterling had just been substituted during his side's defeat and looked like he might respond but thought twice).

Following the swift departure of Hodgson's replacement, Sam Allardyce, Pochettino emphasised the need for his players to compartmentalise. Thoughts and concerns about England should be consigned to when with the national team, otherwise, it was about Spurs.

Ahead of the season, Pochettino struck a similar note. "They forget completely the Euros and are very focused on an exciting year ahead we have to play for Tottenham," he told his pre-Everton press conference.

But while moving on was deemed important—especially given Spurs' disappointing end to last season, too—Walker has revealed during the latest break that their manager was not without sympathy and advice.

Per the London Evening Standard's Simon Johnson, he said:

"

Iceland was probably the lowest moment of my football career.

It was still in the back of my mind when I got back to Tottenham in pre-season after my summer break.  

The manager put his arm around me and we had a little chat.

He said 'things do happen in football and now you've come back, hopefully you can put it right at the club and start a good season. And when you go to England, try and keep doing what you're doing'.

"

Walker has certainly begun the new season well. Dier has had to contend with a changing midfield scene but has looked decent enough, while Rose has been typically lively (albeit the latter two missed some games injured).

Kane and Alli were in little more need of refreshing, but the striker's two goals before getting injured suggested he was getting there, while the midfielder has been excellent in recent weeks.

With no major tournament waiting next summer, international demands will not be so pressing as the months progress.

But in both looking to move on or make the most of varying recent experiences, while also setting themselves up to do better with those to come in the future, Tottenham's cosmopolitan squad is not ignoring international football's very real role in their professional lives.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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