Towards the end of last season, Mauricio Pochettino decided to give Juan Foyth a bit more game time.
However, in two of his three starts, rather than playing him at his more natural position of centre-back, the Argentine manager decided to try out his compatriot down the right hand side of the defence.
Tottenham lost both those games, but it’s clear there was something there that pleased everyone, as Argentina’s national team manager, Lionel Scaloni, fielded the 21-year-old at right-back for the last three games of the Copa America.
This decision raised a few eyebrows in his home country, where the press decided to have a chat with Foyth about playing out wide.
Speaking to Cielo Sports, the youngster explained it stemmed from Pochettino.
He said: “That I’m playing as a full-back is all down to him. One day, we were doing laps around the field and he called me over to talk and asked me if I would feel comfortable playing there.
“Obviously, I wanted to play and knowing that I could do it well, I said yes. I felt really good in the games I played. Over the past two years, I’ve learned a huge amount of things with him and with his staff. When I return, the first thing I’ll do is go to his office and talk with him”.
It seems this could be something we see more and more going forward, and perhaps one of the reasons why the idea of either Kieran Trippier or Serge Aurier leaving this summer has been floated around the European media.
