‘It doesn’t bode well for his future’- Ex-Spurs Scout: Five things I learned from Tottenham defeat against Aston Villa
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 fell to a third straight league defeat as Aston Villa took maximum points from their trip to north London, winning 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 26 November.
Ange Postecoglou’s problems are only continuing to pile up and the defeat was just one of a number of issues on Sunday afternoon.
Having returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Rodrigo Bentancur was forced to leave the pitch with a first-half injury during what was his first start in over nine months, which will leave the club sweating over the midfielder’s fitness as their long list of absentees continues to grow.
In truth, it was a game Spurs could have wrapped up in the first half, but for a third straight match, they threw away a 1-0 lead and eventually left the pitch empty-handed.
Ex-Spurs scout Bryan King was watching on for Tottenham News and detailed five things he learned from the defeat.
Tottenham shot themselves in the foot
“Spurs played very well for the first 30 minutes and could have been three up, but if you miss your chances then you pay the consequences.
“There were far too many missed chances, there were at least four good chances to score before Aston Villa equalised. There was a period during the first half where it was chance after chance after chance.
“At this level, you have to take those chances and if you continually miss them then it will come back to bite you, which is what happened to Tottenham. They had to bury their chances in the first half, but because they didn’t, they left themselves open and allowed Villa into the game.“
Bentancur will be devastated
“Matty Cash should have seen red for his challenge on Bentancur. It was a diabolical tackle, I have seen players sent off for less. It was so late and so high, there was no thought in that challenge at all, it was ridiculous.
“Bentancur had a great first half an hour, he looked quality, and you could imagine him playing alongside Maddison really well. Unfortunately, everything has now been thrown into doubt for him once again. It is terribly sad for him and if it is a similar injury to the last one then it doesn’t bode well for his future.
“If it is what some might fear it is, then it could be a far more serious injury than what Micky van de Ven or Maddison have got, so I really hope it is not for his sake.“
Confidence in the team is low
“This is the third defeat in a row, I am not sure where Tottenham go from here. They have Manchester City away next week, that is going to be a real test of character.
“All of a sudden from being unbeatable, with a wonderful atmosphere all around the club, you can see that the atmosphere and confidence has dropped dramatically. Tottenham have a very tough month ahead, the matches that are coming up are against quality opposition.“
Pedro Porro was a bright spark
“Porro did well. He got forward and he created a couple of decent chances. There were a few occasions where he could have provided a better delivery, but overall he did well. He got in the box on a few occasions and he was heavily involved throughout.“
Postecoglou might need to change his approach
“Is Postecoglou going to change things? I think he now needs to adapt the way the team plays to the players that he has available because Spurs have a tough run ahead.
“It is all well and good playing that way against the likes of Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton, but those teams won’t be challenging for championships, certainly not Premier League championships anyway. They now have the likes of Manchester City, West Ham and Newcastle all to come.
“I think he might have to pull his style in to match the players he has. It doesn’t look like the players that are playing right now are suited to his system.“
In other Tottenham news, one player proved that he has the potential to fill in for Maddison during the defeat against Villa.