Tottenham Hotspur's miserable season continued in Roberto De Zerbi's first match in charge as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on Sunday, with Football London correspondent taking aim at Conor Gallagher for one key reason.
Tottenham and De Zerbi knew they needed a positive result at the Stadium of Light after they dropped into the bottom three on Friday night when West Ham United thrashed Wolves 4-0 at the London Stadium.
Spurs didn't get it though as they failed to find the score-sheet, which was coupled with Nordi Mukiele's heavily deflected shot beating Antonin Kinsky in the second half.
The north Londoners had no reply to that goal, and they are now two points from safety with six matches of the season left to play.
Nottingham Forest moved a further point clear of them too as they drew with Aston Villa on Sunday, which leaves Tottenham in a situation where they need points - and quickly.
They remain without a league win in 2026 and De Zerbi will surely be considering making changes to the XI that started on Wearside for the visit of his former club Brighton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend.
Gold: Tottenham Midfield Was a 'Mess' at Sunderland
While it would be hard to argue that anyone in a yellow shirt particularly stood out at the Stadium of Light, Tottenham's midfield struggled especially throughout against Regis Le Bris' men.
It was far too easy for Mukiele to cut inside and score what proved to be the winning goal, and Gold was left unimpressed after seeing the display of the £200,000-a-week Gallagher in the centre of the park.
Speaking on his latest YouTube video, Gold believes that the former Chelsea star simply isn't offering much right now.
The journalist said: "The midfield was a mess. He made this big show ahead of the game, De Zerbi, of talking up Conor Gallagher and talking about the Gallagher at Chelsea, saying 'what a player he was'. He didn't quite say like that, but along those lines, he's really big on trying to get confidence back into him.
"We know he wanted to sign him from Chelsea for Brighton. It was a player he really liked, but this is not that Conor Gallagher right now. He huffs and he puffs and he doesn't blow anybody's door down. He gives the impression of always looking busy, but you'd actually be hard-pressed to kind of jot anything down that he's done that's worthwhile and actually contributed to the cause."
Who Could Replace Gallagher Against Brighton?
If De Zerbi does want to drop Gallagher to the substitutes' bench for the visit of Brighton to north London next Saturday, he does have options of players to bring in.
Firstly, the Italian manager could drop Lucas Bergvall into a deeper role alongside Archie Gray, with loanee Joao Palhinha also available to play a defensive midfield position too.
Then, De Zerbi also has Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma available too, with the duo both returning to the bench at the Stadium of Light after suffering injury issues.
The 46-year-old will hope that both players are fully fit by the weekend so they are available to start, with Spurs surely needing more creativity ahead of the midfield duo in his system.