It would be fair to say that since Tim Sherwood was given the Tottenham job permanently, he has given most players a fair chance. The likes of youngster Nabil Bentaleb have featured, whilst the re-introduction of Emmanuel Adebayor was one of the first things to happen at the club post Andre Villas-Boas. The doubt over certain players still remains however, and those names have been the same for some time now.
The names that fall into the category of Squad Players at Spurs, would have to be the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Kyle Naughton and even to an extent now Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli. With a protracted move away on the cards, Lewis Holtby's situation may be sorted soon. Amongst the four original names mentioned, Sherwood has arguably given the most chance to Nacer Chadli - starting him against Swansea and a few sub appearances. The Belgian hasn't done anything of note however, and it is still hard to decide just exactly what his real standout qualities are. His agent had even told the London Evening Standard that "His situation is not easy at Tottenham at the moment. The World Cup is arriving so it's a problem". The player himself provided a turnaround a few days later, announcing he was happy at Spurs. However, the rest of this season is now likely to make or break his long term future at White Hart Lane. A regular starting slot is a must for Chadli, or his agent may have to find him that move in the summer.
Both Kyle Naughton and Gylfi Sigurdsson have similar roles in the Clubs squad, despite differing positions in the team. Full-Back Naughton has actually been with Tottenham for over four and a half years now, but has never become a first pick. After a loan-spell with Norwich, this has been his first proper season as a member of the First Team Squad. No doubt the English Full-Back had in his mind that he had to make a real impact in this campaign, but with Kyle Walker still very much First-choice Right-Back and both Danny Rose and even youngster Zeki Fryers as Left-Backs, its looking more and more of 'time for a move' for Naughton. He actually appeared as a substitute at Swansea, but that really summed up his role at the club of 'Back-up at best'. The Europa League ties against Dnipro could be his last real chance to impress and most likely starting spots in the future. As for Sigurdsson, he was used either from the Left of Midfield or as a 'Number ten' under AVB. With Tim Sherwood now mainly favouring a 4-4-2, it will realistically mean the Left-Hand side of the Midfield is his best chance to become a regular starter. There is a plethora of Central-Players in the team, so for the Icelandic International, it looks like a battle with the ever-improving Christian Eriksen for the Left-Wing starting berth. He is certainly a player of talent, as Swansea fans from a couple of years back will testify and he has showing glimpses of Goalscoring at the start of this campaign.
Since arriving last Summer, Erik Lamela has yet to show any real true performances of his big-potential. It has been hard for him, what with the early season emergence of Andros Towsend and then Aarron Lennon's return to form. After a couple of decent showings in the Europa League back in November, including a goal against Sheriff, he looked like his confidence may grow from there. However, to be brutally honest, he hasn't really done anything of note since. A 'decent' performance when Tim Sherwood started him at Southampton is about the last thing you could comment on and there was talk of him leaving on loan. However, with still being just twenty and not speaking proper English yet, it seems to be thought of that he should still be given more time to adapt. Despite the Thirty-Million spent on him, don't be surprised if he has the most time out of the players mentioned to prove himself.
Source: DSG
