Two Tottenham stars are becoming scapegoats now

But are they liabilities now?
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa - Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa - Premier League | Nigel French/Allstar/GettyImages

It always feels like a day of reckoning the morning after a Tottenham Hotspur loss, and one in which the club played this brutally against a beatable opponent like Aston Villa is bound to lead to overreactions and gripes from across the fanbase.

But since this isn't the first, second, or third disappointing display of the early Thomas Frank era in the Premier League, it's fair to say that not all of the strong reactions by Spurs supporters are necessarily overreactions either.

Tottenham were poor, no matter how you spell it, against Aston Villa. You can bring up the xG or whatever figures you want, but every single person who actually watched that game understands that Spurs did not deserve to win and did not play like a top five contender.

Although he had a goal contribution, Rodrigo Bentancur, once again, was at the heart of the criticism for an underwhelming, slow, and uninventive game. And at this point, starting Bentancur over Archie Gray is tantamount to malpractice, and if Frank continues to start the Uruguayan next to Joao Palhinha, serious questions have to be asked by the fanbase as to whether or not the new coach is even paying attention.

Rodrigo Bentancur is at the bottom now

Initially a key player for Tottenham after joining from Juventus, Bentancur is now next to last on the midfield pecking order ahead of only Yves Bissouma. Xavi Simons, Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall, Gray, and Palhinha are all better and more important to the cause than Bentancur, who is materially offering Spurs nothing.

Meanwhile, Guglielmo Vicario also joined Tottenham as a star from Serie A and had his bright moments, and he's actually had a good season overall. But fans are scapegoating him nearly as hard as Bentancur, with Vicario doing nobody any favors with his display against Aston Villa.

His positioning, handling, and fundamentals leave Spurs fans feeling nervy, and even though he makes up for his errors with acrobatic saves, the mistakes are becoming too much to bear and a crux that leads to Spurs dropping points in the table.

Both of the goals by Aston Villa came from outside the box, and Vicario should have saved them both. He has to be doing better than this, and goalkeepers are paid for their ability to not lose games. Vicario is better than some people give him credit for, but with Antonin Kinsky talented and looming, it's not far off base for his detractors to say that Kinsky has now earned at least one or two starts over him in goal.

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