Stephen Warnock has been blown away by the performances of Tottenham Hotspur defender Destiny Udogie.
The 20-year-old initially signed in 2022 from Udinese, but was loaned back to the Serie A club last season.
Those extra 12 months probably did him the world of good, but many will be questioning why on earth Destiny Udogie wasn’t thrown into the deep end straight away given Tottenham’s struggles at the back.
Either way, the Italian is someone who has seriously impressed Stephen Warnock, who added ‘what a find’ he has been for Tottenham and how he was playing ‘centre-forward’ against Liverpool, as he told The Football Show on Sky Sports (02/10/23).
Of course, the VAR drama and that Luis Diaz ‘offside’ goal overshadowed what happened over the weekend.
But the performance of Destiny Udogie, against Mohamed Salah, was pretty good, not forgetting that he also faired well against Bukayo Saka in the north London derby.
Destiny Udogie’s performances
“Udogie as well, my word,” said Warnock. “What a find he is as well.
“The energy (against Liverpool). I wasn’t surprised he came off. I was watching him thinking ‘you can’t continue to make these runs’. He was playing centre-forward for half of the game.
“I am thinking ‘you are a left-back’. I might have to go and get my boots back on. You only have to play upfront these days. But they have got them playing a great style of football.”
Tottenham’s refreshed backline
The biggest problem about Spurs last season was their backline, their inability to deal with pressure and how they were too error-prone.
But with Udogie, summer signing duo Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario, as well as January capture Pedro Porro, the team looks completely different at the back now.
Ange Postecoglou has played a huge part in that because he has got everyone on the front foot and the demand to play without fear.
