Igor Tudor endured a nightmare – making his Premier League debut as Tottenham Hotspur supervisor, as Arsenal launched an onslaught towards their neighbors on Sunday night time.
When Randal Kolo Muani equalized simply after Eberechi Eze had put the Gunners’ opener dwelling, the temper inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would have been one in every of optimism because the Frenchman confidently transformed his likelihood after Declan Rice had labored onerous on the ball.
But such a demoralizing defeat left Spurs simply 4 factors away from the highest flight, with Mikel Arteta’s guests profitable 4-1 towards their arch-rivals within the second half.
On the finish of a heartbreaking defeat, few white shirts took off proud of their total effort, however Tudor was given loads of meals for thought as to who to pick for the essential video games that adopted, as he rapidly acclimated to the stress of the Spurs sizzling seat.
Why Spurs struggled a lot towards Arsenal
Arteta and his group have received the final 5 aggressive clashes between the bitter north London rivals, with Arsenal now 5 factors clear on the high of the Premier League, whereas Spurs stay mired in a relegation battle.
Tudor might want to tighten up his protection within the subsequent sport if he desires to keep away from an embarrassing fall to the championship. Whereas Bukayo Saka ran circles round a leaky Spurs protection all through the sport, gamers like Micky van de Ven stood out as clear underperformers on the again.
Along with the Dutchman’s frustration, Archie Grey was additionally far too gentle in such an essential match. The previous Leeds United prodigy received solely one in every of his six encounters and was carelessly stripped of the ball 16 occasions. Viktor Gokeres’ remaining purpose of the match was additionally fully muscled out, however as a comfort, the Swede did the identical for the underperforming Radu Dragusin, permitting him to have one other unforgettable night time in Spurs colours.
Actually, even when Conor Gallagher didn’t make an affect once more as a brand new signing, Arsenal had been marginally forward of their rivals in a one-sided second half. The aforementioned Gokeres elegantly scored a fierce shot within the forty fifth minute of the second half, setting the tone for the Gunners’ straightforward victory.
As Sky Sports activities’ Jamie Redknapp identified, the longer the conflict dragged on, it was a “whole mismatch”. As a result of poor efficiency of Dragusin and Grey, Tudor must make some essential modifications instantly.
However they weren’t the worst end result for the brand new coach.
Spurs’ greatest stoop vs Arsenal
Such a devastating defeat at dwelling to Arsenal meant Spurs’ final win within the Premier League was towards Crystal Palace in late December, and Tottenham’s new supervisor is doing every part he can to show the automotive crash round.
A great place to begin to show this fiddle might be to fireside Xavi Simmons. The previous RB Leipzig attacker was far beneath his finest towards Arteta’s aspect, because the £52m spent on his providers final summer time nonetheless seems like a reckless splurge.
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Simmons has the second-highest 5 purpose contributions to his identify throughout the season, with glimpses of his immense qualities on the forefront throughout London. In truth, he recorded an help towards Manchester Metropolis earlier this month, when he accomplished 5 dribbles as a tough livewire and received 11 duels.
Nevertheless, he was a lot simpler to comprise towards Arsenal, as his lackluster No. 7 put up shocking numbers in a disappointing sport, profitable solely one in every of 15 matches that night time.
Simmons vs Arsenal | |
|---|---|
Play time (minutes) | 90 |
Variety of factors scored | 0 |
help | 0 |
contact | 55 |
shot | 1 |
actual path | 21/27 (78%) |
key move | 1 |
dribbling success | 0/4 |
lack of possession | 24 occasions |
Complete variety of duels received | 1/15 |
Symonds threw himself feebly on the trigger, recklessly giving up the ball 24 occasions, failing to finish a single correct dribble in 4 makes an attempt and solely as soon as registering a shot on track at David Raya’s purpose.
This poor evaluation of his efficiency might be sufficient for supervisor Tudor to think about leaving him out for the underside aspect’s subsequent league sport away to Fulham, with Dominic Solanke or Richarlison probably eyeing a beginning spot in his place.
Regardless of this worrying show in his first sport within the sizzling seat, Spurs’ new supervisor confirmed solidity as soon as the full-time whistle blew.
In truth, the previous Juventus supervisor confidently dominated out the potential for relegation in his speech after the 4-1 defeat, even because the North Londoners proceed to combat towards relegation.
It will likely be fascinating to see what sort of affect Tudor could make on the unlucky group of gamers he has at his disposal, but when the Croats determine on a refreshed eleven for the journey to Craven Cottage, Simmons will undoubtedly be the primary face on the bench.
Tottenham have made a proposal for the previous Liverpool star who’s prepared to take a ‘important’ pay minimize as his agent holds talks with Spurs
Spurs are conscious he might be obtainable.
