Last night was arguably Tottenham Hotspur’s biggest game of the season so far, and things did not entirely go to plan.
Ange Postecoglou’s side played host to Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, and instead of building up a lead ahead of the second leg, they played out a 1-1 draw.
Unsurprisingly, given the scoreline, it was a night of mixed performances from the hosts, with some starters putting in a real shift while others have given the manager a decision to make ahead of next week.
In fact, one of Ange’s own signings was particularly poor, and truth be told, they let the manager down in a game which could seriously impact his job security.
Spurs’ standout performers
So, before getting to the offender in question, it’s worth going over a couple of the starters who did at least put in a real effort and arguably deserved to come away with a win, such as Micky van de Ven.
The Dutch defender was immense at the back, making his trademark lung-busting runs on more than one occasion to completely snuff out counter-attacks.
Had it not been for the former Wolfsburg gem, there is a very real chance that Frankfurt could’ve got one or two more goals, and so he’s more than deserving of the 8/10 match rating he got from the Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick.
James Maddison was another of Ange’s signings who put in a decent performance last night.
Now, he did lose the ball that led to the visitors’ opener, but after the first 15 minutes or so, he really found his feet and looked a genuine threat for much of the game.
The former Leicester City star got the assist for Pedro Porro’s goal and could have had one of his own in the second half, which, again, justifies the 7/10 match rating he got from Kilpatrick.
Unfortunately, one of Postecoglou’s other signings was far less influential last night, and as such, they let the fans and manager down.
The Spurs star who let Ange down
While the likes of Dominic Solanke and Son Heung-min were underwhelming last night, Brennan Johnson was arguably the worst Spurs player on the pitch.
It was only on Sunday that the Welsh international scored a brace against Southampton, so it made sense for Postecoglou to start him, but unlike then, the former Nottingham Forest star was utterly anonymous against Frankfurt.
In fact, it felt like whenever the “frustrating” wide man, as dubbed by former professional turned pundit Jamie O’Hara, did have the ball, he either lost it or played it safe, and then when he had a golden opportunity towards the end, he fired the ball well over the crossbar.
It might sound harsh, but Kilpatrick shares our opinion, awarding the winger a paltry 4/10 match rating at full-time and writing that aside from his big miss, he ‘was otherwise quiet.’
Unsurprisingly, his statistics only further back up this narrative, as in 95 minutes of action, the 23-year-old ace amassed a combined expected goal plus assists figure of 0.15 and failed to have a single shot on target.
To make matters worse, the Welshman only had 32 touches, completed just 13 passes – three fewer than goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario – and failed with 100% of his crosses during a really wasteful evening.
Ultimately, it was a middling night for Tottenham overall but a particularly bad one for Johnson, and if Postecoglou wants to see a better performance from his side in the second leg, he’d be better off dropping the Welshman.
