After a dreary start to the 2026/27 Premier League season that included one of the most horrendous center midfield performances ever imaginabel against Brentford in a 3-0 opening loss at the Gtech Stadium, Swedish international Lucas Bergvall delivered the performance he desperately needed to on Tuesday night in the League Cup.
Even though Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out after losing 3-1 to the Reds at Anfield, Bergvall was the best player on the pitch, creating more chances than anyone else while defending and progressing the ball at a high level, in stark contrast to some of his teammates, including Conor Gallagher in the No. 10 position.
Gallagher may have scored, but Spurs fans were not fooled, as the England international delivered yet another terrible performance as the starting attacking midfielder, just as he did in his last start and in the first start of the season against Brentford.
Conor Gallagher needs to move to the bench permanently
Lucas Bergvall is younger and already better than Gallaghr as a box to box midfelder, and the stark contrast in how they performed against Liverpool was a reminder of how frustrated Spurs fans were with the club signing Gallagher at all in the first place last winter transfer window, given they knew he would only eat into Bergvall's precious minutes.
Tottenham Hotspur fans are hoping that Conor Gallagher will finally take a back seat to Bergie soon, but there is another young center midfielder Spurs fans are hoping to see more of going forward than Gallagher, too.
Prospect Luca Williams-Barnett is currently playing for the youth team, but Tottenham fans want to see him getting regular senior side minutes. He is an even more promising young footballer than loaned winger Mikey Moore, now at FC Koln in the German Bundesliga, and he was arguably the biggest standout of the entire preseason for Spurs.
Tottenham already know that Gallagher isn't good enough, and his lack of creativity or skill on the ball make him totally untenable as the No. 10. And while James Maddison returning to fitness as the starting attacking midfielder makes the need to add another player into the mix less pressing, Luca Williams-Barnett can still benefit Tottenham significantly.
He has a lot more quality, courage, and instinctiveness than most young players his age, and he already has the fearlessness and skill to play for the first team, which he proved this summer. LWB will take lumps for sure, but he can't be worse than what Gallagher is doing and is yet another source of pressure for the former Chelsea and Crystal Palace midfielder in 2026/27.
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