How Tottenham could lineup with Geoffrey Kondogbia in the team
Tottenham Hotspur is the only top team in any of the European leagues yet to make a summer signing. However, the most important thing is that they have laid the groundwork for transfers and we expect to see new signings imminently. One such player, whose transfer the fans are eagerly waiting for is Valencia midfielder, Geoffrey Kondogbia.
The French international midfielder impressed everyone last season at Valencia and played very well against the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. He helped Valencia put up a fight with Barcelona for the La Liga title during the early part of the season. No wonder Spurs are interested in him, but the fee remains a huge stumbling block as the Spanish side are holding out for a figure in the region of £70 million.
If Spurs do get their way and make this transfer happen then the way they would probably lineup has had many fans beginning to think of a more attacking approach next season. Kondogbia's arrival could potentially urge Pochettino to use him as the only central defensive midfielder and that gives him a chance to include one more attacking player to the team.
Here is how we think Spurs will lineup with Kondogbia in the team.
The 4-3-3 formation:
This is one formation that Pochettino has not been able to use efficiently as he has lacked a defensive midfielder with pace and power. Of course, he has Victor Wanyama, but he was sloppy with his tackles on many occasion and gave the opposition free kicks in promising positions and that is not something you want your defensive midfielder to do.
The above formation has Vertonghen and Sanchez in defense, which we believe will be the starting center back partnership for Spurs as they are seemingly willing to let go of Toby Alderweireld to Man Utd.
The full-backs are the brilliant Keiran Trippier and Ben Davies who has taken over for Danny Rose to make the left-back position his own. The man in goal will be Hugo Lloris and that pretty much rounds off a solid back line.
Now we come to the most important part of the formation, the midfield three. Normally many managers play two defense-minded players among the three midfielders as they prefer to be safe than sorry. But with Kondogbia's trait as a ball winning midfielder, that could be about to change.
Kondogbia could be the deep-lying midfielder with both Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli taking charge of creating the chances for the attackers to feed on. The freedom that Kodnogbia gives to the manager will allow him to play both Son and Lamela in the attack.
Harry Kane will be the big beneficiary in this formation as he will get plenty of service from the likes of Eriksen, Alli, Son, and Lamela. Pochettino will also have ample options from the bench if he decides to change his formation as players like Llorente, Dier, Wanyam, Dembele, Winks, and Rose will be all ready to help the team when needed.
This looks like a winning formation on paper, but only time will tell if Pochettino uses him as the only defensive midfielder.