Tottenham: Vinicius, Winks, Dominate Player Ratings, Ludogorets

Tottenham Hotspur worked hard and cruised to a 4-0 victory over Ludogorets on Thursday in Europa League, so how did everyone rate for Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur managed their first Europa league clean sheet since the opening match against LASK and did one better not allowing a single shot against from Ludogorets. It is mostly high marks all around for Tottenham as they thoroughly dominated the match in every conceivable way. So, who were the top performers and who did good on a night when Spurs romped?

There were a couple great performances on the evening as both Carlos Vinicius and Harry Winks were near flawless in their games, but plenty of players did well.

Tottenham Starting XI Ratings

Carlos Vinicius – 9

Carlos Vinicius did what we wanted on Thursday evening and put the ball in the back of the net. Even better he scored twice and added an assist for good measure. While Carlos was not nearly as active in the second half as the first, he continues to show nice touch on the ball and a terrific vision for finding his teammates for the shot. A fantastic game to build upon, for more on Carlos Vinicius’ night, click here.

Lucas Moura – 8

Lucas Moura was active and effective last night. Moura gave the right side of the Ludogorets defense fits all evening and could do mostly what he wanted with the ball – as could everyone in a Spurs shirt. Moura sent in four crosses, had three key passes, and scored the 4th and final goal. He probably would have liked to keep one of his other two shots on frame but will have to live with the goal and a solid outing.

Gareth Bale – 6.5

Gareth Bale was probably the least effective Tottenham player on the pitch but was still decent. Bale managed to get 7 shots off – 3 were free kicks – but he is taking some chances. Bale also have five crosses, although none found their target, it is good to see him lumping the ball into the box. Bale had a couple dribbles and showed a little burst, but that twinkle that was there the last time we saw him play was missing, hopefully it was just a down night for the Welsh winger.

Dele Alli – 8

The Tottenham midfield was dominant throughout the match with Dele Alli in the most forward attacking of the three positions. Dele was active defensively, played a major part in the passing game, and more importantly contributed in the goal scoring. With an assist, and two hockey assists, Dele had a nice evening from a production perspective. More importantly he played Dele’s game within the confines of the Mourinho plan, which is what he needs to be doing to get more time. For more on Dele’s game, click here.

Harry Winks – 9

Harry Winks was the dominant player on the ball last night. While Dele had some better passes, and Ndombele had some better dribbles and runs, no one had more touches, nor attempted and completed more passes than Winks’ 115 passes on the evening. Winksy was not peerless as he did miss 12 passes on the evening, but he was darn close. Harry Winks was again very forward thinking in his work, he completed 12 long ball passes which was more than twice as many completed as anyone on the team even attempted.

Winks longest ‘pass’ on the night was his 55-yard goal sent in from the sideline just a bit inside midfield. Apparently, Winks has told everyone he meant to pass it, but he will take the goal, regardless the ball went in and it was incredible. An excellent night for Winks as he tries to fight for playing time.

Tanguy Ndombele – 9

Dele got the assist, Winks got a goal and dominated the ball, Tanguy Ndombele must settle for being the prettiest player on the pitch Thursday evening. Second only to Winks in touches and passes attempted, Ndombele was an active and aggressive holding midfielder on the night. Making a team high five tackles and showing that he can do the Sissoko/Højbjerg role, Ndombele was a calming presence for Tottenham with his stepovers and turns and had Ludogorets on ice all night long.

Ben Davies – 7.5

Ben Davies had a solid, but unassuming game at left back. None of the defense really had a ton to do on the night as Davies spent most of his evening just on the Ludogorets side of midfield, near where Winks scored his goal from. Davies got the easiest assist of his life on the Winks goal as he had the throw-in to get the ball to Harry for the ‘shot’. Davies had a couple tackles and almost scored as an effort off a pretty chip from Dele Alli hit the outside of the post and went wide.

Japhet Tanganga – 8

Japhet Tanganga was the surprise starter on the night, but it was good to see the young defender make his second appearance of the season. Tanganga has struggled for fitness this season, but you could not tell watching him play on Thursday. Japhet was fast, aggressive, and strong on and off the ball for Spurs. He attacked the ball in the air and on the ground winning several duels in the process. An excellent first game back, as he did not have to do much defending, just beat Ludogorets to the ball. Tanganga did have Spurs ONLY clearance on the night after Tottenham had 30 against City. Different opponent, different plan. For more on Tanganga’s night click here.

Davinson Sanchez – 8

Davinson Sanchez was like a mirror imagine of Tanganga just on the right side of the pitch. Sanchez attacked the ball in the air and worked hard to step in front of the attackers and prevent possession. Clearly the Mourinho game plan was to limit the touches for Ludogorets and Sanchez did his part just like Tanganga. If you can complain about anything with the two center backs it was the 5 combined fouls which were just unnecessary, with 3 from Sanchez and 2 from Tanganga. Against a better team those may have been costly, we just need to be smarter.

Matt Doherty – 7.5

Like Ben Davies, Matt Doherty just did not have a lot to do on Thursday evening. His heatmap was a bit longer than Davies, as Doherty ventured forward a bit more and back more as well. Doherty had a couple interceptions and a tackle defensively and had a team high six crosses on the offensive end. While none of the crosses resulted in a goal – like at West Brom – it is good to be getting those attempts in, just like Bale. On a different night, they both might get an assist.

Joe Hart – N/A

Maybe this is not fair to Joe Hart, but the reality is for the 81 minutes Joe Hart played Spurs could have had a cone in the goal. Hart only had 11 totally touches on the night – the same number Harvey White had in 9 minutes – and never made a save. If the ball touched Harts gloves, it was because he picked it up from out of bounds. No doubt the keeper takes the shutout, but he seemed to have more activity with his mates on the bench than he did in the match.