Mauricio Pochettino is likely to take the majority of the blame for Tottenham’s early Champions League exit, but the players must also be held accountable after the dismal 2-1 defeat in Monaco. Here’s how they rated.
Hugo Lloris, 9
The only Spurs player who didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. Brilliantly saved Radamel Falcao’s first half penalty and went on to make a string of stunning stops in the second period. A truly superb display despite conceding twice.
Kieran Trippier, 5
Didn’t play well defensively or going forward, but wasn’t helped by the complete lack of help from those in front of him; perhaps something to blame on the system rather than individuals.
Eric Dier, 4
Gave away the penalty with a clumsily mistimed clearance. Tried to get Tottenham going with some cross-field passes but most were inaccurate. Sloppy on the ball and off it throughout.
Kevin Wimmer, 5
Less error-prone than Dier but just as ineffective. Struggled to distribute the ball from the back and was slow to react to Monaco’s crosses. In hindsight Jan Vertonghen should have started, but that’s not Wimmer’s fault.
Danny Rose, 6
The strongest performance in the back four even if he wasn’t at his brilliant best. Monaco predominantly found success in the space between the left-back and Wimmer, but Rose remained strong in the tackle and confident on the ball.
Victor Wanyama, 4
His worst performance in a Tottenham shirt thus far — a real shame after his excellent start. Gave the ball away on a number of occasions and didn’t shield the back four anywhere near to his usual standard. Hopefully (and surely) just a blip.
Mousa Dembele, 5
Just like against West Ham, this was a tepid version of Dembele compared to the masterful midfielder who dominated Arsenal a fortnight ago. Was an injury doubt prior to the game and it showed.
Harry Winks, 5
Was involved only intermittently after his influential performance against West Ham and barely saw the ball. Perhaps shouldn’t have been thrown into a second high-pressure match in four days.
Dele Alli, 5
Started well, sending Heung-Min Son through on goal with an inch-perfect pass that came to nothing. Soon became wasteful, missing a couple of decent chances and misplacing passes that could have led to goalscoring opportunities.
Heung-Min Son, 4
Looked certain to score when he latched on to Alli’s through-ball, but tried to round the goalkeeper instead of simply slotting home. Son seems to have completely lost his confidence in front of goal after starting the season so fruitfully.
Harry Kane, 6
Did his best to hold the ball up and get others involved. Didn’t see enough of the ball, however, perhaps because of a lack of service. Notched his third goal from the spot in three appearances.
Substitutes
Christian Eriksen, 5
Came on with 25 minutes to go and seemed to inject a bit of life into Tottenham, but not enough impact.
Vincent Janssen, 5
Brought on with Eriksen, his introduction coinciding with a short-lived spell of hopeful improvement. Just doesn’t look much of a goal threat, which is what Spurs need him to be.
Moussa Sissoko, N/A
Played 15 forgetful minutes plus stoppage time.
I said it and it came 1000% true! Spurs will be zero in everything! Goodbye,,, Lloris is a 6 ( the 2 that went in should have been stopped by any classy keeper- go watch again if you have forgotten – straight through and watching) , and all the other get a 2 if not 1, Delle and Son should have gone after 30 mins. This criminal MP watches the team do BS, 62% possession – do you see what it is? The players face each other pass backwards the ball goes to opponents D and back go the passes until the ball reaches LLoris who has a very poor ability to distribute (this is the great spurs possession game!) . We cannot cope with others speed, our medium to long range passes are dreadful, we panic when corners are taken against us and we do BS when we get the opportunities. No love no desire from players – all about payday . I will leave Winks out from blame – he is new. Like Rudd said this was a Sunday league performance – rubbish . It is OK if it happens once in a blue moon – but for Spurs it is the other way around.
Just wait for the weekend bashing awaiting this horrible team. Passionate? You can scream and say what you want, Spurs have to be taken over by someone passionate about football, money pumped in and classy sensible coach and players bought. ( all those who we let go would have done better and also bring Redknapp back). Goodbye before my anger spills over..
Wanyama is a less talented dier that we did’nt need and sissoko a panic buy when other options went wrong.Eriksen does’nt tackle and has held lamela back for 2 years. Lloris the best keeper ive seen in 45 years.