Lucas Moura came on in the 73rd minute of Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday and was by far the visitors’ most effective attacking player.
That says a lot about Spurs’ performance. Mauricio Pochettino’s men were looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s Champions League humiliation against Bayern Munich but ended up recording yet another embarrassing defeat.
Brighton goalkeeper Matt Ryan wasn’t tested until Lucas Moura’s introduction. The Brazilian forced Ryan into two impressive saves, one from close range and one from distance. Lucas will certainly be hoping to for a start in the next match after outshining Heung-min Son and Harry Kane.
Earlier in the week, Brazil legend Rivaldo expressed sympathy for his countryman’s current lack of game time, especially after his Champions League hat-trick against Ajax last season.
“Lucas Moura is losing importance in the Spurs team once again and I think he is behaving as a real professional, holding on and working normally,” Rivaldo told Betfair (via Football London).
“Perhaps if it was another player, we could have a different story, with the player complaining about the manager, after all he did for the team last season.”
Pochettino’s decision to leave Lucas on the bench against Brighton – and Lucas’ subsequent impressive cameo – may well have proved Rivaldo correct. Perhaps Lucas should be starting more often.
That said, the 27-year-old hasn’t always stood out when starting, plus he has scored just two goals in nine appearances so far this season.
What do you think? Should Lucas be a regular starter? Let us know in the comments section below.
Should Lucas be a regular starter? Is that even a question? Lamela is clueless, Son takes too long on the ball and makes the wrong decisions, Eriksen wants to leave and Alli is not in form. It’s a no brainer to start him regularly! Poch needs to wake up and drop that horrible diamond formation, get Lucas playing regularly and my own personal opinion would be to go three at the back.
Exactly
I agree with you about the lamela. But he puts in a hard shift
Son and moura have to start even if that means leaving kane out
Drop the 3 who want to go take a gamble and play some of his young players who want to play for Spurs
Welcome to my world and I have more, Winks should be playing in the Championship; a few flashes of brilliance shouldn’t make him a Tottenham player talkless of gifting him the No 8 shirt worn by legends. We need a super goalkeeper that is less prone to errors too.
Davis goes backwards always, we do not have a regular right back. The coach and the club does not respect Rose. Dele is having too much sex; I bet each time he touches the ball he is thinking about touching boobs!
Our coach has become a darling of the media, trying too hard to showcase how much his grasp of English has improved and also trying to please them. Pochettino has become a romantic, he lacks a winning culture. Kane is giddy with too much praise, Sissoko remains Sissoko; giving his heart to the team all the time.
We lack movement in the final third, we become static, bless Verntoghen and Aldeweired, despite what the manager throws at them they still perform to a high standard. And thank God Sanchez is not playing, he is big for nothing!
Levi is always thinking of the business end of the club, what about its main existence; football!!! Erickson’s head is no longer with the club, why are we holding on to him!? We have to go back to the basics, to inbibe the true culture of football, that it is not about individual glory but a team sport. Let us learn to make it easy on ourselves.
Very disappointing games. I agree with Ade on his comments. I do want to see more of Lucas .
The commentator on the Brighton game was wondering what was going through Pocc’s brain as we went 2 down.Well very easy; Pocc doesn’t have one.
What a fool you are. How can you be so callous and insulting to a manager who has put Spurs on the map. Why do you need to kick a man when he is down. Fans like you disgust me. I have been a supporter for many years and our performances of late have been terrible , so of course,I am feeling very frustrated. Some of the blame has to be with Levy and the board for not supporting the manager.i think you have every right to be dissolved but to call Pochettino brainless sums up how truly ignorant you are.
So it’s the board and Levy who are to blame oh brilliant. Look poch took this on and every year we hear the same thing from him how happy he is with the squad. Why not tell the truth because he is no different to the rest money driven. Every spurs fan could see we needed a new right back but no poch says no. Then we let plan b go and do not replace him(llorente). Poch has been getting it wrong for ages but players have been saving him with big performances well now they have had enough. The buck falls with poch like it or not and when a player like Sissoko says he is not happy with the diamond shape and feels its wrong then its time to listen because Sissoko is if nothing else a straight guy. Poch will drag us out of the CL and down the league because he no longer wants to manage us that was very clear today by his lack of emotion. Had that have been ferguson today cups, plates shoes the lot would have been thrown at the team.
Well said!
I agree 100% with you. Poch has put the spurs back on the map and to get rid would be a bad decision. We need a bit honesty from the likes of Erikson and a few others be professional and start putting a proper shift in for the team that has give you so much.
If my memory serves me right this is the first hiccup hot has had in 5 years and we’ve got doughnuts calling for his head however for me me&i believe him starting and cane instead of morar last season has caused a bit of bad feeling amongst players
I certainly would want to know what is Pochittino’s winning percentage- last season alone we lost thirteen games in the premiership.
The run to the Champions League actually disguised a poor season. And the previous season’s performance has continued, relentlessly.
If Pochettino was in a top team, he would have been shown the door, long ago.
In my opinion, he is overrated and definitely he is not a winner in the mode of managers like Mourinho, Conte, Ancelotti and a few others.
Yeah, let us try another manager with the same set of players and conditions like a smaller budget than the top clubs,
Nor are we a club like real Madrid juventus or Bayern Munich
So let’s be fair when we judge him
You are more ignorant and stupid and I hope after Man United defeat against Newcastle,they comes and offer Potsh the job,we could have some money instead of giving him the sack with compensation on top of it.
Del boy, your comment suggests you have less of a brain than Poch!
Poch doesn’t care would be more like it but yes his tactics lately suggest there is something missing in his head
Lucas is as good a finisher, if not better, than Harry Kane. More importantly, he helps the overall fluency of the team. THE PROBLEM is that he thrives in the central position where Harry plays, aided by intricate build-up play and Pochettino does not have the nerve to drop or move Harry Kane. I have long said that we should cash in on Harry Kane and have a front three of Son, Moura and one other new player (in the Mo Salah role) to bring much needed speed and fluency. Unfortunately, Spurs managers tend to favour big names instead of effective names and that’s why we list the CL final last year. Harry is a great player but we are a more cohesive effective unit without him.
I have been saying since we lost at Burnley, Pouch doesn’t have a good option B. He has to own up. Conceding 10 Goals in 2 Games. Heading towards relegation and the opponents will capitalise on the weakness. Pouch will not be capable to resolve the current situation.
Why don’t he do the honourable thing and walk away. Give someone else to save Spurs. Fans are a bunch of laughing stock everywhere. It’s getting severely embarrassing walking the streets
Poch is the problem. Gives Lucas a chance far than Kane in this match
I would swap the brighton goaly and back 5 defensive players for ours anyday.Our goaly(lloris) is always full of mistakes,as are all the other defenders we have,brightons defenders did’nt make mistakes and were full of grit and determination.Posh does not rate moura,hence no champions league final start and not many league starts.
Everyone is obsessed with harry Kane. I agree with Martin Reuben poch doesn’t have the courage to put Kane on the bench. Kane doesn’t offer anything near enough he’s made out to be
Harry isn’t to blame our 2 c/backs and full backs Harry winks Erickson and lloris are either past it not up for it or never had it levy didn’t buy the players we needed to challenge for trophies 3 months into the season and 2 of our signings hasn’t kicked a ball yet all down to poor management and no plan b great stadium with a team that had gone sour
Lucas is a fantastic player and should start instead of being a 20 minute player.He is the only positive player at this moment when we are in our crisis
Good summary from Martyn Reuben, our problem is our defence, we have no pace across the back four. Vertongen and Alderweirld is pass their best hence have not been rewarded with contracts and received no offers from other teams. Erickson only looks for Alli and Kane when he plays. Besides the fact that he is leaving us our opponents have worked him out. (give him no space and tackle him hard and Erikson is out of the game.) We desperately need a creative midfielder who can also score goals and a decent central defender. Ndmele will come right next year, he is overweight and unfit, can only play for 30 minutes. COYS.
Too many overrated players who had a lucky season last season.
Kane, dele, Eriksen, Lamela all average. Only when Son plays well then the team play well.
Perhaps if he was given more game time all spurs fans could see what a good player moura is if he starts from the bench and things go wrong put him on earlier to give him a chance of making a bigger impact
Moura definite starter for me.
Leave sissoko in the centre of the park where he is most effective. Eriksen should be benched. Showing very little effort
Their is a Cancer in the club ….and it’s spreading its Erickson….he’s playing at 80% , he won’t tackle or sprint , he offers nothing in defence or turnover of possession and now nothing in attack ….lets get used to being without him , give Maura his job…and get Erickson away from entire squad release him now , he is the Cancer eating in to the team , I would say Pochetino needs to grow a pair ….or he needs to leave too.
This just comes down to not playing like a team, and for some reason the players are not making runs when they should and not making space by creating angles for the player with the ball.
They have lost the love for the club such a shame
Maybe Porch is to blame, but there are 11 players on the pitch that don’t seem to be able to play together. These are pretty much the same players that have taken Spurs to being a top 4 club, but we do need change. I am not being critical of these players, but Eriksson should have been sold along with Alderwelrd, Dier, Aurier and possibly Lloris. The diamond has to go, the back 4/5 has to stop farting around at the back and understand it’s not a problem to play the ball forward quickly. Winks has to be more positive, Moura has to play down the centre, but where does that leave Kane ? He has nothing to prove, but would benefit from getting the ball played earlier. We are much better as a counter attacking unit and continue to come unstuck against defence minded teams. So lets get back to the high press and fast counter attacks, buy a right back, a attacking midfielder, Dybala ?, A proper centre half and a goalkeeper, sorry Lloris, too many mistakes. Porch is as good as anyone, but he seems to have got stuck somewhere. But £32m to let him go, can’t see that happening
The Dia
All the best teams are playing 4 3 3, but Poch is too defensive minded and will not change. Man City, LFC, Leicester under Brendan Rogers are doing the same. Arsenal is even trying it out now. I would prefer, Son Kane Moura as the front three, but Kane needs to works harder, the same way that Aguero had to adjust at City. Spurs are useless now. Allegri will come to take over at Spurs.
Let poch go to Real Madrid as he had already made his mind up before the CL final that he was going to leave and go and we should try our hardest get either jurgen klinsman,or even Martin Joel or give it to the Italian who seems to be Levy’s best mate at the minute or at least somebody who either wants to manage us and be proud to be our manager or one of our players to be proud of pulling on the shirt. Sell Harry ,and Christian
Eriksson he just does not want to be playing for us any more also that would apply to any body else who does not what to give110% for the team. I’ve supported spurs a lot of years even lived on white hart lane,we always seem to self destruct when thing are going good.
Let poch go to Real Madrid as he had already made his mind up before the CL final that he was going to leave and go and we should try our hardest get either jurgen klinsman,or even Martin Jowl or give it to the Italian who seems to be Levy’s best mate at the minute or at least somebody who either wants to manage us and be proud to be our manager or one of our players to be proud of pulling on the shirt.get shot of Harry while he’s fit and worth some money ,and Christian
Eriksson he just does not want to be playing for us any more also that would apply to any body else who does not what to give110% for the team. I’ve supported spurs a lot of years even lived on white hart lane,we always seem to self destruct when thing are going good.
Sorry but i cant help thinking about our double wining side in the 60s they would put that shirt on and die for the club i miss those days they were men
I think we looked a dangerous team in attack when Lucas and Son led the line. For to long now we had heard R.Madrid want Poch, Ericsson & Kane, let them go and get as much as you can for them. Levy should have got rid of at least Ericsson. I’m fed up with an unsettled team with rotating and no plan B
Well fellow Spurs Fans, it is becoming obvious that we have reached the end of the road using our current crop of players. We had a nice run but have been severely hampered by extremely poor team management . No team upgrades for two seasons plus a very thin squad playing well above their capabilities has finally found us out. The back line against today’s giant killers, Brighton, no less looked way way off pace and their covering was atrocious for players at this level. No proper right back was purchased and we persisted in playing the same tired system. Only one of the four new recruits has played consistently and he is not been able to reach his potential. Two of the other purchases have been injured so are yet to be seen playing collectively. All of this adds up to really poor decision making from management. Obviously we needed a minimum of FIVE class players to fill the gaps and cover in case of injuries. We got three plus a wait and see from Leeds who seems unable to even get into their side on a consistent basis. Something sadly amiss here
with our scouting system. It was obvious since early this year that Erickson had lost interest, Alli was way off the boil and Kane was not at his best. So showing alarming naivety we continue to pick Erickson, Delli and Kane and fail to solve the right back problem. The results of this are staring us in the face. The malaise now seems to have spread to Toby and Jan leaving us with a mickey house defence that most Premier teams will cut through with ease. We need to blood the younger guys, Sanchez, Foyth, Tanganga at least have speed, tenacity and youth on their side. Maybe even include Walker-Peters . Let them make their mistakes but at least we are fairly certain they will be trying. The current crop are failing us big time. Dreams of a CL place and /or top four finish this year probably will have to be abandoned before we slip further into the abyss.By Xmas we will know who is worth keeping and who we can let go. Purchases then will have to be made in the January window to avoid a total meltdown. Levy cannot play his normal wait and see game or else the shopping centre will be very empty come seasons end. Failure to address these issues promptly will
see ENIC struggling to make the payments to our creditors as they fail to attract the supporters back to watch a mid table team. Our better players will request transfers looking for success elsewhere, and who can blame them? We will then be unable to attract the quality players we need to make us competitive again. Heed this warning Mr Levy at your peril.
Yes he should maybe rest Harry
Absolutely he should be playing, poch who I love has disrespected him since the Ajax game.
Its about time to stop MESSING around at the back ,the best form of defence in my day was to attack,quick movement, what a waste of time and energy when you get to the edge of the opponents penalty then the ball ends up in ours with all this sideways and back passing SO BORING! Yes Moira ,Kane and son up front, or does Kane want to carry on playing centre midfield.
You’re full of yourself.
(Graham)
Porch in.
You are more ignorant and stupid and I hope after Man United defeat against Newcastle,they comes and offer Potsh the job,we could have some money instead of giving him the sack with compensation on top of it.
Lucas must leave spurs . He is a great player and i prefer that he play not live his life as a subs . Go lucas . You still 27
I would play lucas every game ,after what he done for us when kane wad was injured its a no brainer, otherwise it will be another great player to leave spurs
Dont think he should start but at present time none of them should be starters.but poch has got to try something to get us going .the problem at spurs is levy good as he is at business football players he knows nowt about if he hadn’t been such a mr know it all he would of listened to poch when he said needs rebuild.now hes got players out of contract going to loose millions on them to get replacements.and clarke from leeds all he looked at was stats in few years will make money nearly 10 mill spent and hes not kicked a ball at leeds great levy.fans want a team to win something not just a great stadium.all levy is interested in is posting great financial figures llikejust done well spend it get good players in as needed or sell up and jog on let someone with money buy us and invest in team with poch at helm.levy likes to ask harrods prices but pay poundland money for replacements.