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Tottenham may have been grateful for the latest international break to roll around in order to take a step back and assess where things are going wrong in both the Premier League and cup competitions.

The game after the last break would have given Spurs fans cause for optimism with a 4-0 home victory over Crystal Palace, who have had a strong start to the season. However, things quickly began to turn for Pochettino and his men. Losing a two goal lead vs Olympiacos in the Champions League was followed by a 2-1 away loss to top six rivals Leicester City.

A penalty shootout defeat to League Two Colchester United saw them crash out of the Carabao Cup at the third round stage.

Fans got a brief glimpse of light with a hard fought win over Southampton, but a 7-2 Champions League loss against Bayern Munich would have saw them come crashing back down to earth.

A 3-0 loss vs Brighton and Hove Albion topped off a miserable period for Spurs.

Players are now spread out around the world in order to represent their national sides, and the break given us a chance to host a Q&A and provide some answers to Spurs fans' questions.

Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold was on hand to provide the answers with topics ranging from the January transfer window to the NFL matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Here is what was said and the latest news from N17.

(Image: (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images))

Jose Mourinho to Spurs?

Alasdair Gold says: Cue Jose being announced. No, seriously, other than it being a brand profile boost thing it makes no sense on so many levels.

First off all indications are that Daniel Levy is going to back Mauricio Pochettino to push Spurs through this rocky period after what he’s done for the club since arriving in May 2014.

Mourinho means expense. His salary alone would be enormous while he would require a massive injection of transfer money in January to start turning the squad into one he would feel he could win the league with.

The Portuguese manager left Manchester United last season following a long period of wrangling over not having enough spent on the team, a period which saw United far outspend Spurs.

Only a couple of months ago he said about his next destination: “If it is a club without ambition I wouldn’t go. That is my second item. My first item is structural empathy. I want to work with people that I love. People I want to work with, that I am happy to work with, with whom I share the same ideas.”

Pochettino and Mourinho are friends. The latter will be well aware of the struggles the Argentine has had in getting Spurs to improve the squad available to him. Pochettino and Levy are closer than any other manager has been with the Tottenham chairman yet they often fail to share the same ideas, but Pochettino’s own admission.

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There’s no chance that the free-spending Mourinho will fit snugly into an employee role under a chairman like Levy who keeps such tight control on the finances. Spurs have tried before to bring in Mourinho but that was a different version of him. You would have to rediscover the Porto Mourinho to fit into Tottenham’s system and 15 years on, it’s unclear whether than Mourinho still exists.

With Aulas’ comments about Mourinho being on the verge of his next job, it just doesn’t add up to put Spurs in that scenario.

When is Lo Celso returning?

Alasdair Gold says: There's hope that he and Sessegnon should be back in training within the next fortnight.

Both summer signings have been in the final stages of rehabilitation this month and there is hope that they will to return to training within the next fortnight. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get straight back into matchday squads. I asked Pochettino about the two players last week and he said that even when they’re back in training it’s going to take some time to get them up to speed in terms of their fitness. Neither of them had proper pre-seasons in the first place which won’t have helped that base fitness and with Sessegnon in particular, Spurs are going to be very cautious with him after he aggravated that hamstring problem on his initial return to training last month.

(Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

The Spurs boss has been pretty unlucky in losing two out of his three summer signings to injuries on international duty, with Tanguy Ndombele also missing three weeks through injury. Pochettino desperately needs the fresh injection of enthusiasm the two summer signings would bring to his squad but he’s going to have be patient, or risk losing them for even longer.

Are we really going to lose Jan, Toby and Eriksen on a free?

Alasdair Gold says: You can't force them into signing but it shouldn't be happening.

I still feel Jan Vertonghen is the one Spurs have the biggest chance of tying down to a new deal as he seems to genuinely want to stick around at the club. The problem is two-fold though. First it’s about how many years he will be offered and Moussa Sissoko’s new deal for a player in his 30s -three years with an option for another - leaves Tottenham open for others to ask for similar deals. The second issue is that in January all three players can speak to foreign clubs, who can offer big wages and massive signing on fees because there will be no fee involved.

It is crazy when you look at how this situation has been allowed to come about. People were shocked that Arsenal let players such as Ramsey and Sanchez get to or towards the end of their contracts. Spurs have let three key players do so in the same season. It’s such poor management of the situation from the powers that be. They should have either been offered better terms or sold before this situation could arise.

Ironically none of them are showing right now that they deserve a new deal at Tottenham, but they’re not alone in that. Spurs will look to get what money they can for them in January, but there’s little incentive for any of them to miss out on big signing on fees to do so.

Will we buy a new goalkeeper?

Alasdair Gold says: I’d be surprised if Spurs went for a new number one mid-season. There’s a possibility that if Lloris doesn’t look like returning from injury early in 2020 then they might try to bring in another experienced goalkeeper in January to bolster their options as a second/third choice for the remainder of the season if the feeling is that Alfie Whiteman or Brandon Austin are just too inexperienced. A certain Michel Vorm is still available although an English keeper would prevent any foreign players issues, especially if Spurs look to sign other players in January.

(Image: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

Whether Spurs go for a new number one next summer depends on how Lloris comes back and whether he’s the same player (some fans might not want that same player). It will take him a while to get confidence back in his arm and anyone who saw the pain he was in when he was carried off the pitch which know how much that horrible injury affected him at the time. Pochettino adores his captain and he will give him as much time as possible to get over it.

Is there any truth to the rumour that Son is going to Napoli? When is he contracted until?

Alasdair Gold says: That wasn’t really a rumour. It was more Son’s agent was asked by an Italian radio station if he would bring Son to Italy and he said he would love to take a player to Napoli as his favourite player, Maradona, played for them. On Son he was simply saying you can never say never to anything in life, the player likes Italy, but that Spurs would want enormous money for Son. There was no indication that Son wants to leave. He loves life at Spurs. His current contract, signed in 2018, lasts until 2023 and with his ability and marketability I wouldn’t be shocked if Spurs offer him another deal next summer.

If Troy Parrott does well tonight for Ireland U21’s, how long until he and Japhet Tanganga get a few minutes in the first team?

Alasdair Gold says: If he feels throwing Parrott and Tanganga into a tough situation will hurt their development then he won’t do it. As talented as they are, we mustn’t forget that Parrott only turned 17 this year and Tanganga might be 20 but he hasn’t had much first team exposure until this season.

Parrott needs time. Playing U21 football for Ireland is another step up for him after that debut in the Carabao Cup. He’s a talented youngster but he will be used gradually. Lo Celso and Sessegnon returning will mean the bench will be packed in the weeks to come and his next chance might come

in the FA Cup in January.

Tanganga probably has too many bodies ahead of him as well in the defence to break through right now but he impressed a lot of people with his performances in the summer. Spurs also need to sort out his contract which expires this summer.

Oliver Skipp is a step ahead of both of them in his development within the first team set up and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him get some more opportunities in the next few months, as he did last winter when he started against Burnley in the Premier League. He’s ahead of Victor Wanyama now in the pecking order and Pochettino has high hopes for him.

Would Harry Kane look to leave the club in the summer if this poor form continues?

Alasdair Gold says: Harry Kane loves Spurs and he knows the club and Pochettino have done a lot for him in recent seasons, hence why he signed that six-year, big money deal last year. However, at 26 he knows he’s approaching his prime years as a footballer.

He’s frequently said that he will always be happy at Tottenham as long as they match his ambitions. Next summer is likely to be the first time that the relationship is really tested. This has not been a good season for the club on the pitch so far and what comes in the months ahead will likely decide how Kane will approach next summer.

He knows he can score goals at any club in the world and they’d be lucky to have him. He also knows that being contracted until 2024 as one of the best strikers on the planet right now means Tottenham can slap an enormous price tag on his head, a world record fee, as they did with Gareth Bale. It will be incredibly hard for anyone to sign him.

In the mean time, Kane must focus on the job at hand. He will be the captain for the coming months while Lloris out and he will play a leading role in how this season plays out, for better or for worse.

Is Dele Alli likely to be given the nod to play up top with Harry Kane again any time soon?

Alasdair Gold says: For me, the best version of Harry Kane and the best version of Dele Alli came when the young midfielder was playing just behind Kane. Perhaps it was stop him getting found out by defences or perhaps it was simply because Son’s emergence meant Pochettino wanted to switch to a front two more often than not, but neither player has really hit the heights since.

(Image: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Alli coming in off the left doesn’t have the same effect and it seems a massive shame to waste what looked like a near telepathic relationship, they read each other’s runs instinctively and Spurs have missed that.

If Pochettino wants to get back to basics then he could do a lot worse than restoring the Kane and Alli partnership.

Who starts RB next game?

Alasdair Gold says: Personally I'd go with Foyth.

It depends how tired the young Argentine is after getting his first minutes of the season for Argentina this week at right-back but it’s surely Foyth’s turn in the role. - the fifth person to take on the position this season. I still think Kyle Walker-Peters wasn’t given enough of a run in the role before his injury but Pochettino admitted he wasn’t convinced by him.

However, that’s only what I would do and my gut feeling is that Pochettino will bring Serge Aurier back in. Despite getting sent off against Southampton and then being pretty much horrendous against Bayern in the next game, the Ivory Coast captain is the most experienced of the bunch and unless he gives Foyth a shot, then nobody else has done enough in his eyes to take it off him, which speaks volumes.

It also makes you wonder why the club let Kieran Trippier go and prevented Aurier from moving on. A fully fit Trippier or a new right-back would have been better than the scenario Spurs now find themselves in. It was a gamble that thus far hasn’t paid off.

Can you see us bringing in players in January?

Alasdair Gold says: This isn’t any normal January. They will know either way whether Eriksen, Vertonghen and Alderweireld are signing new deals, agreeing terms with foreign clubs to leave in the summer or simply announcing their intention to head off at the end of their deals. A firm decision has to be made by either the players or the club.

Spurs have to look to the present and the future in January. Yes, market prices are higher during that month but they need to revitalise this squad. Champions League qualification could depend on it and subsequently who they can attract in the summer.

The club will have lists of targets for every position, both foreign and domestic targets. Too many players they’ve been interested in in recent seasons haven’t been followed up with serious offers and they’ve gone on to watch them impress at other Premier League clubs.

Pochettino has called for a rebuild for two years, it’s time to finally make it happen. The proof in not doing so is being made very clear on the pitch right now.

On Spurs Women...

Alasdair Gold says: Karen Hills and Juan Carlos Amoros have done a great job, not only in getting Spurs up into the top flight but also in revamping the squad so it was ready for the top flight. To beat Liverpool and West Ham, to win two out of their first three games in their first season in the Women’s Super League means it’s been a terrific start so far. There’s a long way to go though and the team know that.

Hills and Amoros have got them working hard as a professional outfit now and they have settled into life at Hotspur Way well. When you see them around the training ground you sense their excitement about this season and they’ve got everything in place to make themselves a regular force in the top flight going forward.

They’ve got a massive game this weekend against fellow promoted side Manchester United at The Hive in Barnet on Sunday (12.30pm kick-off).

Will the sharing of the ground with the NFL and maybe others, weaken or dilute the identity of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium as our spiritual home?

Alasdair Gold says: Spurs only use the stadium at the most maybe 30 days a year. That leaves it sitting there dormant for 335 days of the year. Why not make money for the club by using it on as many other days as possible?

The NFL currently just use it just twice a year and even if there was eventually an NFL franchise at Tottenham down the line, even in their most successful season, with a run to the Superbowl, they would only use the stadium for competitive matches for 10 days in a year. Concerts, conferences and events are held at most stadiums nowadays.

I don’t think any of that dilutes it as Spurs’ home. That’s its primary function, the team will use it far more than any one else and that golden cockerel sits above the south stand come what may. The Premier League is enormous and football is the most watched sport in the world and that stadium will be known everywhere as the home of Tottenham Hotspur.