A Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links March 22, 2016

Good morning!

At this point of the season, there is not too much to be said for the actual matches. We're in a title race and have almost no margin for error. That statement can be dissected any number of ways, but it all boils down to that baseline.

What isn't so clear is what our transfer policy will be this offseason. Despite being an underdog at this point for the title, we are positioned incredibly well to make the Champions League group stages straight away. That means we'll probably have one elite club, one club at our level, and one club slightly below on top of the rigors of the Premier League; the need for quality depth is crucial.

As fans, we seem to think our needs are straightforward: one top level midfielder who can fit into the pressing system, quality backup striker, and a center back. I'm not so sure the club and Mauricio see things the same way, though. It's probably much ado about nothing but look at the substitutions against Bournemouth. Tom Carroll, Ryan Mason, and Nacer Chadli all made appearances while Sonny was unused. Sonny has not been in good form lately and that's not really a secret, but his potential and track record are good enough to assume he could get minutes ahead of Tom Carroll, but he isn't.

The jump in logic from one game's substitutions to a summer's transfer policy is pretty extreme, but we only have to look back to last summer when instead of buying a midfielder, Eric Dier was simply repurposed. That seems like a lifetime ago because of how well it has worked out, but at the time it was contentious. What does seem clear, however, is that once Mauricio trusts a player, it takes quite a bit to shake that; and, If we go into our campaign next year with a rotation of Dier, Dembele, Alli, and Mason, it would not surprise me even though almost all of us would like at least one more rugged player in the mix.

I'd like to think we'd try to upgrade with a couple established players based on the Dortmund pasting, but I'm preparing myself already for there to be a difference between my perceptions and those of the club.

And now for the "news":

Tottenham interested in Lamine Fomba| Get French Football News

Auxerre's young midfielder should stay on the continent, not because of a lack of talent, but because of bad football pundits punning his name with "latrine" on a weekly basis.

Alan Shearer thinks Harry Kane should be first on the team sheet| Goal.com

I can't wait to watch England fans grumble about Harry shooting too much this summer and the subsequent think pieces wondering where it all went wrong. Mindy you, I don't want this to happen, but it seems inevitable, right?

Eriksen happy to be back on track| Daily Mail

With the form Harry is in, if we can get one other player to sort out his shooting boots, considering our defensive record, I think we could put together a hell of a run. We've seen Eriksen put together such runs before.