Six Tottenham Hotspur players are considered undroppable by manager Mauricio Pochettino, according to reliable journalist Alasdair Gold.
Gold, who is the Tottenham correspondent for football.london, claimed in a Q&A on Friday (16:43) that Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen, Harry Kane and Eric Dier are the six players unlikely to ever be dropped.
He also admitted that the list may frustrate fans, with certain in-form players potentially missing out for those deemed undroppable.
“I think Kane, Vertonghen, Lloris, Eriksen and Alli are all on it. Although he was rested the other day, I think Dier is also on the list and will play in pretty much every big game. It might frustrate fans but all managers have their favourites – players in their circle of trust as it were. Only a prolonged drop in form, a bust-up or injury is going budge them,” he said.
OPINION
There are five names on this list that will not come as a surprise to anyone. Lloris is captain and an ever-present, Vertonghen is the club’s best defender, Alli is hugely influential up front, as is Eriksen, and Kane is the big star of the side. That leaves Dier, who is no doubt a key player for Spurs, but undroppable may be pushing it a bit far. That being said, the central enforcer was rested against Watford and Tottenham looked far worse without him. The 24-year-old is the only true defensive midfielder that Pochettino has had at his disposal for the past season or so, with Victor Wanyama suffering with consistent injury problems. That has inevitably seen him make his way into Pochettino’s trusted circle of players, despite the fact that Wanyama may be the better player. It will be interesting to see what happens when the Kenyan makes his return from injury, and to see whether Dier and Mousa Dembele’s places come under threat.