Tottenham Hotspur looked mucuh better against Charlton Athletic in the Second Round of the League Cup than they did against Brentford in the Premier League opener, winning on Wednesday night 5-1 just days after being decimated 3-0 on the road.
Spurs were obviously always going to look better against a team playing in the EFL Championship than a dark horse Premier League side like Brentford, but fans have learned to take nothing for granted with this team, not even a date against a second division team in the League Cup.
The midfield looked so much better, in particular, against Charlton with the trio of Mateus Fernandes, Lucas Bergvall, and Rodrigo Bentancur. Fernandes and Bentancur were also great off the bench against Brentford - the only midfielders who were not terrible. And Bergvall was less bad against Charlton, though he was still a liability.
Tottenham look better without Conor Gallagher
Clearly, though, Tottenham looked better in the middle of the park without Conor Gallagher. He was a massive liability last season before Roberto De Zerbi arrived and got more out of him as the No. 8, and then he showed his true colors again as the No. 10 against Brentford.
With James Maddison injured, Tottenham Hotspur are going to have to find another solution at the No. 10 position, but Gallagher clearly isn't it. He was so bad against Brentford that he dragged everyone else down around him, and unlike Lucas Bergvall, he clearly cannot use inexperience as an excuse. He was literally signed to be a leader and to not play that low of a level against mid table Premier League teams like Brentford.
Luca Williams-Barnett is just itching for his opportunity, and Roberto De Zerbi, though he may talk a lot about how he likes Conor Gallagher, may have a low threshold to bring in one of Spurs biggest preseason standouts into minutes in the Premier League. Like Bergvall, he may be too raw to be ready, but unlike Bergvall, he's actually stood out positively on the pitch this last month.
Either way, Tottenham are seeing that Gallagher cleary is not capable of being a No. 10 for them, which is a realization rivals Chelsea had already made when they sold him to Atletico Madrid, who did not find use for him either. Gallagher is playing himself out of favor, and Spurs very much look like a better team when he is not involved in the XI.
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