Credit: Imago/Sky Sports

Declan Carr

Sun 12 April 2026 17:20, UK

Jamie O’Hara was off the mark with his claim about Destiny Udogie after Tottenham Hotspur‘s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.

The Italian defender started at left-back in the Stadium of Light contest on 12 April as Roberto De Zerbi‘s side fell to another loss.

Nordi Mukiele scored the only goal of the contest, a deflected effort off Micky van de Ven, to condemn Spurs to a stay in the relegation zone.

The former Lilywhites midfielder turned pundit labelled Udogie as one of five “shocking” performers from the clash.

Tottenham need more from their top players, but the 23-year-old was not the problem against the Black Cats.

What did O’Hara say about Tottenham defeat?

Tottenham deserve a lot of criticism for their recent form; they last won a Premier League game against Crystal Palace on 28 December.

However, O’Hara’s was over the top and dramatic, especially the fact that he mentioned Udogie amongst the players that underperformed.

Speaking on Sky Sports (16:08 pm), he said: “Non-existent performances all over the park. Conor Gallagher, shocking. Kolo Muani, shocking. Solanke, shocking. Richarlison, shocking.

“Udogie, shocking. You can’t carry six players when you are fighting relegation! You have to fight and put in a performance.”

Why O’Hara is wrong about Udogie

Udogie should not be the target of O’Hara’s frustration, he was not the problem for De Zerbi’s side on Wearside, in fact, he put in one of the few positive displays for the visitors.

The former Udinese star created one chance, recorded a 75 per cent pass accuracy and made three passes into the final third in the contest, per Fotmob.

While he completed just one cross of the five that he attempted, for a 20 per cent success rate, at least he was trying to make something happen offensively, which can’t be said for some of his teammates.

Defensively, he barely put a foot wrong, making a total of four recoveries, three clearances, one tackle and one interception.

In terms of duels, he won three of the four that he contested on the ground, for a 75 per cent success rate, and he had success in the air, as he won the only one that he tried.

O’Hara is completely wrong, the stats do not back up his claim, and he should not have picked out the 12-cap international after his showing, which was actually impressive, rather than being the negative one that he suggested it was.