Patterns emerging in our squad with pieces of the puzzle falling into place for our two XIs.

A dissective thread following here.

Let's start with the midfield and use that as the frame to connect the pieces in defense and attack. Ndombele plays better with Sissoko, who seems more calm with Hoiberg directing traffic. Add Aurier to that puzzle and you have chemistry. RB sorted.

It's apparent to me that Lamela, Kane and Son are a diverse but compatible trio. Lamela provides a lot of hustle and defensive work and seems to energize Sonny and Kane as well. That trio works for me.

LB - Regui seems to enjoy playing with Lamela and there's chemistry there.

Much has been said about how Davinson seems to be more calm alongside Toby who provides experience and passing, while Dave provides pace and physicality. That's a good pairing for me.

Dier needs a partner with pace, it could be Tanganga or Rodon if he eventually signs.

To me, it doesn't matter if Dier and Tanganga or Toby and Davinson are in the First or Second XI. They're interchangeable units to me, much will depend on the opponents, if we're up against pacy or physical attackers. It's less of an issue in other words.

We have one midfield combo. The other XI shd therefore have Winks, Lo Celso and Dele. I think that works fine too, there's plenty of quality there. It's not a drop in class. Let's follow that up with Bale, Vinicius and Lucas up front.

Leveraging the Brazilian connection.

Bale in that XI provides the star power and the gravitas and experience that Vinicius would welcome. Lucas as we know is a limited attacker but provides defensive work that Lamela does for the other XI.

It's a staple in a Jose Mourinho team, a defensive minded forward.

We know that Lucas and Vinicius are going to be best mates so why not play them together. I'm a believe in off the field and on field chemistry.

Much like Sissoko, Ndombele and Aurier. It just makes sense to play them as a unit. Why wouldn't you leverage that chemistry.

And the final missing piece LB - ofc Ben Davies playing with Gareth Bale. It just makes too much sense. We could play Regui and Bale too but Ben and Gareth have a longer history together for the Welsh Dragons. You have to leverage that chemistry.

RB is Matt Doherty in this XI.

It's great that we now have two XIs that we can virtually rotate in and out of the schedule without much drop off in quality and production.

This is truly a two-deep squad at every position. When Dele and Lo Celso are in your second unit, you know you have depth.

When Hoiberg hit that Hoddlesque pass to Aurier to score vs the Mancs, I knew that Hoiberg, Sissoko, Ndombele and Aurier would be fine. Hoiberg is the newcomer but he's adapted so quickly and is so intelligent, he could play with that trio, no problem.

Not lost on me is how Doherty and Davies are starting to be seen together in Spurs videos as they walk in to the stadium from the bus.

Tanga would be the least experienced of that back four but that's why you surround him with experience like Dier, Ben and Matt.

There's virtually no drop off in quality from Toby and Davinson to Dier and Tanganga or Rodon. Yes the latter two are very inexperienced with Prem football but that's why you surround them with experience in the back four.

Would've been nice to get Skriniar but we may yet do.

Will Bale, Vinicius and Lucas work? Bale would have to develop chemistry from scratch with Son and Kane anyway, which is what most fans are clamouring for.

I think Bale, Vinicius and Lucas are a great trio to throw together. I prefer Bale on that unit, spread the wealth.

We do have some extra pieces to the puzzle not mentioned. Gedson, Harvey White, Dennis Cirkin. We haven't factored in injuries which we know will happen. 100%. Gedson is a multi-position player, an absolute Swiss Army knife. Superb to have in the squad.

End Of Thread.