Fulham vs. Tottenham, FA Cup Preview: Three questions with Cartilage Free Captain

It’s been a while since we got to talk with Cartilage Free Captain. They were nice enough to answer our questions, and they had some of their own (and they weren’t all about Scott Parker’s hair).

Cottagers Confidential: Tottenham are 10 points from the top of the table, and only two points from falling into 6th place. Given that one of the criticisms of Mauricio Pochettino is that his style tends to wear down players, and you still have the Europa league coming up, do you expect to start a good team, or are you going to play a lot of bench guys?

Cartilage Free Captain: I expect to see a lot of rotation for this match. Multiple players started Thursday's Europa League match that are regularly in the Starting XI in league play for Spurs. I fully expect to see those who didn't start Thursday in this match, including Vincent Janssen, Christian Eriksen, Heung-Min Son, perhaps Cameron Carter-Vickers, and maybe a returning Jan Vertonghen.

CC: Fulham haven't beaten Tottenham since 2013 and haven't beaten them at Craven Cottage since 2011 (also in the FA Cup coincidentally). Do you have any good memories of matches versus Fulham or trips to Craven Cottage?

CFC: Funny enough, before I really started following the Premier League due to lack of TV coverage in the United States, one of the first highlights I remember seeing online was Clint Dempsey's chip shot against Juventus in Europa League.

As a Spurs supporter, it may not be one of those huge moments, but Vlad Chiriches' 40 yard worm burner at Craven Cottage always sticks out to me. I still to this day do not know how that ball got through everyone and found the back of the net.

CC: If you were going to set up Spurs for the match, how would you do it? How do you think Pochettino's setup will be different if at all?

CFC: If everyone were healthy and available for selection, I'd roll 3-4-3 with a mixture of regular starters and rotated players. I'd LOVE to see Pau Lopez get a run out in net, but I'm guessing we see Michel Vorm. My setup would look something like this:

Lopez; Vertonghen, Alderweireld, CCV; Rose, Winks, Dier, Trippier; Dele, Janssen, Lamela

Due to injury and Europa play, I'm expecting a 4-2-3-1:

Vorm; Davies, Alderweireld, CCV, Trippier; Dier, Winks; Onomah, Eriksen, Son; Janssen

CC: What's your prediction for the match?

CFC: Spurs are not in great form right now. They've scored one goal in their last four matches and that was a PK against Middlesbrough. Normally I'd be pretty confident, and a match like this would be great for confidence, but I cannot help but feel like a 0-0 or 1-1 draw is the end result.