Who To Pick From Tottenham

Drafting from Tottenham

Tottenham's top five reads Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Ghanaian, Dutch, and it is worth taking in that order: Sandro Tonali at 88 in front of the back four, Mateus Fernandes at 85 beside him, Xavi Simons at 84 in the hole, Mohammed Kudus at 84 on the right and Jan Paul van Hecke at 84 in the back line. That is a spine rather than a collection of flair players, and it is why a squad rated 84 overall sits seventh rather than tenth.

Fourteen of the thirty-three are elite, level with Manchester United and a fair way behind Manchester City's twenty, and the spread is six, so the floor is not frightening. What is frightening sits on the left. Tottenham's weakest group is left wing at 76, and that group contains exactly one player. Draw it and there is no second name to soften the blow. The right side is comfortable at 84 across two, which makes the imbalance stranger and, for a drafter, a specific risk you can plan around rather than a general softness you cannot.

Which is why the legend to want here is Son Heung-min at 95, a left winger. Harry Kane at 97 is the bigger number and Gareth Bale at 95 the more romantic spin, but neither repairs the one hole this squad actually has, and Tonali already gives you the base of midfield that a Kane pick would leave untouched. Son turns a 76 into a 95 at the exact position where Tottenham cannot cover for themselves.

Nine Englishmen, three Italians, three Dutchmen and two Argentines make up the bulk of the rest. If you are drafting toward one nation, England is the only realistic through-line, and even then Tonali, Fernandes and Xavi Simons are the men you would be leaving on the bench to do it.