Ever since leaving Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino has gone on to manage clubs with bigger trophy cabinets, having won a couple of silverware himself, and yet many consider his years in North London as the time when he was at the peak of his powers.
In this article, we take a look at the first-ever Tottenham starting XI fielded by Pochettino back in 2014.
West Ham United 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur | 16 August 2014
This game was by no means an easy-going start to life for Pochettino in London, as Spurs, originally set up in a 4-5-1, went down to ten men in the first half, and while West Ham too would have a man sent off in the second, this remained a cagey affair until debutant Eric Dier scored a winner deep in stoppage time to hand the Argentine his first points as Spurs coach.
GK | Hugo Lloris
Lloris had already established himself as Spurs’ first-choice keeper by the time Pochettino arrived. Under him, the Frenchman would go on to establish himself as one of the league’s best keepers, also leading his national side to World Cup glory in 2018.
Lloris left Spurs only earlier this summer, signing for MLS side Los Angeles FC.
DEF | Kyle Naughton
Naughton’s 26th-minute red card also signalled the beginning of his end at Tottenham. In January, he was moved on to Swansea City, for whom he still plays to this day.
DEF | Younes Kaboul
2014/15 would also turn out to be Kaboul last season during his second Tottenham stint. He made just 15 appearances for Spurs in this season and was moved on to Sunderland in the summer of 2015.
DEF | Eric Dier
It doesn’t get
any better than scoring on debut, especially when you manage to pull one off right at the death as a defender. That’s what Dier did, and he would go on to represent Spurs over 350 times during a nine-and-a-half-year stint at North London before moving on to Bayern Munich at the start of this year.
DEF | Danny Rose
Under Pochettino, Rose would go on to establish himself as one of the league’s finest left-backs, albeit for only a while. His star quickly waned after the 2018/19 season that saw Spurs make the Champions League final, and he retired in 2022, barely into his thirties.
MID | Étienne Capoue
Capoue never really settled at Tottenham after moving from Toulouse in 2013 and was moved on to Watford after the 2014/15 season. He did, however, went on to have a reputable career at the top level, even winning the Europa League with Villarreal in 2021.
MID | Nabil Bentaleb
Another one who didn’t work out for Tottenham, Bentaleb has blown hot and cold throughout his career and was moved on by the Lilywhites to Schalke in 2016. Still only 29, he now plies his trade for Ligue 1 side Lille.
MID | Erik Lamela
Lamela would go on to have a long stint with Spurs, thought it’s still up for debate whether his move to North London in 2013 can be considered a success to any degree. He too, however, went on to win the Europa League after leaving Tottenham, doing so with Sevilla in 2023.
MID/FWD | Christian Eriksen
No transfer worked out for Tottenham as well as that of Eriksen from Ajax during that 2013 summer transfer window. Under Pochettino, Eriksen would go on to establish himself as one of the best attacking midfielders in world football, earning in the process a move to Inter Milan which saw him strike up a partnership with Romelu Lukaku and win the Serie A in 2021.
Sadly, few months later he would suffer a cardiac arrest during Euro 2020, which would
bar him from playing in Italy. While he managed to return to fitness sufficiently to continue playing football, one can safely say his prime was cut abruptly short as he now finds himself on the fringes on the Man United first team.MID/FWD | Aaron Lennon
Lennon would not stay long at Spurs after this game, as he moved to Everton in the winter transfer window to bring down curtains on a nine-and-half-year stint at North London that saw him play over 350 games and register over 100 goals and assists in total.
FWD | Emmanuel Adebayor
The former Arsenal man had a decent stint for Tottenham in general, but his time in the Spurs first team was always going to be limited once Harry Kane emerged onto the scene.
As a sign of what was to come over the course of the season, this game saw Kane come on for Adebayor late in the second half to set up Dier. As fortune would have it, they both now play for Bayern.
