Tottenham were blunt in attack vs Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur had recovered well after losing 3-2 to Brighton and Hove Albion with successive wins against West Ham United and AZ Alkmaar after the international break.
The Lilywhites, on a high, travelled to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday. They went into the game against the Eagles as firm favourites, especially with the hosts in abysmal form and winless in the season.
However, Crystal Palace brought Tottenham back to earth, winning the all-London affair 1-0. Ex-Spurs Bryan King was disappointed with the performance at Selhurst Park. He ripped into forwards Dominic Solanke and Richarlison after the shock loss to the Eagles, stating they didn’t do anything to create chaos within the hosts’ backline.
“We had £130million worth of strikers on the pitch,” Bryan King exclusively told Tottenham News.
“Did you see anything that would make Palace worry about two supposedly prominent strikers? I certainly didn’t.
“I wouldn’t say Solanke was a waste of money because it’s pretty early in the season. However, at the moment, neither Solanke nor Richarlison look ready to win Tottenham matches. It is very disappointing.
“I don’t think either of them had a chance after Richarlison came onto the pitch. Richarlison wasn’t exactly a big danger against AZ Alkmaar either.
“As for Solanke, I’m still trying to work out how he has done enough to warrant an England place. The only goals he has scored have been tap-ins.”
King’s heavy criticism of our two forwards is justified. Solanke led the Spurs attack flanked by Brennan Johnson and Mikey Moore, who was making his first-ever Premier League start. The England international completed 90 minutes but managed only 43 touches, won 9/19 duels, lost possession 18 times, enjoyed a 55 per cent pass accuracy rate and had zero shots on target (courtesy: SofaScore).
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As far as Richarlison is concerned, he entered the fray in the 62nd minute in place of James Maddison. All he managed was 14 touches and won 2/6 duels. The Brazilian lost possession six times and failed to test goalkeeper Dean Henderson even once inside 28 minutes. (courtesy: SofaScore).
Spurs paid a premium to sign Solanke from Bournemouth, and while he does well to hold the ball up, link play and offer a focal point to the Tottenham attack, he is going to be judged by how many goals he scores at the end of the day. He was poor all afternoon and barely threatened the Palace backline.
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Richarlison, too, was uninspiring and toothless after coming on as a substitute as Spurs chased the game. The duo couldn’t manage a shot on target between them should concern Big Ange. It was a bad day in the office and our gaffer needs to take some blame for that insipid performance.
Thus, it seems as though there is a lot to improve on the training ground, especially with Solanke and Richarlison.
