We’re less than a week away from the opening of the new Premier League season. Although the transfer window is still officially open through the end of August, the season won’t wait for the window. As Tottenham Hotspur prepare to open their season against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, August 13, it’s time to take a detailed look at the various parts of Spurs’ predicted starting lineup.
Goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris, Michel Vorm, Luke McGee
This might be the easiest section I’ll have to write. Hugo Lloris is not only Tottenham Hotspur’s best goalkeeper, he’s one of the best keepers in world football, as he proved for France in this summer’s Euros. So long as he’s healthy and wants to play, Hugo will start in goal for Tottenham Hotspur.
It’s not hard to see why. Lloris, Tottenham’s captain, is a superb shot blocker with incredible vision and positioning. He has the reflexes to make superb reaction stops and the leadership to rally the squad when needed. If there’s a weakness in his game, it’s in his distribution: Pochettino’s system requires extremely accurate distribution when they choose not to play out of the back, and there are times where Lloris’ long passes especially are a little on the shaky side. But that’s a minor criticism: a keeper is in the game to keep the ball out of the net, and he does an excellent job of that.
Behind Hugo, Michel Vorm is a capable deputy, though a serious drop-off in quality. Vorm got most of the minutes in Spurs’ public preseason matches over third keeper and academy product Luke McGee, and it’s possible that we’ll see Vorm start in the cups and perhaps even in a few group stage Champions League matches, depending on the draw. McGee is a distant third option, and we won’t see him unless there’s an injury to Vorm, and even then it’s unlikely as Hugo will probably just choose to start every game.
In fact, the only chance of drama in Spurs’ goalkeeper corps come in the realm of unsubstantiated transfer rumors. Despite having a solid enough backups in Vorm and McGee, Spurs have recently been linked to Espanyol keeper Pau Lopez. It’s way too soon to make any sort of conclusions here, but there are reports that Spurs had a €2m bid for Lopez rejected in recent weeks. Whether he would be considered a replacement for Vorm or McGee is debatable, and at this point in time it’s not worth worrying about.