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It’s safe to say that Serge Aurier’s debut season for Tottenham Hotspur might have gone better. He took a while to get acclimated to Premier League football and unfortunately made a name for himself more due to reckless challenges and a ludicrous number of foul throws.
But this season, he’s determined that it will be different. With Kieran Trippier still resting after helping take England to the World Cup semifinals, Aurier enters into tonight’s preseason match against Roma in San Diego knowing that he has a golden opportunity to make a case for him to be a starter when the season kicks off in August.
“I start now and Tripps is coming afterwards. It was the same for me [last season]. Now is my time.
”At the moment, I have to take my chance because the season is long. If I play good, the gaffer has a choice. If I don’t play good, that is football. But for now, Trippier is on holiday and, for me, it’s my moment to take my chance.”
Right back is a crowded field at the moment. In addition to Trippier, academy graduate Kyle Walker-Peters is also hungry for more minutes, and has been showing great promise in limited opportunities the past couple of seasons. Both Aurier and KWP will get serious minutes in USA in the International Champions Cup against Roma, Barcelona, and AC Milan, but Aurier insists that his primary goal is to make sure that Spurs have a good season.
“I left Paris Saint-Germain for a new challenge. I came, I finished third. It was OK, but this season is not the same because I have a good ambition for the future.
”The Premier League is not the same as the French league. It’s been a big change for me, but I have the team that [can] finish first. I don’t know [if we can], but I believe and all the guys believe in the new project at the new stadium.
”Playing more games is important for me. When I’m ready, this season is better, more normal. I know the Premier League, I know the players, all the people who work in the team.
”Now I’m ready. My ambition is to win the Premier League.”
Hopefully with a full preseason under Pochettino and a year of Premier League football under his belt he can not only improve, but give Poch the best kind of selection headache possible.