Tottenham Hotspur's dismal Premier League campaign continued on Sunday when they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace in front of their own supporters.
A double from England international Eberechi Eze, who scored either side of half-time, wrapped up the three points for the away side, who could have had even more.
Ange Postecoglou did, however, make a host of changes to his starting line-up, possibly to rest players ahead of the Europa League final later this month, but not many of those coming in advanced their claims for more minutes.
There were plenty of players who failed to step up and are now in danger of losing their place in the team, or of not getting another chance to impress in the coming weeks.
On the flip side, however, one player who has improved his chances of breaking into the starting line-up moving forward is goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, after his impressive display against the Eagles.
Why Antonin Kinsky has created a problem for next season
The Czechia youth international was brought into the side to give the number one, Guglielmo Vicario, a rest ahead of the Europa League final.
Signed from Sparta Prague in January, the shot-stopper already knows that he will not be in the team that faces Manchester United because he was not included in the squad for the Europa League for the knockout stages.
However, his performance against Crystal Palace showed that he has the quality to create a problem for Postecoglou next season, because he is good enough to challenge for the number one position in the Premier League.
Kinsky made eight saves and prevented 1.32 xG in the defeat to Palace, which shows that he prevented an absolute drubbing by the Eagles, and the youngster may feel like he did enough to at least make the manager think about him moving forward.
As you can see in the table above, the 22-year-old star kept the scoreline down with a string of important saves, whilst also coming out to deal with balls in behind and crosses into the box, without making any errors.
Whereas, Vicario has made two errors that have led to shots and one error that has led to a goal in his last five appearances in all competitions, which shows that he has not been a reliable presence between the sticks of late.
This suggests that Kinsky has done enough to at least create doubt in Postecoglou's mind for that position, as he could turn out to be a more reliable goalkeeper than the Italian heading into next season, which means that he could seriously challenge for the number one role.
On the flip side of that, Rodrigo Bentancur, who took even fewer touches (17) than Kinsky, was hooked at half-time in the defeat to Palace, and he should be ruthlessly ditched from the team by the Australian head coach.
Why Rodrigo Bentancur should be dropped
The former Juventus star was named in the starting XI after being left as an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw with West Ham United in the last Premier League game, although he did feature from the start away at Bodo/Glimt.
Bentancur, however, failed to strengthen his case for a starting berth against Manchester United in the Europa League final as he put in a dismal first-half display that might put some doubt in the manager's mind when it comes to selecting that vital line-up.
As you can see in the table above, the Uruguay international lost 75% of his duels and only completed 71% of his passes, which shows that he was loose in his use of the ball and struggled to keep up with the pace and physicality of the game out of possession.
Postecoglou opted to withdraw him from the match at the break, replaced by Yves Bissouma, and it is hard to argue with that decision when you look at what Bentancur did, or did not, offer in the opening 45.
The former Serie A star should, now, be ruthlessly ditched by Postecoglou for the trip to Aston Villa next time out in the Premier League, which will be the last match before the Europa League final.
That would then provide Bissouma with an opportunity to prove to the manager that he deserves to be in the starting XI for the final ahead of Bentancur.
The Mali international completed 87% of his passes and won three of his seven duels in the second half against Palace, which shows that he offered more in and out of possession than his teammate did in the opening 45.
Bissouma has greater athleticism in comparison to Bentancur and has the mobility to cover more ground and win more duels in the final against United, which is why Postecoglou should be concerned by the Uruguayan losing 75% of his duels against Palace.
As you can see in the clip against Brentford above, the former Brighton ace can start attacks with his ability to make recovery runs to win possession back for his side.
As shown in the statistics above, Bissouma is better than Bentancur when it comes to being dominant in duels on the deck, as the ex-Juventus man has lost the majority of his ground duels in the Premier League.
It has also been an issue in the Europa League because Bentancur has been dribbled past 1.3 times per game on average, compared to Bissouma's 0.3 times per match. This suggests that opposition midfielders find it harder to get by the Mali international, due to his strength in duels.
Therefore, Postecoglou should drop the Uruguay international from the team for the clash with Villa to provide his midfield teammate with a chance to impress ahead of the final.