5 Tottenham Players Whose Stock Tumbled in the 2014/15 Premier League Season

Tottenham's first season under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino ended with a happy surprise as they pipped Liverpool to fifth place in the Premier League. 

After a year of progress under the Argentinian, Spurs look to be a far stronger and more flexible team than they were under previous managers Tim Sherwood and Andre Villas-Boas. 

Nabil Bentaleb, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane have reached new heights while other players like Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose have rehabilitated their reputations. 

Unfortunately not every member of Spurs' squad has enjoyed such a positive period. 

Moussa Dembele had a difficult first-half of the season but fought his way back into the first-team conversation while Paulinho also resurrected his career after a woeful start. 

There was no happy ending though for those players that have found a place on this list. 

Roberto Soldado

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At the end of the 2013-14 season, it would have scarcely been believable that he could get any worse but he did it. 

He scored just 11 goals in his debut season at Spurs. He managed fewer than half in year two. 

In his first campaign in England there were extenuating circumstances. A new country, new language and teammates, a team very much struggling to find its way and, above all, personal tragedy were all taken into account as Spurs fans refused to lose patience with the Spanish striker. 

This season he played four more games and scored at a rate of one in every eight appearances. 

Soldado does not suit the Premier League, Tottenham, his teammates or his coach. 

In Spanish football he was a deadly finisher, particularly on quick breaks. He racked up goals for Valencia and broke into the national team. There is very little prospect of that ever happening again. 

His astonishing miss against Fiorentina in the Europa League should have been his final moment in a Spurs shirt.

By all accounts, Soldado is a lovely man. He's just not a very good footballer. 

Younes Kaboul

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Named club captain at the start of the season, it is genuinely shocking how far Younes Kaboul's stock has fallen in less than a year. 

Kaboul made just 14 appearances despite not being troubled by any major injuries. 

When he did play, he looked physically weak, slow and confused. 

Kaboul earned his place in the Spurs lineup in previous seasons as a dominant physical beast. He was aggressive, powerful and energetic. He could outjump, outrun and outfight opposition forwards. 

He was never technically brilliant and now that his physical gifts appear to have deserted him, he is essentially useless. Certainly, he proved in virtually all of his appearances this season that he is not capable of playing at the level that Spurs need of him.

Spurs selected a new captain at the start of this season, they'll likely do so again ahead of the next. 

Vlad Chiriches

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Buying stock in Vlad Chiriches before this season would have been a gamble. 

Having shown in his first campaign at Spurs a calamitous streak, the evidence pointed to him not being good enough. 

His flair and a handful of genuinely excellent moments led the more positive fans to hope he could grow under former Argentina international defender Mauricio Pochettino and emerge as a rounded, excellent player. 

That proved to be an absurdly optimistic outlook. 

Chiriches appeared hell-bent on removing all doubt this season. There is a talented player in there somewhere but he is not suited to the Premier League. 

His brief renaissance as an emergency right-back earned him a handful of appearances but he has almost certainly played his last game for Spurs. 

Ben Davies

Fabrizio Giovannozzi/Associated Press

The stocks of players that have come before Ben Davies on this list have uniformly been reduced to junk status. 

That is not the case with Davies but he has lost some of his value after a trying first season in London. 

Davies decisively lost the battle with Danny Rose for the starting left-back post and was forced to subsist mostly on appearances in the secondary competitions. 

Injury cruelled the latter part of his season and stopped him getting his chance late in the season. 

Davies is an excellent young player and Spurs are certainly not going to consider a sale this summer but he has work to do to get ahead of Rose in the pecking order. 

Andros Townsend

Massimo Pinca/Associated Press

Following Andros Townsend's stock this season was a rollercoaster ride. 

Moments of brilliance for England and (very) occasionally for Spurs produced great spikes in value but they just didn't last. 

Townsend reached new career records in goals (six), assists (six) and appearances (35) but his performances were still perceived as underwhelming. 

The local boy with pace, skill and a powerful shot should be leaving his mark on every game he plays but too often he fails to do so. 

Ultimately, Townsend's stock probably ended the season right where it began but that is the problem. 

With a new manager, there is no reason Townsend shouldn't have been able to secure a regular starting place. 

Nacer Chadli and even Erik Lamela have moved ahead of Townsend in the pecking order now. Next season must be his year.