Tottenham’s poor performance at Westfalenstadion in the round of 16 of the Europa league was expected after spurs manager Pochettino chose to leave out his best players which clearly goes to show the competition he prioritizes more. Keeping out players like Harry Kane, Erik lamella, Mousa Dembele and Kyle Walker proved to be very costly for spurs and they host the in form Dortmund side next week at the White Hart Lane with a goal deficit. If Spurs want a chance at winning their next game they will really have to pull a rabbit out of a hat. They haven’t won a game since their last three they have played and after the German trip they are low on morale. Maybe giving a chance to seven non regular starters could’ve been a mistake which also affected the performances of the other four. As a team, Tottenham were not able to pull off what they’re usually used to doing and there was no one who shined.
Performance ratings of the players were as follows.
1) Hugo Lloris- 2.5/5
All in all it was an average performance and there was really nothing he could do after being let down by his defence. Wasn’t at fault for any goals and was helpless in front of the attack of Dortmund.
2) Kieran Trippier- 2/5
He didn’t even attempt to stop the cross by Schmelzer which led to the first goal and left Reus open allowing him to score his first goal and Dortmund’s second. He was seen in no man’s land when Reus scored his second and Dortmund’s third.
3) Toby Alderweireld- 2.5/5
Didn’t have a good game but wasn’t as bad as the other defenders. Made some crucial tackles and stopped Reus a few times but was out of position for Reus’ and Dortmund’s third goal.
4) Kevin Wimmer- 2/5
Was at fault for the first goal by not challenging Aubameyang. Missed Subotic’s run allowing him to head the ball into Reus’ path for the second goal. Also tried and missed to clear the ball for the third goal because of bad positioning.
5) Ben Davies-2/5
Unable to keep up with Durm and was also out jumped by Aubameyang for the header, that opened the scoring for Dortmund. Rarely got forward and was very troubled by Durm’s great performance.
6) Tom Caroll- 2/5
Couldn’t really control the midfield being a central midfielder. He was booked for a high challenge and didn’t fall back to help the defence.
7) Ryan Mason- 2/5
Not his best game and didn’t do much work in the midfield. Only useful moment in the match was stopping Castro from scoring a tap in.
8) Josh Onomah- 3/5
One of Tottenham’s best comparatively but was well defended by the Dortmund team in the first leg.
9) Christian Eriksen- 3/5
Had one of the best chances of the game for Spurs which was saved by Weidenfeller. It was apparent that Eriksen couldn’t cope with the absence of Dembele and Kane on the pitch.
10) Song Heun-Min- 2.5/5
Didn’t take his chances and was often stopped by Subotic but almost won a penalty after a clumsy tackle by Bender who came in for Subotic later on, which was as good as it got in the attack for Spurs.
11) Nacer Chadli- 2/5
Didn’t have much possession or shots on goal and didn’t live up to his potential. Was outplayed by Mats Hummels.
Very generous rating for Eriksen, who spent his 62 minutes pretending to press the opposition from 5 yards away. Nothing to do with missing regular players and plenty to do with lack of commitment and courage.
A total waste of space, time and oxygen.