Midfield
Although neither side seem to play 4-4-2 much these days, it looked like the fairest way of fitting in both sides’ best midfielders, with both Paulinho and Jack Wilshere great all-round box-to-box players, and Santi Cazorla and Erik Lamela both creative, skillful, roaming wingers.
In a 4-2-3-1, a more true defensive midfielder like Etienne Capoue might be more likely to feature and is unlucky to miss out here, though with the Frenchman still new to the Premier League, it’s a bit early to say whether or not he will reproduce his best form with Toulouse for Tottenham. Moussa Dembele is also unlucky to miss out, but wasn’t quite at his best in a Spurs shirt following his move from Fulham last season.
Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon, two speedy and direct English wingers are also unfortunate to miss out, but both struggle somewhat for consistency and suffer from being too limited in their play. Both would make excellent ‘impact subs’ for this squad though.
On the left, Podolski is certainly a strong contender, though it’s still not clear if it’s even his best position, as his lack of pace makes him seem more ideally suited to playing upfront, or wide left in a front three, but certainly not a natural winger in a 4-4-2 formation. Spurs new boy Nacer Chadli will still have to wait to convince us he’s worthy of a spot in the team.