Tottenham’s English players can bounce back from Euro disappointment: King

SINGAPORE - England had a shocking Euro 2016 campaign as they crashed out to minnows Iceland in the last 16 after labouring through the group stages in France last month.

Part of the Three Lions’ 23-man squad were five Tottenham Hotspur players - Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane - who were expected to step up and deliver after impressing for the north London side in the English Premier League (EPL) last season.

While Walker, Rose and Dier caught the eye with their mature displays, Alli and Kane were a disappointment in the final third, leading to much criticism from the British media.

However, former Tottenham skipper Ledley King believes they will be able to bounce back and up their game for the upcoming EPL season, which begins on August 13.

“The English players in the Tottenham side will definitely be looking looking to impress once again this season.” King told TODAY on the sidelines of the official opening of KidZania Singapore’s kid-sized Stadium in Sentosa Island earlier this afternoon (July 22).

“They will use the disappointment from the Euros to drive them on to perform even better.”

He added: “This is more of a case of the players going away on a break and recuperating to learn from their mistakes and how they improve. You must remember that they still young and learning."

Tottenham finished third in the EPL last season after impressing and and surprising many with their adventurous style of attacking football. But they will face a whole new challenge this season as they will have to deal with Champions League football for the first time since they reached the quarterfinals back in the 2010/2011 edition.

And King, who was part of that Tottenham squad before he retired due to persistent injury woes in 2012, reckons they can do well in Europe.

“If you remember, we played an attacking style of football during our last Champions League campaign and thrilled fans and observers alike,” explained the 35-year-old, who made 323 appearances for Tottenham. “Based on what we saw from this team last season, I believe they can do something similar, especially as many of the players will be experienced after playing in the Euros last month.

“I don’t think they will have any nerves or issues adapting with European football and will embrace the challenge.”

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has recruited astutely in the transfer widow so far, bringing in midfielder Victor Wanyama from Southampton and signing last season’s Dutch league top scorer, Vincent Janssen from AZ Alkmaar. King is confident they will add quality to current Tottenham team.

“In terms of signings, I felt we did not need to change much because we have a really young team with tremendous team spirit,” said the former Tottenham captain. “Janssen is a striker who is top quality and full of potential, while Pochettino has worked with Wanyama before, so they will fit in well.”

However, King cautions that Tottenham will have to start the EPL season strongly if they harbour any hopes of a first title.

“Last season, we failed to win our opening four league matches and this put us off the pace early on,” he explained. You can’t win the league title in October or November but you can certainly lose it if you are not near the top of the table.”

“The upcoming Premier League season will be the most competitive one in years and all the teams will be eager to get off to the best possible start.”