Collectively, Tottenham put in their worst display of the season so far in the 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at Wembley. But just how badly did they perform individually?
Hugo Lloris, 6
Struggled with his distribution early on, not helped by some suspect pass-backs. Grew in confidence and made a couple of important saves. Could do little about the goal.
Kyle Walker, 4
Reminiscent of the Walker of old: error prone and sloppy with those deer-in-the-headlights eyes. The only saving grace was his attacking intent which, while unproductive, was at least purposeful.
Eric Dier, 4
Had been doing a decent job deputising for Toby Alderweireld until tonight. Far too many mistakes, including a wayward backwards header that should have been capitalised upon. His bar-rattling free-kick wasn’t enough to excuse a really bad display.
Jan Vertonghen, 5
Looked panicked in the opening stages with a couple of misplaced clearances that set the tone for Spurs’ edgy performance. Grew into the game but will have to improve against Arsenal on Sunday.
Ben Davies, 4
Really inaccurate with his passing in the first half, Davies improved after the break and became one of Tottenham’s most active players going forward. Problem is, that activity is pointless when coupled with woeful decision making and a lack of creativity from out wide.
Victor Wanyama, 6
As a defensive unit, Spurs weren’t a complete disaster; the problems were primarily caused by individual mistakes. Wanyama, then, can probably be excused from much criticism. He was the least error-prone of the hosts’ defensive players and looked more confident than everyone else — a result of his good form.
Mousa Dembele, 4
Was clearly off the pace, emphasised by numerous overhit passes before his departure on thirty minutes. Whether this was down to injury alone is up for debate.
Mousa Sissoko, 3
These are worrying times for Sissoko — poor from start to finish despite sporadic moments of effort — and his manager, who appears to be putting faith in a player clearly lacking the quality to play in an elite competition like the Champions League.
Christian Eriksen, 4
In a short spell of Spurs dominance in the first half, Eriksen looked like he was beginning to turn the key, but it didn’t last long. One dangerous shot isn’t enough from a player who should be doing more — much more. Completely anonymous after the break and was subbed.
Dele Alli, 5
Got the team up the pitch far more effectively than any other Tottenham attacker. Worryingly, however, Alli sometimes seems more determined to win free-kicks and penalties than make a real impact.
Heung-Min Son, 3
Has totally lost the goalscoring momentum he had generated prior to the 2-0 win against Manchester City a month ago. Barely had a sniff through the middle before being pushed out wide, where he was equally unproductive.
Substitutes
Vincent Janssen, 5
Spurs undeniably improved when Janssen came on. But despite retaining the ball well a few times, he wasn’t enough of a goal threat, and that’s a problem when the rest of the attack is similarly low on confidence.
Harry Winks, 5
Replaced Eriksen on 66 minutes and didn’t do enough to prove he should be picked over his midfield counterpart. Goes without saying that patience is required for this promising prospect.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, 5
Brought on with 20 minutes to go. Tried his best to inject some zest into a sluggish Tottenham attack but, just like everyone else, failed to provide anything meaningful.
“Sissoko lacking quality to play in an elite competition”. Excuse me?
Are you aware that he was arguably the best player on the pitch in the final of the European Championships? Or that he started in and scored in matches at the World Cup?
Yes, he was awful tonight. But he is by no means a lost cause, a player with no talent would not be starting important matches for a strong French national team that in the last two tournaments have performed a lot better than England.
The guy can obviously play, now just trust Poch to get him to do it for us. Hopefully soon:)
SORRY BUT HE IS TOILET
Sissoko is not a winger, he is a CAM \ CM, he looks absolutely lost and confused on the wing.
When will we come to realize that the problem is not a player or players. The manager does not seem to have a plan B or even a strategy for certain teams. We are predictable. Start crying folks, it ain’t going to be pretty on Sunday.
Yes, the Spurs are lacking anything close in the final third, but 3s and 4s are not accurate. Sissoko connected many passes and had attacking intent. He also played some defense as opposed to Son and Eriksen, his AM buds, who did nothing really cutting on the attack and neither won the ball back high up the pitch. Maybe Mousa could take Dembele’s place? Overall, I’d give him a 5.
Overall, this team needs a real jolt and N’Koudou needs another start. Maybe even Winks could join Sissoko in the double pivot in the other Mousa’s place (when suspension is over), after all, isn’t Poch known to trust youngsters? Kane being back will be a plus over Jansen, who just always seems off the pace, including his reaction to Oier’s kick hitting the xbar.
where are you BOBHOPE?? My 100% correct assessment of Spurs was termed as “BUFFOON” by you? what a load of crap – everyone. 1 game in 15 they wake up (rather the other team goes to sleep) and we get excited? Sideways, backwards, inaccurate, slow, senseless ..the SH can go on! Season over. Next season playing Blackburn to avoid championship relegation.
We were awful, there is no doubt about it. I have watched our last 5 / 6 games and thought, jesus, where would we be without Victor Wanyama, yes I know he cost us against Leicester with that mistake, but he has been miles better than any other outfield player, all season he has to be honest. I was amazed Janssen did not start last night, the attacking 4 he went with have been woeful the last month or so, Eriksen has been so poor it is unbelievable, he has shown nothing the entire season yet has not once been dropped. I don’t think Sissoko is that much worse than the rest of them, I just think he’s the player everyone looks at due to his reputation, plus he’s being played out of position. I hope he is the player alongside Wanyama for the Arsenal game should Dembele not be fit. I said right at the start of the season about strength in depth, and now we are suffering because of it, Kane and Alderweireld are our best outfield players, take Hazard and Costa out of Chelsea, plus a Kante, you are looking at a different level team. Lamela is a huge loss to us, he is the hardest working player we have, when he isn’t there, Eriksen and Alli don’t move. For me Sunday is Eriksen’s last chance, he’s usually a massive player for us against Arsenal, if he doesn’t show up again, he should be dropped. But goodness me do we need to strengthen our bench in January.
Nobody has said how good Leverkusen are, they out played us earlier in the season as well, they are a different league to us, pressing game? they showed how it should be done, they were just too good for us, Lloris set the tone in the first ten minutes his distribution is awful, none of our defenders could handle the press, lets learn from it and move on.
Sissoko looks garbage last night, just not sure where he fits in or why they were so keen to buy him over Everton really. Rare to see Eric Dier get a 4 out of 10, he’s usually Mr Dependable for at least a 6 but like most he got lost last night. The heat map for the team shows they just couldn’t get the ball in the box enough to create any problems.
Finally people are waking up to the fact that, for the most part, Eriksen flatters to deceive. Yes, in the past he’s contributed both goals & assists but one should balance that against the number of times he’s dispossessed and his failure to tackle.
When the team performs well as a unit (I agree with MP-DX…once in a blue moon) then Ericksen thrives but when it’s under pressure the guy disappears.
One would hope that Pochettino has finally realised his shortcomings and is brave enough to re-shuffle the attack on Sunday, but I doubt it.
Me? I’d play Sissoko in the N° 10 role behind Janssen, drop Eriksen completely and bench Alli, play Son and/or N’Koudou (i.e. sub one whenever) left and Lamela right-side.
Why? because I think the Arse defense needs to be bullied…