Tottenham Hotspur are in a bad place and the fact that Spurs are in serious danger of being relegated from the Premier League after Sunday’s disastrous home defeat to Nottingham Forest must have given up on even the most optimistic of supporters.
Supporters want to see a bit of a fight from manager Igor Tudor, but the players are standing up stripped of whatever qualities they still have (somewhere).
Although elements of Tottenham’s performance against relegation rivals Forest showed an improvement over their previous efforts, it is still a worrying 3-0 loss to a team that started the day on the back foot. Only if West Ham United lose to Aston Villa will Spurs remain above the relegation zone.
You could pick any one of the Lilywhites to write a hit, but the Spanish right-back is one of north London’s most talented footballers, and Pedro Polo’s slump this season has been visibly bleak.
Pedro Polo’s decline at Spurs
It remains to be seen whether Tottenham decide to stick with Tudor as interim manager or make a twist, but they now feel they have a responsibility to rekindle their confidence and belief in their performance.
A player like Polo, who established himself as one of the most creative and dynamic full-backs in Europe since joining Tottenham from Sporting Lisbon, has gone beyond mere underperformance and regressed to being technically subpar.
Against Forest, the 26-year-old failed to show any real quality from the right flank, losing the ball 20 times.
Polo certainly cares. He looked depressed all season, with his personal pride and indeed the future of one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs at stake.
However, Polo’s intensity has not been matched by his actual quality on the field, and some argue that his error-filled performances were such that it would have been desirable to drop him in the final weeks of the season, as Jed Spence is perhaps more dynamic and balanced.
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Tottenham were crushed by Nottingham Forest in a six-point Premier League clash in north London.
He is not the only one who flatters and deceives. Guglielmo Vicario is undoubtedly at the epicenter of the turmoil, occupying an unconvincing and uncertain position between the two camps. However, he played through pain this weekend ahead of hernia surgery.
That said, these players have value and Tottenham have another rising star who may need to be left out.
Spurs can’t restart flop this season
There was no shortage of poor performances as Tottenham lost to Nottingham Forest, but Destiny Udogie’s second-half cameo where he was more competitive than his team-mates was very impressive.
The left-back played for the first time since early February after his recent injury setback, but sadly it was a game that was virtually error free and could not play fluently.
The 23-year-old has only played half the games, but there’s no denying that any signs of first-half fluidity disappeared when Tottenham replaced Micky van de Ven.
In fact, Udogi lost six duels against Omari Hutchinson and Ola Aina, committed two fouls and missed one rushing tackle.
Destiny Udogi’s Premier League minutes | ||
|---|---|---|
season | app | minutes |
25/26 | 14 | 842 minutes |
24/25 | twenty five | 1,932′ |
23/24 | 28 | 2,398′ |
When Udoji joined Tottenham from Serie A side Udinese for a fee of £15 million at the beginning of the Ange Postecoglou era, he was burdened with high expectations. But everything fell apart and his weak efforts throughout this term left him in an even worse position than the likes of Polo and Vicario.
Earlier this month, Italian sources reported that Juventus were planning to sign the Italian defender from Tottenham this summer, and it looks increasingly likely that Udogi will leave for a clean slate regardless of how the Londoners finish the season.
There are top players there, but whether Udogi can regain that level at Tottenham is another question. In reality, it is highly unlikely that he will regain his form over the next two months, and as such he cannot be allowed to return to the starting lineup.
Unless something dramatic happens, we will have seen the last of a free-flowing, roaring Udogie in a Tottenham shirt.
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Tottenham are in danger of being exhausted in the relegation battle after losing to Nottingham Forest.
