Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou will be worried by what happened to Radu Dragusin with Romania
Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin appears to have taken one step forward and two steps back during the international break with Romania.
After a difficult first Premier League start for the defender against Fulham, Dragusin would have been grateful to get away from Hotspur Way and represent his nation.
The 22-year-old struggled as Spurs were beaten 3-0 at Craven Cottage (16 March) and the international break was a chance for him to put that disappointment behind him and return to North London with some confidence.
He made a fantastic start toward doing that as he sent Ange Postecoglou a message with his performance in Romania’s 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland on Friday (22 March).
During that contest, Dragusin won two tackles and made five clearances, while also winning 100 per cent of his ground duels (Sofascore).
In addition, he completed 100 per cent of his dribbles and 89 per cent of his passes in what was a much more composed display than his showing against Marco Silva’s side.
However, after appearing to have moved on from his disappointing outing against Fulham, Dragusin showed signs of struggle once again as Romania were beaten 3-2 by Colombia on Tuesday (26 March).
Tottenham defender Radu Dragusin continues to show signs of inconsistency
Where he was a rock at the back for his nation against Northern Ireland, Dragusin wasn’t even able to complete more than 45 minutes against Colombia.
After a sub-par first half, the central defender was hooked at the break by his international boss.
Romania went into the break 2-0 down and Edward Iordănescu clearly decided he had seen enough from Dragusin.
Although he managed to complete 94 per cent of his passes, the former Genoa man did little in the way of defending, contesting zero ground duels or aerial duels, and failing to make a single tackle while also failing with his one attempted long ball forward.
Dragusin did make one clearance, one block and one interception, but it clearly wasn’t enough as he made way at the break.
Postecoglou will be particularly concerned by what this might do to his defender’s confidence.
After such a difficult outing recently for Spurs, to now be hooked by his country at half-time, Dragusin is unlikely to be on cloud nine at the moment.
Hopefully, his withdrawal was not a result of any injury issue, and Postecoglou can get Dragusin back to Hotspur Way and help him rebuild his confidence.
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