Tottenham Player Ratings on Another Disappointing Day in BPL

Substitute and Coaching Ratings

At least one substitute made some noise as Gareth Bale looked like he should have been on the pitch from the off. Whereas Dele Alli and Matt Doherty  both left a lot to be desired.

Gareth Bale – 7

Bale was the real bright spot for Tottenham on the day. After a strong game midweek Bale was again lively in his 45 minutes Sunday. Bale had as many crosses – 7 – as Son had in the entire game to lead all players. Whether right footed at the end line or left footed changes of play, Bale was serving the ball up for Spurs. Was a bit unlucky to not score on a solid rocket that struck  the crossbar. Looked to attack on the dribble and seems to be partnering well with Matt Doherty.

Matt Doherty – 6

Matt Doherty provided some of the offensive Japhet Tanganga did not, but not nearly enough. Doherty finds himself in wonderful positions with the ball, space, and time. What he cannot do is deliver a good cross to save a life. Whether it is his right foot or left foot every pass and hit of the ball looks like it just takes more effort than Doherty has to strike what is likely an under hit looper to no one. Did almost play Bale in but lacked the pace to reverse that idea. Doherty is another who simply is not good enough for what Spurs want to do.

Dele Alli – N/A

Dele is lucky he only played a few minutes and did not get a rating as a result as those few minutes were almost comical. Whether it is because he wants to stick it to the coach, does not care, or truly has lost it, Dele just kind of wandered about, hoping to get a call only getting one. Another example of how lost this team is.

José Mourinho – 3

This is starting to get ridiculous. The team says all the right things in the interviews – likely for fear of ending up in the doghouse – but the play on the pitch says something different. That first half was unacceptable on so many levels. Clearly the team did not believe in the set-up and line-up and it showed. The fact is José seems to be guessing at this point as he just shifts chairs around on the Titanic. The team is terrible with free kicks, lacks any real midfield presence and continues to make the same mistakes with the same people in and in front of goal.

While most of the team is simply not good enough players to be top four like we want, Mourinho is supposed to make them better. Clearly the system is not working and when you have Pierre Højbjerg, Davinson Sanchez, and Eric Dier as you deep playmaking three you are truly lost. At this point, his coaching and tactics have clearly regressed the team and the confidence and if something does not change soon, Spurs will finish in the bottom half and again trophy less.

This is not to say Mourinho needs to go, but he needs to do something different and quickly and if he cannot, he should do the right thing and step-down.