Here are your Tottenham Hotspur morning headlines for Tuesday, 11 November.
Merson “horribly wrong” on Kane
Former Arsenal star Paul Merson has admitted he got it “horribly wrong” on his claims that Tottenham striker Harry Kane would struggle under Jose Mourinho.
Having previously claimed the England captain would not thrive in a Mourinho side, Merson has now held his hands up.
“But you're right I am wrong there mate, Harry Kane will score goals wherever he goes. He's a top centre-forward and I have to admit that I got that horribly wrong,” he said in a video posted on Twitter.
It comes after Merson told his employers Sky Sports in June: “When Jose took the job I worried for Harry Kane.
“He played under [Mauricio] Pochettino and Tottenham had a go wherever they went. There were goals, there were crosses, there were shots.
“He's going to be playing up front on his own and it is going to be hard work. In the end he is trying to hit 60-yard passes just to get involved in the game and that's not Harry Kane.
“I don't see him getting 25-30 goals a season the way Jose will want to play, and he [Mourinho] won't want to play like it was when he first got in there, 4-2s and 5-3s, no way.'”
Spurs face dilemma over Lamela
Erik Lamela is entering the final 18 months of his contract and Spurs now have a decision to make over his future.
The Argentine has been at the club since 2013 and football.london have highlighted the pros and cons of keeping him at the club.
Now 28, this probably represents the last chance for Tottenham to cash in on the forward, which is a tempting option considering he has missed two-thirds of league games since 2015/16 through injury.
There are also plenty of other options in the final third including Lucas Moura, Son Heung-min, Gareth Bale and Steven Bergwijn.
However, Lamela’s pros outweigh his cons and he is a forward ideally suited to Mourinho’s style of play, so it could be worth keeping him around.
Mourinho may have to make sacrifice
Mourinho fielded Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Gareth Bale from the start for the first time in Sunday’s 1-0 win at West Brom.
However, as argued by football.london, the Welshman may have to be sacrificed in future matches as his presence in the front three could leave the team unbalanced.
Full-backs Matt Doherty and Sergio Reguilon provide an attacking threat, while a possible midfield trio of Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is also attack-minded.
With this in mind, Erik Lamela could be poised to take Bale’s place in certain matches due to his defensive attributes.
As Spurs now have an almost fully-fit squad, Mourinho’s plans will start to become clearer soon.
