Tottenham Hotspur's Imaginary League of Legends Roster
What roles would Spurs' players and staff fill within an esports organisation?
During Son’s fan meetup Spurs’ 2022 preseason tour of Korea, some members of the squad were blessed with the opportunity to meet the T1 League of Legends roster that had smashed the Korean league with an undefeated run earlier in the season. The crossover saw the collaboration of two competitive giants whose squads have claimed a combined 14 major titles within the last 15 years.
The linkup had me thinking of exactly where the qualities of some of Tottenham’s key players could be helpful on Summoner’s Rift, so here are my thoughts on the likely roles of some of Spurs’ main men.
Roster
Top - Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
Perhaps overthinking things a tad, but I couldn’t form an imaginary roster from my favourite football club without trying to give them the best chance of success. This has meant taking team structure into account - we all know what can easily happen with Career Mode-style superteams in League of Legends where five superstars just do not fit stylistically.
That being said, in comes Pierre-Emile Højbjerg as the starting top laner for Tottenham Hotspur Gaming. With the usual suspects set to fill the traditional carry positions, the squad required somebody with both the strength to withstand opposition pressure while they’re left to fend for themselves on the top lane island along with unwavering consistency needed to make sure that neither the first nor tenth incoming turret dive provides our opponents with even a hint of an advantage.
A warrior in midfield with the ability to complete an ever-present season, Højbjerg seemed the perfect fit for our weak-side top laner. Reminiscent of TSM legend Dyrus, the Dane will be found soaking damage on the frontline and keeping his star teammates safe. With the ability to frontline effectively a skill often overlooked and easily underappreciated, Højbjerg will once gain find himself arguably not receiving the kind of praise he deserves.
Signature champions: Shen, Maokai, Gnar
Jungle - Hugo Lloris
Another facilitator whose voice and leadership rarely get the recognition they deserve, Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris comes in as our shot-calling jungler with the task of glueing the roster together.
Much like the 2018 Griffin jungler Tarzan, who was the in-game brains leading the team’s rise while mid laner Chovy frequently gained more of the plaudits, jungler Hugo is set to take up the mantle as a reserved leader within our lineup. His captaining abilities are all too often overlooked. Remember, we are talking about a player that captained his country to a World Cup title and not long after that required his manager to assure fans that he had indeed played a significant part in his club's greatest comeback in their history.
Seeing as the jungler must be the one to bind all other lanes together, and is therefore often one of the key shot-callers, Lloris seems a sensible choice to slot into Spurs Esports’ jungle position. Coming from the big-brain school of jungling rather than the mechanics-led pool, Hugo’s strength will lie in macro decisions and objective-focused play and will scarcely be found going to early-game invading picks or looking for level one ganks.
Signature champions: Jarvan IV, Sejuani, Lee Sin
Mid - Harry Kane
In a choice that will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, “one of our own” Harry Kane gets the nod in the middle lane for Team THFC. Generally accepted as the most impactful and important role in League of Legends, the mid laner’s performance can have an effect on all areas of the map and, as a result, often means that the best mid laners are also considered the best overall players; Faker, Rookie, Chovy.
In comparing Kane to an existing LoL pro, it would be all too easy to throw in T1’s Faker simply with “good at football = good at league” as reasoning, but there’s more than that.
Faker burst onto the scene in 2013 as a mechanical god, comfortably gapping opponents during his near-solo carrying of SKT to the Worlds title that year - which is thought to have led Riot Games to alter the meta in order to prevent single players from having such an impact in matches.
Harry Kane burst onto the scene in his own right in Mauricio Pochettino’s early days. While costly signing Roberto Soldado failed to convert chance after chance, youthful Kane grabbed at his first team opportunities by scoring with what felt like every touch of the ball in his opening seasons.
Since their debuts in their respective fields, both Faker and Kane’s games have developed beyond the ‘simple’ mid-gap or tap-in merchant. Faker has grown to be one of the top supportive mid laners, with his willingness to do the grunt work shown best with his Taric mid matches during the infamous funnel meta of 2018. Harry Kane has equally developed into more of a team player, evolving his frustrating dropping-deep days (often seen each August when he would struggle to score early in the season) into being of the best playmakers on the planet.
Signature champions: LeBlanc, Twisted Fate, Orianna
ADC - Son Heung-min
The easiest comparison on the list sees Premier League Golden Boot-winner Son Heung-min come in as Hotspur Esports Club’s bottom laner. Spurs’ sharpshooter slots in easily as an AD carry, with his two-footedness on the football pitch translating into a wide champion pool on the Rift.
His being so deadly accurate in front of goal naturally leads to a comfort in hypercarry champions, ones that can be relied upon to reach three items and put the game on their shoulders in the 45th-minute Edler dragon teamfights.
Comfortable with converting chances himself, like Harry Kane the Korean also shows his supportive side, ever a team player whose deep loyalty to his club would see him do anything for the final result. This could see him opting for some of the more CC-focused bot laners like Ashe (think Pray arrow in the 2016 Worlds semis), or even go the Senna support route that would see Sonny instead piloting the likes of Tahm Kench or Sion.
Signature champions: Ashe, Kai’Sa, Jinx
Support - Cristian Romero
Spurs’ combative Argentine joins the roster in the support position, with arguably one of the most apt player comparisons on this list. Romero is a unique player whose traits would sound worrying for a centre-back were he not so talented.
Rash. Aggressive. Fearless.
Such adjectives could also be applied to the Davinson Sanchezes of the World, who are no doubt talented in their own right but often cause more clenching of the cheeks per 90 minutes than is ideal for a Premier League defender.
Romero plays to these strengths, translating in LoL terms to a player that would thrive on engage champions who play on the front foot and always look to smash their way into play and get things moving in their team’s direction.
Enter Fnatic’s Hylissang. A player renowned, and ridiculed, for his willingness to dive into the enemy team, the Bulgarian can see chances at plays that no others notice, similar to the style of Romero tackles that see the defender stride dangerously out of position only to make a perfectly timed interception that sets his team away.
Signature champions: Pyke, Rakan, Nautilus
(SUB) Top - Lucas Moura
With the task of condensing a 25-man football squad into just a 5-man LoL roster, I’ve allowed myself a bit of leeway in the form of a substitute. While most teams will almost never make use of a 6 player roster, all teams that attend international events are allowed to bring one sub along with them even if they have not used one during the season. Since a World Championship title is, for some reason, our aspiration here, a sixth player is encouraged!
To create some contrast with our starting roster, and, therefore, some feasible reason to use our substitute, the Lilywhite Fighting Cocks will look to the ever unpredictable, ever frustrating and ever adored Lucas Moura.
The Brazilian will always live as a Spurs legend thanks to his heroics in Amsterdam back in 2019, even despite his very questionable and far too often voiced political thoughts that mirror his on-pitch decision-making abilities with frightening similarity.
Signature champions: Jayce, Yasuo, Kayle
Staff
Head Coach - Antonio Conte
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Seeing as the rest of this squad is made up of current Spurs players, as of September 2022, it only makes sense that the current man in charge also takes the reigns for N17 Talent. The Italian has been there and done it during his playing career, something that many League of Legends coaches are criticised for by their own players as very few, if any, current top-level coaches have actually played the game at an elite level.
Much of this is simply due to the age of the scene. Thinking of some current managers that also had success in the dugout, the likes of Conte, Ancelotti, Guardiola, and Zidane, these spent 15-20 years on the pitch before moving into their current careers. With League of Legends still in its infancy, a host of the best on-Rift talent is still not ready to call it quits. Players such as Faker, Rookie, Perkz, even a newly-unretired Uzi may one day become the elite coaches whose own success commands respect from their players and grants them a head start over their peers.
This all being said, comparing Conte to a real League of Legends coach is a fairly tricky task. His feistiness, which he’s not afraid of sharing with his players, is most closely matched by the infamous cxMax. The Korean coach received a five-month suspension in December 2020 for aggressive behaviour while on Griffin the previous year, with top laner Sword suggested to have taken the brunt of the abuse which included having had his chair struck and having been shaken by his shoulders.
CvMax’s ability also lines up with Conte, albeit within a much smaller window. The former DRX coach made a name for himself on Griffin by taking what at the time was an unknown group of players and turning them into world beaters, leading their promotion into Korea’s first division and then quickly making them one of the top two in the league. Perhaps more in the vein of Pochettino, however, cvMax was never able to finish higher than second place with any side before his still-ongoing hiatus began in 2022.
General Manager - Fabio Paratici
Though choosing Paratici as the team’s general manager was more or less a formality, comparing him to an existing League of Legends GM/DoF type was not easy. Much of this stems from the fact that the general manager is a fairly new and continuously developing role in LoL esports.
Most organisations began, and some still operate, with the owners calling the shots. The likes of TSM’s Reginald was often running the show, even nosing his way into coaching responsibilities on occasion, while Cloud9’s Jack Etienne still acts very much as his team’s GM to this day. Across the pond and G2 owner ocelote also wields this type of control, moving on from Perkz’s days as acting GM - at least whilst at the pool.
One current LoL manager that does somewhat mirror Paratici is 100 Thieves’ PapaSmithy. Unlike Spurs’ Managing Director of Football, the Australian began his career as a commentator, specifically a colour-caster in the Korean region and was hailed as one of the best in his role at the time as he earned the chance to cast multiple World Championship finals.
Since hanging up his casting career, PapaSmithy became general manager of North American organisation 100 Thieves. In Paratici fashion, Papa quickly brought in talent from his own region with mid laner Ryoma joining from the now-disbanded Oceanic Pro League with very little known about the player in the West. Unfortunately for 100 Thieves, Ryoma was not of the same ilk as the likes of Paratici’s signings of Kulusevski and Bentancur, however a further OCE addition of FBI has since proven much more successful.
After moulding the roster in the three years since PapaSmithy’s arrival, in which he also decided on well-renowned Reapered as the man to coach the side, 100T managed their first LCS title in the summer of 2021 and more recently finished second in the most recent split to earn a place at the 2022 World Championship.
Owner - Daniel Levy
Who else to govern the business side of things but Spurs current owner Daniel Levy? Though he divides fans, the lifelong fan of the club has moved them into the big time with regular Champions League football and, in my unbiased opinion, the finest stadium on the planet and all was brought to fruition under his leadership - some more trophies would’ve been nice though, of course!
Comparing The Chick Kings owner to an existing League of Legends boss isn’t easy. His tendency to remain in the background as he runs the team is akin to Fnatic owner Sam Matthews; another man who has built a huge team over the years but is immediately the man for fans to blame when things don’t go right.
To those outside of Spurs, Levy is undoubtedly most known as a strict negotiator. Dubbed the “big master” by Pep Guardiola during the infamous Kane-to-City debacle, in which City seemingly failed to even bid for the player, the Essex-born businessman rarely lets go of players who the Club do not want to lose. If they do let a star player go, it will always be at Spurs' price, and almost never to a nearby league rival.
Cue G2 owner ocelote. The Spaniard has created one of the most successful franchises in League of Legends while simultaneously becoming one of the most hated people within the scene due to his Levy-esque preference to demand a king’s ransom for any outgoings.
A player who has arguably had as big a part in the G2’s success as ocelote himself is former star mid laner Perkz. The Croatian wanted to leave the side in 2021 and was infamously blocked from joining arch rivals Fnatic, leading to a cryptic live stream from the player during the saga.
He instead eventually flew across the pond to join North American team Cloud9 in a move that, all told, could’ve cost C9 more than $11m if he stayed for the duration of his contract. $5m of that was thought to be the price of the buyout (transfer) fee alone.
In an extreme move that cemented his place as an esports supervillain, ocelote also added a clause to the buyout with Cloud9 that prevented them from selling-on Perkz to Fnatic within the next three years; though Riot Games’ Global Director of Esports claimed that they “not intend to enforce the trade restriction.” Levy only wishes he could’ve thought of such a diabolical clause!
G2 and ocelote have since gone on to claim buyout fees for the likes of Wunder (€600k), Rekkles (€1m) and Mikyx (€250k), all of whom initially joined as free agents. Though those fees pale in comparison to football transfers, the amounts, and G2’s consistency to claim them, are unprecedented in League of Legends esports.
Streamer - Dele Alli
He quite likes Fortnite.