Tottenham Hotspur were so much better against Atletico Madrid, and while they are knocked out of the Champions League Round of 16 anyway, the way they fought and won against one of European football's top sides can never be discounted. And the victory is far from a mere moral one, as Spurs can take a lot of important lessons and carry with them the big time performances and momentum into a must win Premier League relegation duel with Nottingham Forest this weekend.
Out of all the standout individual performances from Tottenham players against Atletico Madrid, unfortunately, a negative display cannot be lost in the shuffle. Radu Dragusin shows a lot of heart for this team, including in a draw with Liverpool last Premier League weekend when he showed clear basic deficiencies on the ball.
Well, there were little silver linings to take away from Dragusin as an individual against Atletico. Tottenham won the game but lost the war, and while Dragusin was not the reason for their elimination at the hands of Diego Simeone's side, it is always worth noting the players who do not stand out positively when the team plays very well because those tend to be the players who REALLY get exposed when things do not go as well.
Radu Dragusin is poor even when Tottenham are good
That has been the case for Dragusin this season. He has not played much and missed most of the early part of the season recovering from injury, but when he has played, he has looked so many cuts below the class of player Tottenham want that it is becoming obvious he has no future at the club.
A move back to Serie A, which was rumored in the winter transfer window, is the best case for Dragusin. He was a liability defensively against Atletico, scarcely ever winning possession for Spurs, which is supposed to be his best trait.
On the ball, Dragusin is untenable. His pass completion percentage of 68 percent was beyond woeful. Dragusin is unable to complete even simple passes, and Spurs fans can forget about him showing any range. He does not have the technical quality to get the ball over the top, which is really a basic enough skill anyway, especially at the Premier League level.
Tottenham inexplicably started Dragusin over Kevin Danso against Atleti, and that is a mistake that cannot happen again. Dragusin is clearly the fourth choice center back at Tottenham, and with both Kota Takai and Luka Vuskovic on loan in the Bundesliga as better players, Dragusin truly has no future left at the N17.