Diverse options and Diverse profiles,
Diverse opinions and Diverse demands,
Diverse strengths and Diverse weaknesses,
So what is the balanced combination?

Tottenham's fullback analysis.

A thread:

Spurs have been blessed with reinforcements in the fullback department, and desperately so.

Long before the window opened, we knew that we needed another pair of fullbacks. Albeit the clear focus being on RB, there was a pressing need for a LB too

So, we got Doherty & Reguilon.

Now, obviously, you'll be reading this thread with preconceived notions and predetermined judgements on our fullbacks.

Some of you dislike Aurier and Davies.
Some of you think Doherty isn't an "upgrade" over Serge.

I would sincerely request you to read with an open mind though.

Reguilon:

Strengths:
Explosive pace
Ability to get forward with/without the ball
Aggressive tracking back (you've seen a lot of this)
Willingness to shoot
Crossing
From a mental POV, his passion is undisputed

Weakness:
Flies into 50/50s. Could be great, but could go bad as well

Davies:

Strengths:
Reliable when sitting behind
Well-positioned to deal with opposition build-ups
Direct Longballs over the backline to the LW
Calm and composed

Weaknesses:
Lack of pace
Rarely contributes to the attacking front
Can't recover quickly if he goes forward

Aurier:

Strengths:
Sudden pace injection while going forward
Crosses into the box
Strong communicator
Aggressive while defending
Links well with RW, RCM

Weaknesses:
Positional awareness while defending
Decision making during defensive duties
Gives away FKs in dangerous areas

Doherty:

Strengths:
Crosses into the box
Crossfield distribution to the left-flank
Ability to get make runs to the far-post
Aerial prowess

Weaknesses:
Still adapting to the defensive roles of a RB
Positional awareness while dealing with counters
Casual tracking back (at times)

Now that you've read through their profiles, let's address something important:

Having two LBs and two RBs should allows us to experiment with the pairings.

It's necessary to field a fullback pair that is complementary to each other.

And we can only find that out with time.

FOR NOW, I will recommend Doherty work second fiddle to Aurier.

This is because Doherty still needs to adapt to his role.
Aurier has responded well to competition.
The combination of Reguilon and Aurier seems to be working well during build-up play.

Here's my explanation:

This is a base of what I believe would be the average positions when we are "BUILDING" attacks.

I kept Gio and Tanguy a bit behind because they'll link/carry/distribute.

One of Gio and Tanguy will carry/distribute to Kane or the Fullbacks.

Kane is clearly the primary creator.

Anyways, back to the fullbacks. Reguilon and Aurier are Well-advanced, and I expect them to be there ONLY when we DOMINATE lot the ball.

If they can go wide ahead, it lets Bale & Son make MORE inward runs.

Chance creation:
1: Kane's weighted passes
2: FB's crosses
3: Tanguy/Gio

Aurier
AREA OF IMPROVEMENT: Crossfield Distribution.

Serge has done A LOT of things right, making him merit of starting. But one thing that he must pick up from Doherty is the crossfield passing.

We see how TAA makes those fantastic passes to Robertson, to quickly change play.

Crossfield distribution is VERY important especially in instances where we want KANE in the box/near scoring positions.

If the fullbacks can switch play to the other flanks. It'll give us the option to catch the opposition off-guard. Possibilities of overloads will increase.

I must take this chance to remind you how Aurier's goal against Man United.

Sanchez played a CROSSFIELD pass to Reguilon, which pulled United's full shape to one side, this created space for Aurier on his side.

Then we quickly moved inside and exploited the space on the right.

Regardless, I do believe that once Doherty also gets better with his overall positioning at RB, this crossfield distribution will become an asset for us during build-up.

But, I hope Aurier develops this trait, as it'll add another dimension to his game. He can get a lot better.

Now, off to the second FB pair. The one I believe would play the Europa League games.

For this, I want you to remember the LOPSIDED ATTACK.

You know, the one that got exposed AFTER we had no focal point up top. And we lost most of our main players through injury?

First of all, people really depreciate the Lopsided attack.
All you see is that it's "One dimensional" and "Predictable".

What you don't see is:
1: Covers for Davies' lack of pace
2: Covers for RBs (Aurier or Doherty)'s lack of positioning.
3: Bypasses the uninspiring midfield.

There's NO WAY we can play through the middle with a double pivot of Winks and Sissoko. They don't have the incisive passing to play through the lines and find pockets.

So, we let them do the defensive duties, allowing Lucas and the RB to play the creative role for the team.

The lopsided build requires people on the right to be FANTASTIC distributors. Which is why I'm going with Doherty

It allows him to function ENTIRELY as a RWB where he'll have these passing options:
1: Cross to Vinicius
2: Crossfield to Bergwijn
3: Inward links with Lucas
4: Dele

We got to see the best out of Dele during the initial days of Mourinho's era because he could make runs of Kane, could find his way into scoring positions.

With Lucas taking care of the inward playmaking, CV hold-up play, Doherty will be able to find Dele's runs.

It could work.

Note:

I'm not saying that the second-team will play as a lopsided build, I don't know about that, time will tell.

Don't see the lopsided build as a weakness.
See it as something brings out the best of what's on the pitch.

Be open to it, it's not even our main tactic.

Note 2:

If Winks and Sissoko can work on their playmaking, and Davies can get better while going forward, we can work with a similar approach that our main-team does, with two progressive FBs.

But they still need to improve.
It entirely depends on the work put in training.

I didn't speak much about the LB situation because we know Reguilon will be the first choice. The competition is for the RBs.

For now, Aurier is on a run of 3 good performances out of 3.
Dunno what Jose thinks, but I'd let Aurier continue.

Let Matt develop, we've enough games.

I want to make this clear.

STOP trash-talking Aurier for Doherty or vice-versa.
Aurier was our only RB last season, and I feel that fatigue had a lot to do with SOME of his mistakes. Support him, he's doing really well.

Support Matt, he's still working on the conversion to RB.

That's it for this thread.

Likes and retweets are appreciated.

I drew some nifty tactics on the board just to make a few things visually clear. It doesn't mean that will be the ONLY thing we do. It's just ONE tactical representation.

I Hope you enjoyed this :)
Cheers,
Soos.

Mentioning a couple of people for good measure:

@LlorisFC @thfcrueben @cenkoza @NozAhmed @ValyrianCA @LeeMcQueen @pokeefe1 @AlasdairGold @Zeus84053707 @TahaFTBL @thfcgianni @Sandro_GLC18