Rodrigo Bentancur was the rare shining light in Tottenham’s dismal defeat to Ipswich Town
There is a clear issue at Tottenham Hotspur since the start of the new season—Ange Postecoglou’s side simply cannot be consistent.
Having beaten Aston Villa 4-1 last weekend, Spurs were in good league form coming into the game against newly promoted Ipswich Town. They were looking to walk away with the three points ahead of the November international break but that wasn’t the case as the Tractor Boys stunned the hosts 2-1 for their first win of the 2024/25 season.
Spurs were flat and timid overall and didn’t deserve anything out of this game. However, as per Football London correspondent Alasdair Gold, one Tottenham player who could keep his head up after the defeat to Kieran McKenna’s side is Rodrigo Bentancur.
“If we going to start with one positive with the players, it was Bentancur. Umm he started to tire a little bit after the goal and he started to get very frustrated with a challenge that was given as a foul in a yellow card against him,” Alasdair Gold said on his YouTube channel.
“I kind of felt like from that point on he lost his way a little bit. You could maybe argue the build up to the second goal that I think he went in for a challenge that wasn’t great and didn’t really win the ball, but other than that I kind of felt he was playing quite well and he got his goal which is his first goal of the season.”
Bentancur was the only bright spark in an otherwise awful Spurs display on Sunday. He started as the deepest in a three-man midfield alongside Pape Matar Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski. The Uruguayan international halved the deficit with a bullet header midway through the second half, giving the home side hopes of a comeback which eventually didn’t happen, though.
The 27-year-old had 75 touches on the ball and made 46 accurate passes out of 54. Bentancur not only scored with one of his three attempts but also helped the team defensively with one blocked shot, seven tackles and three interceptions.
Heavily involved in the midfield battle as Spurs struggled to cope with Ipswich’s physicality and energy, the Nueva Helvecia-born talent contested 18 duels—winning 11. (Stats courtesy: SofaScore)
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The mini-stats demonstrate why the South American was the only positive in the game, further reiterating Gold’s claims. Bentancur is again becoming a key player for Spurs and we are gradually starting to see his best version—the one we all witnessed before the unfortunate ACL injury in 2023.
