Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou must hook ‘soft’ Destiny Udogie at halftime v Nottingham Forest
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has to substitute Destiny Udogie if wants to claim all three points against Nottingham Forest in North London.
Spurs headed into the break at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium level with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side after Chris Wood equalised following Murillo’s early own goal after some clever play from Timo Werner.
The Forest striker had the easiest of finishes after Postecoglou’s backline switched off as the away side counterattacked, with Alan Smith quick to criticise Udogie for his role in the goal.
Speaking on Sky Sports Main Event (7 April, 18:28) he said: “How simple did that look? I think it’s Udogie that just does not go with Elanga. It’s such a soft one to concede that one.
“It just felt like a lack of concentration, certainly poor defending. Udogie switched off and allowed Elanga to get on his bike. “
While the Italian left-back has impressed under Postecoglou this season, scoring two goals and laying on three assists in 26 Premier League matches, he has struggled to impact proceedings in the first half, according to Fotmob.
The 21-year-old completed 91 per cent of his 23 attempted passes, only surrendering possession twice in the clash, but his time on the ball did little to help Spurs’ creatively.
Only one of those 23 passes found a teammate in white in the final third and Udogie misplaced his only attempted cross in the opening 45 minutes as failed to link up effectively with Werner down the left side of the pitch.
Defensively, the left-back didn’t attempt a single tackle and while he made three ball recoveries, he lost 66 per cent of his ground duels while also conceding two fouls after committing a couple of clumsy fouls.
When compared to other full-backs in the Premier League, the 21-year-old places in the 47th percentile for dribblers tackled per 90 minutes, with an average of only 1.1 a match, according to Fbref.
On top of that, Udogie places in the bottom 45 per cent of his positional peers for tackles lost per game, averaging 0.9 every 90 minutes which shows that he has to be stronger defensively to kick on and improve.
Will Tottenham qualify for the Champions League under Ange Postecoglou?
While Spurs have been inconsistent all season, these are the sort of games they simply have to win if they want to qualify for the Champions League and while they started well they need a cutting edge in the final third.
Whether or not Spurs will be able to finish the job in the second half remains to be seen, but they have put themselves in an excellent place to boost their hopes of a top-four finish and therefore Champions League football next term.
Hopefully, Postecoglou will make the changes required to help Tottenanm get over the line and finish the job. It would be a shame if Spurs threw away such an important opportunity at this stage of the season.
In other Tottenham news, Chelsea have been tipped to sell Conor Gallagher this summer to balance their books
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