It was another underwhelming performance from Tottenham in the midweek as Thomas Frank’s side barely escaped St James’ Park with a point.
It was a late overhead kick from Cristian Romero that saved the day for the Lilywhites. And while you can start pointing fingers at a few of the players in that Tottenham roster, there is a certain Destiny Udogie who has not been finding his stride since the Dane head coach took charge of the proceedings at Hotspur Way.
For a team to come from behind twice to earn a draw, you’d think that the supporters would be praising the mettle of the team, but many debates going back from the stadium were about the underwhelming outing the left back had at St James Park.
We have seen the 23-year-old already being questioned for his performances this season. Former Watford skipper Troy Deeney had once insisted that Udogie was looking “miles off” the pace in the ongoing campaign. It has been a run of consistent niggles that has not helped his cause as well. And it is not only the eye test but also the numbers in his midweek performance at Newcastle that pointed out that he is nowhere near the levels that Tottenham supporters are used to seeing from him.
A look at Destiny Udogie’s performance vs. Newcastle
It looked clear that Eddie Howe’s side were particularly looking to target that left channel of Tottenham from the opening minutes. Jacob Murphy was looking to go at him at every opportunity, forcing Destiny Udogie to make rushed decisions. And while Udogie was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, he never looked settled.
You play Udogie for his offensive capabilities, but that was not on display yesterday, and he also struggled to ensure that his channel was locked when Newcastle were pushing for a winner late on. And while many Lilywhites supporters expected him to be a key cog in Frank’s philosophies, he has not got more reactive than aggressive.
And the sense of unease that the Spurs supporters had every time Newcastle tried to attack his channel – that sense of unease followed in the post-match chats.
It shows if we start looking at the numbers from the Newcastle game. He only got the better of duels twice in the nine times he contested, and it is one of the reasons why Tottenham were left constantly on the back foot on his side of the pitch.
He was also dribbled past three times, showing how often Newcastle tried to have a go at him in 1v1 situations. While on the defensive side of things, Udogie finished with only one clearance and one blocked shot, which is hardly a decent performance for a side looking to compete for Champions League places.
And then when you get to when he was on the ball, it was equally underwhelming. Udogie went on to lose the ball 11 times, and the two times he attempted crosses, he didn’t complete them. So even going forward, he ended up being more of a liability in multiple senses.
(Stats via. Football Insider)
It was a performance where you could sense how rusty he has been on the pitch this season. He is looking miles off the player that Tottenham fans were awaiting when he was injured.
Does this mean Djed Spence has a genuine opportunity at left-back?
What this underwhelming performance surely does is put the former Middlesbrough full-back right back into conversation. Spence has been impressive this season. And that strong defensive performance that he put in at Arsenal in the derby (where he won all of his tackles and aerial duels and was not dribbled past once) just shows the defensive stability he brings to the table.
So while Udogie is failing to put in half-decent performances, the fixtures are starting to pile up at N17. And Spence now suddenly has a clear opening to reclaim a starting place in that left channel. Spences does give you that more natural attacking instinct, which can give more of a structure to Tottenham (but Frank will have to swap offensive flair with defensive structure).
But given how Tottenham have been conceding far too many chances in the past weeks, for the immediate term Frank does need to ensure that he stabilises that back line. And that is where Spence can come in handy.
Author Opinion
Given that Tottenham are facing a difficult run of fixtures complemented by underwhelming performances, it is important that the North Londoners start getting things right. And that would come first from the structure and then from players committing to that structure, especially given how Thomas Frank’s philosophy works.
There is a clear opening for Spence now; he needs to keep that momentum going towards him and grab his place. Do you think Frank should now start Djed Spence over Destiny Udogie on that left channel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
