And just like that, Tottenham Hotspur miss out on another chance for silverware.
Ange Postecoglou’s side travelled to Anfield for the second leg of their League Cup semi-final last night, and while they did so with a 1-0 advantage, they won’t be heading to Webley Stadium next month.
The North Londoners were unable to keep Liverpool at bay and never looked even remotely like scoring themselves, so while the hosts eventually ran out 4-0 winners, it could have easily been more.
With all that said, the Lilywhites have to now dust themselves off and go again, as they still have two more chances to win a trophy this season, although to give the team the best chance of doing so, Postecoglou must drop one of his star players for new boy Mathys Tel.
Why Tel has to start
So, while Tel did get his first run out in a Spurs shirt late into the first half last night, the main arguments for why he should be starting the FA Cup game on the weekend, and the Premier League games after that, do not stem from his somewhat underwhelming performance.
In fact, they don’t even really come from what he did with Bayern Munich prior to his move this season, as Vincent Kompany hardly gave him any game time. Instead, they stem from his outrageously impressive form last season.
For example, despite still only playing 1406 minutes of first-team football across 41 appearances, the young Frenchman racked up a brilliant haul of ten goals and provided six assists.
Appearances
41
Starts
10
Minutes
1406′
Goals
10
Assists
6
Goal Involvements per Match
0.39
Minutes per Goal Involvement
87.87′
That means that, in a season in which he was just 18 years old at the start, the player Spurs believe to be a “generational” talent, per journalist Graeme Bailey, maintained an average of a goal involvement every 2.56 games, or every 87.87 minutes.
Moreover, according to FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League, the Sarcelles-born ace sits in the top 9% of attacking midfielders and wingers for total shots, the top 13% for successful take-ons, the top 14% for assists and more, all per 90.
In short, the Bayern loanee is an exceptionally exciting attacker who could and would inject some much-needed dynamism into Spurs’ frontline, and therefore, he must start in place of a veteran for the foreseeable future.
The Spurs star Postecoglou must drop
The unfortunate reality of last night’s dismal display is that you could probably make a case for why most of the starting lineup shouldn’t keep their place for the game against Villa on the weekend.
However, the manager is not blessed with the squad depth to make wholesale changes and, stars like Dejan Kulusevski have shown earlier this season that, at his best, he’s unplayable.
Therefore, the player that Postecoglou should be looking to drop in place of Tel is none other than club captain Son Heung-min.
The South Korean superstar is an icon of both the team and the league, but last night was yet another game that seemingly passed him by, as while he rattled the crossbar in the dying embers, he was unbelievably ineffective for practically the entire match.
It might sound harsh, but it’s an opinion shared by the Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, who gave the winger a 4/10 match rating at full-time, writing that he ‘struggled to make any inroads’ against the Reds’ steadfast defence, which is also borne out in his statistics.
Minutes
93′
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots on Target
0
Dribbles (Successful)
2 (0)
Passing Accuracy
10/17 (59%)
Key Passes
0
Touches
29
Crosses (Accurate)
3 (0)
Long Balls (Accurate)
1 (0)
Ground Duels (Won)
5 (1)
Aerial Duels (Won)
1 (0)
Lost Possession
13
Dribbled Past
2
In his 93 minutes on the pitch, the former Bayer Leverkusen star failed to have a single shot on target, failed in 100% of his attempted dribbles, maintained a dismal passing accuracy of just 59%, played no key passes, took just 29 touches, failed in 100% of his crosses and long balls, lost four of five ground duels and 100% of aerial duels, lost the ball 13 times and was dribbled past twice.
Ultimately, it was a diabolically poor performance from the captain, and given the fact he’s set to turn 33 in the summer and research carried out by The Athletic revealed that wingers see a dramatic decline in their ability to take players on at 30, it seems incredibly unlikely that we’ll ever see him back to his best.
Therefore, to give the team the best chance of finally lifting some silverware this season, Postecoglou must drop Son from the starting lineup and replace him with the incredibly dynamic, unpredictable and exciting Tel, especially ahead of Villa on Sunday.
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