I now pronounce you midfielder & midfielder

Marriage is a recognised union between two individuals, who intend to spend the rest of their lives together, or so they say at the ceremony. It’s a combination, alliance, merger or even a unification under god (The Manager) of two people, which has an uncanny resemblance to a central midfield pairing.

Not considered as high profile as two strikers or a central defensive partnership, your two central midfielders are the core of the team. They essentially do every job; they defend, attack and simply dictate the play of the game. It’s a key element of any team, the likes of Xavi & Inestia, Gerrard & Alonso, Scholes & Keane, the list is endless.

But why at Tottenham do we have a bunch of swinging bachelors, going through partners faster than Russell Brand on coke? Now it’s not the players fault that this pairing changes so often, but a good partnership doesn’t get broken up, which is arguably the players job to form.

Tottenham have lacked a steady ship in midfield since the departure of Modric in 2012, which saw him break apart from his one true love Scott Parker (Still a better love story than The Notebook). Many might not think it’s an issue, but looking through our Premier League history, the best three seasons the club has recorded has been the 2005/06, 2009/10 and 2011/12 seasons, which saw the duos of Davids & Carrick, Modric & Palacios/Huddlestone and Parker & Modric form.

It cannot be a coincidence that these have been our best defensive seasons in Premier League history, on top of our highest recorded finishes. We have been leaking goals in recent seasons, something the defence took a lot of stick for last year, but being a defender myself, the players in front of you play a key role.

You cannot expect a fullback to be able to defend against an opposing winger and fullback for 90 minutes if your own winger doesn’t help out. We need a steady ship, even the worst of teams can become hard to beat or organised just by introducing familiar face week in week out.

It’s understandable to make changes when playing different oppositions, some games may call for more of a work horse, but it doesn’t help if they’re strangers. We need to eliminate this speed dating mentality. Last season we saw six central midfielders have stints in the team, which saw Capoue & Bentaleb start the season together, with Mason and Dembele ending it.

Currently we have four central midfielders in the squad, five if you include Dier (In Potch we trust), but who should become our married pair?

Dier

A player who is being used in more positions than a young couple stumbling across one of their parents Karma Sutra books. Where will he play next? God forbid Kane gets injured,we may have a new striker (In Potch we trust).

Jokes aside, Dier has shown glimpses of being a decent player, but follows a similar downfall Smalling and Jones faced at United. Playing in too many positions affected their performances, but after a solid year starting at centre back Smalling is starting to show his original promise.

As for Dier, his defensive mind-set, accompanied by his hard tackling and ariel threat, make a him an ideal candidate for one half of the midfield. He also possess a very deceiving trait in pace, which saw him reach the highest recorded speed of any Tottenham player last year.

He is a player who, over time, can only improve in this role, but with time being an issue for this current Spurs side, can we afford it?

Mason

The first spark of a shining light of standout performers last season, Mason seems to grow from strength to strength the more he plays. Another hard tackling player, his performance both home and away against Woolwich last season deserves a mention, which saw him tackle Ozil out of the game at White Hart Lane in the first 10 minutes.

Known for scoring goals from a young age, his box to box presence resembles so many goal scoring midfielders down the years, but he lacks one vital flaw, he cannot finish. I don’t thinks it’s a confidence issue and maybe more of a composure issue that the likes of Lampard and Scholes never seemed to worry about.

Mason would be the first name on my team sheet for effort, but when the club is screaming out for a midfielder to add goals to the team, this may set him back.

Dembele

Up there with the best ball carrying midfielders in the world, whilst the ball is at his feet, he seems unmovable, who can turn on a sixpence. Often criticised at his time at Tottenham for his server lack of goals, he is fighting to show Potchettino what he can do.

Some Spurs fans will rarely utter a negative word about him, his ability is second to none, which is understandable that Jose started poking his nose around early on in the summer. The problem with Dembele is who he should play with.

A player who likes to come deep to receive the ball, turning quickly and making forward runs, as a midfielder he lacks a specific role. When playing with a defensive minded midfielder we lack a forward pass and if he plays next to an attacking player he doesn’t have the defensive know how to be relied upon all season.

I see a future for Dembele at Tottenham, but I prefer him in more of a forward role.

Bentaleb

I compare this player to Jesus, only though in in the form of the immaculate conception, the Tim Sherwood love child, who sprung out of nowhere. I’m not Bentaleb’s biggest fan, so I will try my best to be impartial, but he is f**king s**t.

Jokes aside though, he is a player who has shown some glimpses of class in his time at White Hart Lane, with the only issue being sometimes he can be absolutely abysmal. I’d describe him as more of a deep lying playmaker; he has the ability to dictate the game when forward passes are available, something lacking when playing next to Dier on the opening game of the season.

Like Dembele I’m unsure if his midfield traits, especially with the players around him can work at Tottenham. Not always the best tackler or man marker from midfield, it’s difficult to see him play a full season next to an attacking minded individual, without seeing us making the same defensive mistakes as last year. Praised for his performance against Chelsea in the 5-3 win, people forget we conceded 3 goals that day.

He may have built up a good partnership with Mason last year but I think many of us have been blinded by the hype and let’s face it, together they added one league goal last year, in a team who rarely kept a clean sheet. He definitely would struggle to get into my team.

Alli

A fan favourite before he kicked a ball, the nutmegs against Modric and Kroos have been a major help to his starting eleven cause. Yet to have a real run out in the team, I feel Alli would flourish in a start in which Tottenham truly dominate and I don’t just mean the stats, I mean the score line.

We face Sunderland next and I’m praying this lads name is on the team sheet. He has the potential to be Tottenham’s answer to Frank Lampard, scoring 16 goals in League One last year, at the age of 18 this is no joke. Already matching his midfield counterpart’s individual tallies from last year, his eye for the goal could be the missing piece in our decade long puzzle.

We have never had a player who could potentially add the same goal tallies as Lampard and Gerrard and it may be a bold statement but I think we have found him. His similarities to Lampard from what I have seen are uncanny, whether it be his runs into the box, his positioning or even his forward thinking mind, Alli has an eye for the goal.

Arguably his only downfall is we are yet to know his defensive capabilities. Spoken as an attack minded player, does he have in his locker the ability to defend or even that hard tackle, which has seen the likes of Sandro, Parker and Mason get the fans roaring.

Alli & Dier/Mason

If I’m honest this was a hard choice for me, well other than Alli, picking Alli was as easy as a waiter asking “do you want chips with your meal” a simple thought, obviously the answer YES was all that was needed. In truth it was his partner that has had me umming and arring, which has left me split between, Dier & Mason.

Dier on paper is the only recognised defensive midfielder at the club; even if he is a make shift one. But every team needs a ball winning midfielder and this is why I am torn. I believe Mason could be this player. His hard tackling and will to win could see him adopt a more defensive mind-set and hopefully form a strong partnership with Alli.

However a relationship with two hot heads involved doesn’t always scream functional. We all know Mason has a temper, he especially does a great job winding up the opposition and Alli though it’s early days his silly booking against Everton for blocking a quick free kick, shows immaturity which may see him lash out in future altercations.

Ideally I’d have bought an experienced midfielder to join Alli in midfield, Carrick being my ideal choice, but based on what we have at our disposal I believe alternating between the two players depending on opposition is the best choice. For me, Dier would feature in games we expect to defend and Mason when we expect to spend the majority of our time attacking.

Now I have had my say, I ask you to choose your defensive pairing and hopefully you’re more decisive with your choice than me, COYS!