Instead of bouncing back from their defeat to Manchester City last week, Tottenham Hotspur endeavoured to lose their second game on the bounce last night.
Ange Postecoglou’s men travelled to the Netherlands to take on AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie, but from how they played, you’d have been forgiven for thinking it was a pre-season friendly.
The North Londoners managed to make what was, in all honesty, a kind draw look like an encounter with a top Premier League side and were lucky to come away with just a one-goal deficit.
There were dismal performances across the pitch for the visitors, but two experienced internationals, including Son Heung-min, stood out for the wrong reasons and must be dropped ahead of Sunday’s encounter with Bournemouth.
Son's performance in numbers against Alkmaar
Postecoglou opted to bring Son back into the starting lineup last night and started him off the left of a front three with Mathys Tel to his right and Brennan Johnson on the other flank.
Throughout the first half, the South Korean superstar might as well have been on the bench, as, alongside his fellow attackers, he was completely anonymous.
Worse still, when Tel was hooked at half-time, and the 32-year-old was moved into the middle in an attempt to provide a more cutting threat, he was arguably even more ineffective, with his most notable contributions in the game being his involvement in a ridiculous free-kick routine and a wild effort from outside the box in the second half.
Football.london’s Alasdair Gold was equally unimpressed, awarding the captain a 3/10 match rating at full-time, and when you take a look at his statistics from the game alongside his overall display, it’s not hard to see why.
For example, in 72 minutes of ‘action’, he amassed a combined expected goals and assists figure of 0.33, failed to take a single shot on target, maintained a passing accuracy of just 81%, took 43 touches but played just one key pass, lost 50% of his duels and lost the ball nine times.
Minutes
72′
Expected Goals
0.27
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.05
Assists
0
Shots on Target
0
Dribbles (Successful)
3 (1)
Touches
43
Passing Accuracy
26/32 (81%)
Key Passes
0
Crosses (Accurate)
2 (1)
Long Balls (Accurate)
1 (0)
Duels (Won)
4 (2)
Lost Possession
9
In all, it was the sort of performance that should see Son sit the next game out, which could be said for one of his midfield teammates.
Spurs midfielder who must be dropped after Alkmaar
You really could make an argument for any of Spurs’ starting midfielders to be dropped for the game on Sunday.
Nevertheless, when it comes down to it, Rodrigo Bentancur was the most disappointing, as not only did he offer nothing whatsoever in attack, but he was also pedestrian when it came to the defensive side of things.
It felt as if the Uruguayan international was losing the ball with every other action he took, and his most notable contribution to the game was picking up a yellow card, which means he’ll miss the second leg.
However, Ange should not start him against Bournemouth either, as if he couldn’t cope with AZ last night, then he has no hope against a Cherries side who can give anyone a game.
It might sound overly harsh, but it’s an appraisal that Gold shares, as he awarded the former Juventus star a 4/10 match rating, writing that he ‘didn’t offer too much.’
Minutes
90′
Expected Goals
0.00
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.04
Assists
0
Shots on Target
0
Passing Accuracy
72/84 (86%)
Key Passes
1
Aerial Duels (Won)
1 (0)
Ground Duels (Won)
9 (4)
Lost Possession
15
Fouls
1
Dribbled Past
1
Unsurprisingly, the 27-year-old’s statistics do not make for pretty reading either, as in his 96 minutes of action he amassed an expected goals and assists figure of just 0.04, maintained a passing accuracy of just 86%, failed to take a shot on target, lost his only aerial duel and five of nine ground duels, lost the ball 15 times, committed one foul and was dribbled past once.
Ultimately, it was a terrible showing from practically the entire team last night, but Son and Bentancur were particularly disappointing and should be dropped for Sunday’s clash.
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