Five things that went wrong in Tottenham loss to Saints

2. Shaky defensive performance

Where to start…. Davinson Sanchez and Ben Davies both endured howlers. If that wasn’t bad enough, Emerson Royal was even worse. The Brazilian really stunk up the joint, like a pack of vile rubbish left out in sweltering heat for 72 hours.

The Brazilian had his worst outing of the season and was at least partly culpable for two — if not all three — of Southampton’s goals. He wasn’t the only culpable party on Southampton’s first, as Davies scuffed his clearance to put the comedy of errors in motion. At least Davies slipped. Royal has no excuse, deciding to let the ball pass his body, thereby missing his only chance to clear the danger. That moment of madness proved fatal.

That mistake was compounded by his inability to pick up Che Adams on Saints’ winner. Adams had a free header from six yards out and made it count. Royal’s transgressions weren’t done there, as he was careless on the ball and coughed up possession needlessly throughout.

Sanchez was all over the map, lured out of position ad nauseam. It was reminiscent of last-year Davinson. He needs to put last year’s version of himself back in the closet under lock and key. Incinerate the key and throw its ashes into a deep, dark pit with a bunch of other miscellaneous ashes. So we never have to see that version of Davinson again.