Tottenham Hotspur Players Who Should Be Axed by Mauricio Pochettino
Contrary to some over-eager reports, Tottenham Hotspur are not in crisis. They are, though, struggling for form ahead of the most important game of their young season.
When Tottenham meet Arsenal in Saturday's north London derby, they will do so without a Premier League win since August.
In the interim, they have been embarrassed at home twice by Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion and earned a spotty draw against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
In both home defeats, there was a failure of both style and substance as Spurs resembled more the dull Andre Villas-Boas team than Mauricio Pochettino's dynamic Southampton.
No sensible commentator is calling for the Argentinian's head, but there are clearly changes that must be made.
Several of Tottenham's supposed stars have repeatedly proven themselves to be unworthy of a place in the lineup. Pochettino himself criticised his players, per the Press Association via The National, after the 1-0 defeat to the Baggies.
He confirmed his willingness to drop his stars per the Evening Standard's Nik Simon, and, according to the Mirror's Darren Lewis, is "desperate" to unearth a leader among his talented squad.
Here are five players whom Pochettino should drop ahead of Spurs' clash with their bitter rivals.
Emmanuel Adebayor
1 of 5
To lay the blame of Tottenham's recent poor form exclusively at Emmanuel Adebayor's feet would be unfair.
Very few Spurs players have emerged from the month of September with enhanced reputations. Adebayor's has fallen further than most.
While it is true that Adebayor has a fine record of scoring against his former club, he has done nothing to retain his starting role.
Adebayor started each of Tottenham's three most recent league games. In that time he has failed to score and, in truth, failed to contribute anything of note.
The striker is, to be charitable, mercurial.
He can be a genuinely brilliant player at times, but he is also happy to drift through games. Spurs cannot afford to accommodate his lethargic approach.
His appointment as one of Spurs' new vice-captains was puzzling but perhaps speaks to his position within the squad. He wears the armband for his national team and displayed very real leadership qualities during the 2010 terrorist attack on Togo's team coach, so the decision is not without merit, though it does make it a little more difficult to drop him.
Whether Pochettino is willing to back up his tough words with tough decisions remains to be seen.
Adebayor is a more flexible player than Roberto Soldado. Soldado is his direct rival, but the two are very different players.
Soldado's aptitude for finishing, particularly on quick breaks, makes him ideally suited to Mauricio Pochettino's energetic aggressive system.
His restoration to the lineup could inject an urgency that has been lacking in recent weeks while Adebayor would benefit from a return to the substitutes' bench.
Mousa Dembele
2 of 5
Mauricio Pochettino is searching for balance. Christian Eriksen and Etienne Capoue sit at either end of the spectrum of midfield players.
Eriksen is a purely attacking player while Capoue's mindset is far more defensive. Spurs need to find a third man to bridge the gap between the two.
Luka Modric once fulfilled this role for Spurs beautifully. Supplying the "pass before the pass" is a highly under-rated quality and Modric excelled there for Tottenham as he now does for Real Madrid.
Mousa Dembele should have been the man to fill that void.
A different style of player but once capable of comparable brilliance, Dembele is no longer the man that he was. It is possible that, with time, he will recover his best form, but it is equally plausible that persistent hip injuries have left too much permanent damage.
Either way, Tottenham's first team should not be a convalescent ward. Spurs cannot afford to start a player that is stumbling vaguely towards fitness.
Pochettino must remove Dembele from the starting lineup immediately.
Paulinho and Benjamin Stambouli are the only realistic candidates to step into the breach against Arsenal. The Frenchman has made two encouraging appearances so far and should be the one to take Dembele's place.
If Dembele returns to powerful yet elegant midfield force that he once was, Spurs will profit. But they will only continue to lose with him in his currently diminished state.
Younes Kaboul
3 of 5
Younes Kaboul was appointed Tottenham captain by Mauricio Pochettino only two weeks ago. He has already played himself out of the first team.
Kaboul, much like Dembele, was once an excellent player. He is now equally ravaged by injury and lacks the imposing physicality and brash confidence that defined him.
In some cruel twist, Spurs have seen their last two captains undone by a knee injury and an unsuitability to the system. Kaboul is diminished by both.
Despite his recent promotion, dropping Kaboul is the simplest decision for Pochettino to make.
In his first stint at Spurs, Kaboul was a physical specimen but lacked the mental fortitude. After a brief period with Portsmouth, he returned to White Hart Lane as a matured defender. He now seems to have regressed mentally. His poor positioning and sleepy defending for Liverpool's crucial opening goal in the 3-0 reverse in August was vintage 2007 Kaboul.
The Frenchman's unacceptable performance against West Brom should be the final justification for his removal.
Jan Vertonghen is ready and able to take both his position and the leadership of Spurs' back line.
Vlad Chiriches
4 of 5
The Romanian wildcard is a thrilling player to watch, but thrilling defenders do not last in the Premier League.
Vlad Chiriches won't be the one to buck that trend.
He should certainly retain a role in Pochettino's squad, but Chiriches cannot be relied upon against the best teams.
With the derby having assumed even more significance than usual, given Spurs' poor form, Chiriches is simply too great a liability.
The reliable Federico Fazio should be installed in his place. His debut in Europe was extremely promising. Apart from one misjudged leap, the Argentinian defender was assured and imposing. He is the perfect foil for Vertonghen's more artful approach.
Eric Dier
5 of 5
Eric Dier is likely to be an unpopular inclusion on this list. The defender made the best possible start to his Tottenham career, scoring the winning goal at Upton Park on the opening day of the season, but the time is right for the young defender to be taken out of the lineup.
Dier is just 20 years old. After signing from Sporting in the summer, it was realistic to question whether he would see sufficient playing time to continue his development.
He has played every league game so far this season. Four of those five appearances have come as a right-back, instead of his preferred centre-back.
Excellent against West Ham United on debut and good again against Queens Park Rangers, Dier conceded a penalty against Liverpool and was a little ragged in the home defeat to West Brom.
Dier is deserving of little criticism and certainly is not directly to blame for Spurs' predicament.
He is in little danger of burning out or being over-exposed but would benefit from a short break.
However, unless Kyle Walker rapidly returns to fitness, Dier is unlikely to lose his place in the lineup as Kyle Naughton is a vastly inferior option.
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