As Tottenham Hotspur prepare to come out of the March international break, there has been a lot of reflection on the state of a squad that sits 17th in the Premier League again, except this time with just one point holding them above relegation water. Their 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest before the break exposed just how truly dire things are for Spurs, especially since they were lulled into a false sense of optimism after a 1-1 draw with Liverpool and a win over Atletico Madrid.
Pape Matar Sarr has made 13 starts this season, and while he started the campaign as an asset under Thomas Frank, his play has devolved back into mediocrity. There are a wide array of opinions on Sarr, and he has become something of a litmus test over the international break for how Spurs fans feel about the quality of this squad.
There is no question that Sarr is far from the biggest problem plaguing this squad, and even if the conversation were solely restricted to the midfield, winter signing Conor Gallagher is considerably worse.
The Pape Matar Sarr litmus test
Sarr is a decent role player for Tottenham Hotspur, and if we were to compare Spurs squad in 17th with other teams in the botom half of the table or even in the mid table, Sarr would be able to start for a number of those clubs. But he would not be their best midfielder or even a star player. And if we were to compare Spurs midfield to the midfields of the other Big Six clubs in the Premier League, it's hard to make an argument that he would even be a key rotational player, let alone a starter, for a club like Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, or Liverpool.
Pape Matar Sarr is important to Tottenham right now because Spurs are so poor. They are a mid table side that are underperforming even that, and so Sarr is a worthwhile short term rotational piece. But having a player of Sarr's caliber, which is to say, mediocre in most regards, as a key member of the midfield is emblematic of a longer term issue that cannot persist.
Tottenham have been rewarding average players for being average because average, in comparison to terrible (thinking of Gallagher here) looks pretty good. But in comaprison to where Tottenham need to be, which is competing for Champions League places, average is far below the standard that should be set. And when reflecting on this, a realization sets that all the conversations about Sarr are inherently misguided. He is a perfectly OK player and thus helpful to Spurs in this current, dire situation on effort alone, but in a longer term view, his status in the squad is a symptom of the pervasiveness of Spurs mediocrity over the last few years.