Time for Tottenham Hotspur fans to give Matt Doherty his due

He is never going to be Acraf Hakimi; however, the play of Matt Doherty has been transformational at Tottenham Hotspur, and he needs some credit for it. 

As the calendar turned 2022 and Tottenham Hotspur struggled to adapt to Antonio Conte‘s attack entirely, something had to give. Neither Sergio Reguilon on the left nor Emerson Royal on the right was playing to the level expected of them nor the level needed in Conte’s system. With a formation devoid of attacking midfielders and dependent on forwards and wide players to create scoring opportunities, things looked bleak for Spurs.

However, in an almost desperate act, Conte brought Matt Doherty in from the cold and thrust the Irishman into his line-up, and Spurs have been all the better for it.

Doherty understands the Tottenham role

Unlike Reguilon or Royal, who were acquired to play fullback in a four-person defence, Doherty has spent most of his career playing as a wing-back. Doherty had made his name at Wolverhampton playing the wide role appearing more than 300 times for Wolves across multiple divisions.

When Doherty first came to Spurs, it seemed a very odd fit, with Mourinho trying to play him as a more traditional fullback and Nuno Santo doing the same. Now that Doherty is again playing wing-back and not a fullback, he is finally succeeding, and so are Spurs.

Doherty has played more minutes in the league in the last seven matches than he had all season long, and the results are starting to show. Doherty has two goals and four assists in those seven matches, including one of both in the win over Newcastle.

Doherty is not going to be opponents with speed or use a step-over to zip past a player; however, Doherty is an intelligent footballer who understands the tactics of the position and can thrive as a result.

Let’s look at Royal on Sunday in the win versus Newcastle. We can see evidence that the young Brazilian is learning from Doherty, as not every touch was immediately forward. His movement was in and out and up and down the line.

Ultimately, Doherty is a bit long in the tooth to be a long-term star for Spurs at wing-back. However, he is a hard worker who knows his craft, which makes the team better, and we should all recognize that.