OPINION
Despite what manager Mauricio Pochettino may say, Tottenham Hotspur face the biggest game of their season on Saturday as they face Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals.
The Argentine has been insistent in his suggestions that winning the FA Cup this season would not change the trajectory of the club, and he continued in that vein in the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“Is it going to change our life? I don’t believe, I don’t believe. Who needs it more, I don’t know. We are going to try and fight to win, but it is not about need or not need, it’s about a title that would be fantastic to finish the season, play in the final and win trophy,” he said, as quoted by football.london.
Whatever Pochettino may be playing at here, or trying to get people to believe, the fact is that Tottenham could do with winning something soon.
Semi-final opponents Manchester United could also do with winning the FA Cup after a poor season, and there can be no downplaying the importance of the match for both teams.
Pochettino also discussed the possibility of playing a back three after the return of Toby Alderweireld to first-team action, saying: “It’s one of the options, but I’m not going to tell you how we’re going to play. We play with it or don’t. We change. I think it wasn’t because of one player or another.”
The fact is that out-of-favour Alderweireld returned to play a dominant 90 minutes against Brighton, despite Spurs drawing the game 1-1, and the best thing for him to do on Saturday would indeed be to use a back three.
A base of Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez would provide Spurs with the best chance of keeping out a dangerous United attack, while also providing them with the right tools going forward.
The likely Red Devils wing-back pairing of Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young must be tested on the flanks, and freeing up Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier to do that is crucial.
The rarely-used back three system would admittedly mean that Pochettino is forced to drop one attacking player, but Son Heung-Min has looked off-colour of late, and would be a useful weapon off the bench.
All in all it is a system which worked well for the Lilywhites in the early season running, and Poch must not be scared to bring it back for this one.