‘He has a long way to go’ – Ex-Spurs Scout: Five things I learned from Tottenham defeat at Brighton
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 in their bid to move back into the Premier League’s top four as they were beaten 4-2 by Brighton on Thursday 28 December.
Ange Postecoglou’s side arrived at the Amex Stadium on a three-match winning streak but just appeared to run out of steam on the south coast as Roberto De Zerbi’s men raced into a 4-0 lead.
Spurs made it a more respectable-looking scoreline as Alejo Veliz scored his first goal for the club before Ben Davies added a second, but in the end, it proved to be too little too late, with most of the damage done by the hour mark.
It leaves the north London side fifth in the table, with a tricky New Year’s Eve fixture coming up as they prepare to host an in-form Bournemouth side unbeaten in their last seven.
Ex-Spurs scout Bryan King was watching on for Tottenham News and has detailed five things he learned from the defeat.
Defensive mess
Tottenham could have lost 10-2 if things had panned out differently. They were all over the shop defensively, especially in the first half.
Son Heung-min did not track back at all for the first goal; he was more central, and there was so much space left behind Destiny Udogie. You have to track back when you’re playing in a wide position.
Tottenham were very fortunate that they didn’t concede more goals. While they did threaten a late comeback, it wasn’t to be, and in the end, they paid the price for their poor defending early on. To give away two penalties is ridiculous, the challenge for the second one was just so late, there was no need for it.
Guglielmo Vicario showed signs of weakness
Vicario made two or three great saves in the first half, the one from Danny Welbeck’s shot was incredible. He had already committed and had to rearrange his feet quickly to dive to his left. Welbeck couldn’t believe it and neither could I. It was a tremendous save. Just like against Everton, Vicario kept Tottenham in the match at the beginning, and he has done that in several games this season already.
Having said that, I do have some worries with him. I think teams are starting to figure out that he is not comfortable with his left foot. Some of the passes he played from out the back with his left foot when people were putting him under pressure weren’t great, I have certainly seen better balls played. He didn’t look comfortable on his left-hand side at all for some reason.
Needless suspensions continue
What was Dejan Kulusevski thinking? He will now miss the game against Bournemouth because he gave away a ridiculous penalty. He only pulled Welbeck’s shirt because he was trying to rectify the fact that he wasn’t in the right position to begin with.
That is another player now unavailable. The biggest problem for Postecoglou right now is this constant chopping and changing. He had a settled team at the beginning of the season, and the results showed how important that was. However, it has now been a while since he has had that settled team.
Injuries are no one’s fault, but these suspensions are becoming ridiculous. They’re for petty things. Late tackles, kicking the ball away, the discipline needs to improve because Spurs don’t have a big squad of players, and when players are getting suspended for small things it is very frustrating.
Jury still out on Alejo Veliz
I think he might have scored the best mishit goal that I have ever seen. He didn’t hit it right at all, he drove it into the ground and the bounce seemed to deceive the goalkeeper.
He looked okay, but when you have been used to Harry Kane and Son, I think he has a long way to go. Well done for scoring the goal, as fortunate as it was, but I don’t think Tottenham will win the league with him.
I could see him going out on loan perhaps. I think he could one day be up to the Premier League and Tottenham, but at the moment he is a substitute at best. He is a young player, and sometimes you know straightaway with young players that they’re going to become top players, but I am not so sure with Veliz.
In all fairness, we haven’t seen enough of him to pass a fair judgment yet.
The next two games will be crucial
If Tottenham had got a third at the end I think they might have been able to salvage something. They seemed to come alive, and that is the bit of the game which they must build on.
They have a great chance to get back on track with back-to-back home games, even though Bournemouth are in good form. These next two games will reveal a lot about the rest of the season, including whether or not Tottenham continue to compete in the FA Cup.
Tottenham need to show the discipline from the final 15 minutes, as opposed to the first 75 minutes.
In other Tottenham news, one player has been criticised by ex-Spurs chairman Lord Sugar after his display against Brighton.