Ex-Spurs Scout: Tottenham player ratings v Wolves – Johnson dazzles, Emerson ‘the weakest player’
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. Bryan also spent eight years on Everton’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells.
Tottenham failed to bounce back from defeat against Chelsea as they conceded two late goals at Molineux in a 2-1 defeat to Wolves on Saturday 11 November.
Brennan Johnson had put the visitors in front after just three minutes, marking the sixth match in a row where Tottenham had taken the lead.
However, despite holding on with a makeshift defence for much of the game, a moment of late magic by Pablo Saribia followed by Mario Lemnia’s last-gasp winner saw the hosts complete a miraculous turnaround right at the death.
Ex-Spurs scout Bryan King watched on for Tottenham News and has provided his player ratings for Postecoglou’s side.
Guglielmo Vicario – 7
“He did well, he made a very good save low down from Mario Lemina, dove to his right and pushed the ball past the post. He had no chance with either of the goals. He was calm, and made a good save with his feet although the chance was offside.”
Pedro Porro – 6
“A great ball to set up the goal, the best player in the first half. During the second half, he seemed to deteriorate a little bit.”
Eric Dier – 6
“Made a great challenge early in the second half. He didn’t really put a foot wrong, and he was unlucky to be on the losing side. He did as well as he could.”
Ben Davies – 6
“I thought he did well, considering it was one of his first starts this season. He made some good blocks.”
Emerson Royal – 5
“He seemed to struggle with Nelson Semedo’s pace in the wide areas. He was so late with the challenge he got booked for, it was an unnecessary yellow card. He got caught ball-watching for the winning goal as well. He looked the weakest player in the back four for me.”
Yves Bissouma – 5
“He made a few nice touches and runs with the ball but I have seen him play better, and he got booked which means he is now unavailable for the game against Aston Villa. It was a totally unnecessary booking to pick up.”
Pape Matar Sarr – 5
“He had a decent performance. He made some good runs beyond the Wolves midfield early on but looked tired as the game went on and came off around the hour mark.”
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6
“Full of energy. He battles, works hard and tries to get the midfield going. He won a fair amount of tackles but his use of the ball was poor.”
Dejan Kulusevski – 6
“He looked world-class in the first 20 minutes, but as the game went on, he seemed to disappear. There were quite a few times when he would get into wide positions but instead of crossing, he would try to take on an extra player and give the ball away which was disappointing.”
Son Heung-min – 6
“He had a very quiet afternoon. Apart from his blocked shot late on he didn’t do much. He does work hard, however, he tried to close the defenders and goalkeeper down.”
Brennan Johnson – 7
“He looks lively, he looked bright early on and Wolves realised that by dealing with him quite harshly at times. It was a great run and finish for his goal. He was the best attacker for Spurs.”
Subsitutes
Rodrigo Bentancur – 5
Giovani Lo Celso – 6
“He had a chance to score, which was one of Spurs’ few chances. It was the first time the Wolves shot-stopper had to make a save.”
Bryan Gil – 5
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