Tottenham need a defensive midfielder like Wanyama or Schneiderlin, says Alderweireld

Frustrated: Alderweireld bemoaned his side's inability to deal with late pressure from Stoke
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Sam Long17 August 2015

Toby Alderweireld believes that Tottenham need a midfielder that is built in the mould of his former Southampton teammates Victor Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin.

The 26-year-old, who spent last season on loan at St. Mary's prior to his move to Spurs this summer, endured a disappointing home debut for Mauricio Pochettino's side on Saturday afternoon as the north London club surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Stoke City.

Although Spurs were in a commanding position with just 25 minutes left to play, they caved under late pressure from the visitors, which is a situation Alderweireld thinks could have been avoided if his side had a defensive spoiler on the pitch.

"You have to play better because if you don't play football anymore then they can put more pressure on you, get more guys in the box, and it's very difficult.

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"At Southampton, Victor Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin put good pressure so they didn't have time to put the ball in the box - it makes it easier for defenders," he said.

Tottenham have sanctioned the sale of three midfielder this summer; Benjamin Stambouli, Etienne Capoue and Paulinho, which has left Pochettino short of options in the centre of the park.

Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb remain, while Eric Dier has also been deployed in midfield in the early stages of the season, but the trio failed to stifle Stoke's late surge on Saturday.

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Alderweireld conceded the penalty that led to Stoke's first goal and the Belgian admitted he was frustrated that he made an error during his first outing at White Hart Lane.

“Last season I didn’t make one mistake. I want to prove myself here and so it feels bad for me to make a mistake in my first home game.

"I just wanted to catch the ball and if I stood behind him [Joselu] he couldn't do anything. It was stupid of me. Maybe if I didn't give the penalty away it's different," he said.

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