MAURICIO POCHETTINO has finally found a Plan B — but it could put a dent in Plan D.
The Tottenham boss sprang a surprise in their 2-0 win over Manchester City by ditching his trademark 4-2-3-1 formation and going for 4-1-4-1.
But his decision to play with only one holding midfielder puts Eric Dier’s place under threat.
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The England star — who started all but one of Spurs’ 38 league games last season — was on the bench against City as Pochettino went with his £11.5million summer buy Victor Wanyama as anchorman.
Poch, who takes his second-placed side to West Brom today, explained: “It’s Plan B.
“When I was at Espanyol and Southampton, and in the beginning here whenever we didn’t get a good result, there was a comment that it was because we didn’t have a Plan B. So there you are.”
The Spurs chief was quick to point out Dier, 22, was returning from an injury which had caused him to miss the previous three games. But Pochettino admitted the former Sporting Lisbon youngster — who was a revelation after being switched from defence to midfield last season — must now fight for his place.
The Argie, 44, said: “We’ll see what happens. But football is about 25 players.
“Maybe last season there was only him, this season we want to improve our squad. It’s not a problem. Now the players need to feel the competition.
“There is Wanyama in his position — and don’t forget Harry Winks either, who is coming and pushing a lot from behind. You have to look forward and carry on working.”
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Pochettino must now decide whether to leave Dier on the bench again as Tottenham defend the Prem’s only unbeaten record this season.
The midfielder’s injury has blighted his campaign so far and he hardly covered himself in glory as Wayne Rooney’s replacement in the England team which scraped a goalless draw in Slovenia on Tuesday.
Pochettino said: “Eric played 90 minutes which was good after his injury.
“Now he needs to stop the ball, build his confidence and improve his belief. It’s difficult for a player coming from injury but there’s no doubt about his quality and he’s an important player for us.”
But after making those comments, Poch then denied Dier is suffering from any crisis of confidence.
He said: “We cannot create issues where the issue is not here. When he was fit, he always played.”
Dele Alli is likely to start at The Hawthorns, where he will come up against Baggies midfielder Claudio Yacob for the first time since the Spurs and England ace got a retrospective three-match ban for punching him in the stomach during the 1-1 draw in April.
But Pochettino said: “I think Dele Alli, from that moment, has improved a lot. Now he is more calm on the pitch and more mature.
“It wasn’t a problem, I remember it was a situation that stayed on the pitch. It’s true that he got banned but I think that it was a moment for him to learn.”
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