Alasdair Gold critical of Udogie’s performance for Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur’s defence was breached thrice against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday as the Seagulls clinched a 3-2 win in their Premier League clash. It was a particularly disappointing performance at the back by Spurs, with Destiny Udogie among their poorest performers.
The Italian international’s decision-making was very poor and he made a direct mistake that led to a goal from Yankuba Minteh at the start of the second half. Udogie has been criticized by several fans in the aftermath of the match and reliable Tottenham journalist Alasdair Gold did not mince his words either. He gave the following verdict on the 21-year-old (h/t Give Me Sport):
“Back after missing the midweek match, and he played well in the first half, only to make a mess off trying to clear a cross and presenting the ball to Minteh to score. Put in a weak challenge on Rutter before he scored Brighton’s second and was poor again with the same player for the third, getting himself nutmegged and beaten. A poor day at the office from the young Italian. 3.”
Udogie was in a good run of form coming into the fixture against Brighton with fatigue also not being a factor having rested against Ferencvaros in the Europa League game last Thursday. His numbers also fail to cover the left back in gold as he won just 60% of his tackles and no aerial duel. Moreover, he had just one interception throughout the match, as per Fotmob.
It was also a bit questionable from Ange Postecoglou to not bring on Djed Spence as a substitute when Udogie was visibly struggling, also keeping in mind that Yankuba Minteh was having a good game and tried making a target of the player for much of the second 45.
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Spurs will hope that the Brighton performance by Udogie was a one-off aberration considering that his performances for much of this season have exceeded expectations. Like several other players, he will also head out for international duty and have the chance to put the defeat firmly behind him over the upcoming few days.