A lot of Spurs fans were shocked to hear that manager Mauricio Pochettino has now not named the same starting line-up in consecutive matches for 93 games and many fans are hoping that will change ahead of Saturday’s home game against Sheffield United.
The stat, which was discussed by BT Sport during their coverage of the game against Red Star Belgrade, is a worrying statistic for Spurs fans as their team seems to lack any real consistency. Pochettino’s side won away for the first time this season on Wednesday night, impressively dispatching the Serbian side on their own patch and many Spurs fans want to see the same line-up take on high flying Sheffield United at the weekend.
Pochettino selected rarely-seen players such as Juan Foyth, whilst Giovanni Lo Celso came in for the much-maligned Christian Eriksen in what was his first start for the club. Both Argentinians were impressive in their Champions League victory, with Lo Celso opening the scoring in the first half.
It is no surprise therefore that a lot of Spurs fans want to see these players play again on Saturday, but are not confident that Pochettino will stick with the same team and break his long-running statistic.
Reaction from Spurs fans to the statistic, which was posted by HotspurRelated on Twitter, can be seen below.
This has to change Saturday. But it won’t.
— ???x (@_10Kane) November 6, 2019
94. No way is that team starting Saturday .
— brian smith (@lochteach) November 6, 2019
Be 94 come Saturday when he starts Eriksen
— James (@JimboGrill5000) November 6, 2019
Come on Poch. I dare you!
— Ross Wagstaff (@rwaggy26) November 6, 2019
Worrying statistic.
— Jamie Silverman (@JamieMSilverman) November 6, 2019
Wow… That is a very bad stat…. And explains a lot.
— John Box (@JohnRBox) November 7, 2019
That’s how you build confidence around a team stringing wins together as a team and getting used to playing together. Madness
— Braden Lucas (@BdonLucas) November 7, 2019
Spurs fans are clearly worried about the lack of consistency in their team at the moment and will be hoping that Wednesday night’s impressive win gives them a platform to build on for the rest of the season.
What do we think?
It would be a surprise to see Pochettino name exactly the same team as Wednesday night for the Sheffield United clash but a lot of fringe players certainly impressed against Red Star. Fans would surely be disappointed if Lo Celso is benched in place of Eriksen after his debut goal. Likewise, Foyth was also impressive (7/10) at right-back, but Pochettino may opt for the more attack-minded Serge Aurier as they attempt to unlock the best defensive side in the league in Saturday’s Premier League fixture.