Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - Spurs Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Mauricio Pochettino’s 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1) has been lauded throughout the season, with the system said to suit all of the squad’s key players, and the full-backs garnering special praise, particularly around the season’s mid-point.

Danny Rose and Kyle Walker hit a real purple patch around December/January, each getting an assist for England in a 3-0 win against Scotland, and also managing a goal and six assists between them in that two-month period for their club.

Their physical attributes – terrific strength, genuine pace, and wonderful athleticism – led to opposition teams being unable to defend against two equally thrusting flanks.

When injury struck Rose in January and Ben Davies was called in to replace him, many worried that Spurs’ form would dip. I feared the worst after Davies was exposed horribly by Sadio Mané in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, but Davies has certainly improved since then, and has rarely been as lacking.

Davies is a naturally more timid player than Rose, and whilst being far less dynamic and imposing, he does have a thoughtfulness to his game that makes him a threat in himself.

Unlikely to beat a man with skill or pace, Davies instead uses the timing of a run to get past his direct opponent, and Spurs have the players -- in Christian Eriksen and in Dele Alli -- who can find him, and who have done.

So whilst the loss of Rose has undeniably been felt, and Davies is not close to Rose’s level (at least for now, remembering that he has only just turned 24), he has shown himself to be an adequate understudy. It is felt by some that Davies’ long-term position might be on the left of a back three, the position he plays for Wales.

We have seen, in Chelsea’s César Azpilicueta and Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal, full-backs tuck in and play that role well, and those two players are both shorter and arguably less physically adept than Davies.

Davies has only played a handful of minutes in this role for Spurs, but we know that Mauricio Pochettino values versatility so this might see Davies kept on longer than he otherwise might be.

On the other flank, Walker was Mr Consistent for most of the season – arguably Spurs’ most solid performer in the first third of the season, with some fans still mentioning him in discussions about Spurs’ Player of the Year in recent days. Indeed, he was named as the right-back in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the first time since 2011/12, and has been spoken of as one of the best right-backs in Europe.

Walker is one of the best in the league at making gains down the right, using his technical dribbling ability and pace to surge past opposition players. He then prefers to cut the ball back to others to produce a cross or final pass, not often trusting himself to deliver a final ball that will create a goal-scoring opportunity.

That irks some sections of the support, who would prefer a more constant supply line, even if a high proportion of those crosses might be unsuccessful; ‘if you don’t buy a ticket’.

In this respect, Kieran Trippier, Walker’s understudy, offers the ideal alternative. What Trippier lacks in athleticism and the ability to go past a player, he more than makes up for in his knack of crossing -- particularly on the run, a notoriously difficult skill. Trippier tends to cross from deeper areas, and he has a terrific delivery, curving the ball into the box nice and flat with plenty of pace.

Amidst reports that Walker had had a falling out with his manager over concerns that he cannot manage two matches in a week, Trippier was thrust into the starting line-up in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.

Without these rumours, one might have been able to assign the selection to Chelsea’s vulnerability to two Eriksen crosses from the right channel in the league match at White Hart Lane in January, both of which Dele Alli headed home.

(Image: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

Trippier’s ability to whip in early balls could have appealed to Pochettino given the success in that match. However, in selecting Trippier against Arsenal in the final North London Derby at White Hart Lane, Pochettino seemed to underline the point that something more was at play.

Because whilst Trippier is an excellent crosser of the ball, he is lacking in other areas of his game, and has come particularly unstuck against teams that play a more traditional back four.

He was taken apart by Monaco’s Benjamin Mendy and Thomas Lemar and also had an uneasy display against his former club, Burnley, where Scott Arfield and the overlapping Stephen Ward had the better of him at times. However, Trippier has excelled against teams that play with wing-backs, and he has picked up three assists in his two matches against Watford, for example.

With rumours building of widespread interest in Kyle Walker, talk has turned to whether his near-namesake, the 20-year old, Kyle Walker-Peters, might be ready to step up to the first team squad. Stylistically, Walker-Peters is far more Walker than Trippier. His key strengths are his athleticism and his dribbling.

He has wonderful balance and tight control and the ability to beat players with skill, pace or both. Originally a forward, he has improved defensively over a number of years, but would be well-suited to the 3-4-3, as it would give him attacking freedom. However, he has yet to play a single minute of senior competitive football, and it would be a huge ask for him to step up immediately.

I was hoping that Walker-Peters would be brought in over the course of this campaign, and wondered whether he might be groomed as Walker’s long-term successor. That has not happened, and now with the suggestion that Walker might leave, this awkwardly accelerated scenario causes a problem.

As well as Trippier has done, he has only played 391 Premier League minutes, has mostly played against weaker teams, and has been less effective against more competent opponents.

It would be a huge ask for him to step up to first choice and maintain Walker’s levels of this year, whilst a totally untried Walker-Peters would presumably have to be asked to play some Champions League and domestic cup football.

This seems to be an unnecessary risk and, instead, I suspect that Spurs would need to replace Walker -- perhaps they would even look to Monaco for a solution -- Djibril Sidibe is highly-rated for good reason.

Only six players have played more minutes for Spurs than Kyle Walker across the season --the 3169 minutes (with three matches still to go) is the most he has managed since 2012/13, and hopefully he can use this point to convince Pochettino that his fitness can be trusted, as he would be a huge loss to the squad.