Tottenham Hotspur’s defensive midfield pairing has proved to be a troubling puzzle for Mauricio Pochettino. At the beginning of the season Étienne Capoue’s strong performances had him poised to be one of the squad’s most vital players, he worked admirably with Nabil Bentaleb and dominated opposing midfields through confidently holding and reclaiming possession against sides such as Queens Park Rangers, Sunderland and Arsenal. Yet a heavy dip in form following the Manchester City defeat soon had Moussa Dembélé claiming games from the Frenchman’s spot.

Moussa Dembélé has shown glimpses of promise in games this season. He is a powerful player who shows great dribbling ability – he created one of the few real opportunities in yesterday’s game against Beşiktaş, which unfortunately led to a disallowed goal from Nacer Chadli. Generally however, his decision making has not been quick enough in making final decisions and he has not been able to perform to his potential.

Paulinho could be an option for the upcoming games, he has had generally strong performances recently, the frequency in which he makes crucial interceptions high up the field has been often enough to make this a reliable aspect of his play. Despite these promising aspects, he has also failed to see his efforts materialise into a beneficial final product for the team.

The current pairing in these positions are Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb. Ryan Mason has been an active player within the squad, frequently showing the flair and passion which fans expect to see from our players. Yet his performances against Chelsea, Everton and Crystal Palace being severely lacking, he has often placed crosses which have been unreadable to the attacking players and given the ball away at unnecessary moments, allowing for justification of his displacement from the first eleven.

The only member of our central midfield who has yet to have a proper spell of Premier League time is Benjamin Stambouli. He has been remarkably consistent within the Europa League and has shown a great capability in adapting to Mauricio Pochettino’s pressing style.

Stambouli’s efforts led to him scoring the winning goal against Partizan Belgrade, which allowed Tottenham to qualify for the knock out stages in the Europa League

Benjamin Stambouli’s efforts led to him scoring the winning goal against Partizan Belgrade, which allowed Tottenham to qualify for the knock out stages in the Europa League. It can be seen that a pairing between Benjamin Stambouli and the also in form Nabil Bentaleb could be a threatening proposition against Swansea City, and one that should be absolutely tested whilst Paulinho, Moussa Dembélé, Étienne Capoue and Ryan Mason look to regain form.

What do you think, who do you want to see in the central midfield?

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