Former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer has named his team of 2017 and it’s filled with Tottenham Hotspur players. Spurs have enjoyed a fine year despite winning no silverware, under the coaching of Mauricio Pochettino.
On the other hand, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are bulldozing their way to the Premier League crown, while Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are the defending champions of England.
Pochettino, however, has turned Spurs into a fantastic all-round side, capable of beating any big teams in Europe. We have demonstrated our qualities this season in the Champions League, beating the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid to enter the Round of 16 as group winners.
Having twice challenged for the Premier League title since Pochettino took over, Spurs were expected to go one step further and possibly win this term. However, we have struggled big time. City are running away with the Premier League and are a staggering 21 points ahead of Spurs at halfway stage of the season.
Yet, Spurs players still dominate Shearer’s team of the year, as revealed by Coral. The likes of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Mohamed Salah missed out, while Tottenham’s Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier and Jan Vertonghen made the cut.
“I’m going for the Tottenham pairing of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld (in defence),” Shearer told Coral.
“These two centre-halves have been excellent for Spurs and were one of the key reasons why their side had such an excellent defensive record last season. They also both play in a back three so if this was a real line up, they’d know the system well.
“My first wing back is Kieran Trippier. He has been a huge plus for Tottenham. And the reason is simple – nobody has said that Spurs have missed Kyle Walker.
“When you sell a player for £50 million, you normally have a huge void to fill, but Spurs got a massive price for Walker and they knew they had a player they trusted to fill his shoes.
“Leading the line it has to be Harry Kane. He has scored more goals than anyone else in the Premier League in 2017. And of even more interest to me, (he needs one goal) to break my record for goals in a calendar year.
“They play Southampton next, and I am hoping he does not take my record! Away from that though, he is the complete centre-forward, good in the air and on the deck and most importantly of all, a goalscorer.”
Shearer’s team of 2017: De Gea / Azpilicueta / Vertonghen / Alderweireld / Trippier / Alonso / Kante / De Bruyne / Silva / Hazard / Kane.
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