Tottenham Hotspur player ratings from lopsided loss at Crystal Palace

Tottenham substitute and coaching ratings

Tottenham had to go to the bench much earlier than anticipated and it clearly impacted the side. Then instead of bringing on substitutes in a timely fashion to impact the match, Tottenham was responding to red cards and goals and on a wasted afternoon.

Joe Rodon – 6

Joe Rodon was okay defensively after coming on for Eric Dier. In reality, the big center-back probably should have started leaving Tanganga on the right to be more sound defensively. Instead, he came in and did what he could to cover the acres of space the poor formation left for him to defend. Will have to get better quickly with the injuries and absences.

Ben Davies – 3

Whereas Joe Rodon can get better, it is difficult to believe that will be possible with Ben Davies after all these years. Davies came on for Winks to play center-half next to Rodon after Tanganga was red-carded and was absolutely horrible. In his first touch of the match, he was all alone and miss-controlled the ball out of bounds. His second touch of the match was with his arm stuck out in the box for the penalty that ended the match. The idea that Davies may be forced into more center-half duty with the injuries, absences, and now a red card to deal with is a worrisome thought for Spurs fans.

Nuno Espirito Santo – 1

Everything about the match was wrong from Nuno from the off. The formation and players the lack of any response to adversity and then his belief after the game that Spurs controlled the first half make everyone that questioned his hire say “I told you so”. The game plan was so poor it was as if the team had never seen Palace play. To think you are going to make hay pushing your fullbacks forward against Zaha and Jordan Ayew is just foolish and the results were as expected. The performance makes the first month look like pure luck and while no one should be calling for Nuno’s head it will not take many performances like this to be the case.

Bonus Football Director Rating – 1

So Fabio Paratici is not getting off the hook this week either. After giving in and not being on the sideline, Paratici avoided the ire of the cameras and fans that came from the result of a half-finished window. The inability to find cover for Eric Dier or more creativity the coach will be confident enough to play is a failure of management and should not be overlooked. The loss on Saturday was on the entire Tottenham organization and we deserve better as fans with everything that has transpired over the last two-plus seasons.