Ex-Spurs Scout: Tottenham player ratings v Luton – Vicario ‘worries’ me, Udogie ‘disappointing’
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent six years as a senior scout at Spurs and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Brian also spent eight years on Everton’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells.
Tottenham battled to a 1-0 victory at Luton Town on Saturday 7 October, despite being down to 10 men, to go top of the Premier League for the first time since August 2022.
Micky van de Ven scored his first goal for the club to put Spurs ahead after they had been reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Yves Bissouma for two bookable offences in the first half.
Although a man down, they managed to hold on well and defend their lead to secure their third away win of the season.
Ex-Spurs scout Bryan King watched on for Tottenham News and has provided his player ratings for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Guglielmo Vicario – 6/10
“He is not positive on corners when the ball is in the air. He needs to take more charge in that six-yard box and the penalty area. He made a good stand-up save but I just worry about him when there are crosses and corners coming in.“
Pedro Porro – 7/10
“He did well, he gets forward, defended well and had a good all-round game.”
Cristian Romero – 8/10
“I think this was his best 90 minutes. Great strength, and pace and he made some very good tackles, he got the ball and carried it out from the back a couple of times. His all-round play was excellent and you can never question his bravery.“
Micky van de Ven – 8/10
“Played it simple, cleared his lines and was on hand to score the winner. He showed great feet for the goal to get that angle on his left foot and he won the game for us.”
Destiny Udogie – 6/10
“A bit disappointing for me, he let people get beyond him. The main danger came from wide positions, especially on his side. A little bit worried a couple of times about his strength in the tackle. His worst performance across the last three matches.”
Yves Bissouma – 5/10
“What can you say? He looks so good at times and then he gets himself drawn in. His challenge when he gave the free kick away was very poor. Looked bright at the start, got forward and his passing wasn’t bad, but to do what he did, it looks as though he is now going to be missing for a couple of weeks. It is things like that which don’t win you leagues.”
Pape Matar Sarr – 6/10
“He was busy, supporting, but I still haven’t got a clear picture of him yet.”
James Maddison – 8/10
“Outstanding again, he lost it once in the first half which could have caused us problems but his general play was excellent. He set up some good chances and the goal with some quick thinking. Everyone was waiting for him to jog over and take the corner, but Dejan Kulusevski played it to him, he did the business, got in the box and the big centre-back put it in the net. He really is a standout player.”
Dejan Kulusevski – 7/10
“He worked really hard. he was very unlucky with his shot, it was a very good save. He was very effective in that wide position and when he came in to support Son Heung-min.”
Richarlison – 5/10
“He could have had a hattrick after 15 minutes. I was beginning to wonder when they were going to bring him off, to be honest, it was one of those situations where the more chances he had the less likely he looked to score. I am not sure why he didn’t throw his head at the first one, and on his second chance, he never caught it properly. It was the right decision to bring him off.
Son Heung-min – 6/10
“He had some decent play when it was 11 v 11 but in the second half he disappointed me.”
Subsitutes
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6/10
“It looks as though he will start the next league game so he has got to get in the right frame of mind. I thought he did okay, he did the job he was asked to do.”
Emerson Royal – 5/10
Oliver Skipp – 5/10
Ben Davies – N/A
Alejo Veliz – N/A
In other Tottenham news, stats have shown just how significant Manor Solomon’s injury is for Tottenham.