Once again, the most dangerous and incisive player in the entire Tottenham Hotspur attack was Brazilian winger Savio, who started on the left side and made up for a lack of actual goal scoring, which was to be expected on his left foot there, with relentless chance creation.
Had Dominic Solanke been more up to it in the first half, Savio would have ended up with a pair of assists, as he peppered the corrido of uncertainty with beautiful, pin point low crosses. And once again, he led Spurs in take ons, skating by the Manchester United defense with a handful of dribbles completed.
So far this season, Savio has really gone underrated by the mainstream, putting up dribbles completed and key pass numbers on the wing that are so robust, they rival that of Lamine Yamal. Savio is averaging 6 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game with just a touch under 3 key passes per match.
Savio continues to be underrated
And yet it feels like even Tottenham Hotspur's own manager Roberto De Zerbi is badly underrating Savio, even as he continues to double and triple down on praise for the insanely wasteful and frustratingly below average striker Dominic Solanke.
De Zerbi said of Savio after the game to reporters, via Hotspur Lane, âSavio is a talent. He is still very young. He has to improve and make the switch because his potential is clear to everyone. He has to work to be better.â
Obviously, Savio does have room to grow, and De Zerbi definitely wants to see more goal scoring threat from him, which every Tottenham fan would agree with. Nothing De Zerbi said here was out of line, but given Savio should have had multiple assists that were taken from him from bad finishing by the No. 9 and even No. 10 Conor Gallagher, you would think RDZ would try to spotlight his new gem signing with more praise for all the hard work he did to help Tottenham put so much pressure on Manchester United, especially in the first half.
It feels like De Zerbi may not be fully appreciating what Savio is bringing to the table for his team. Savio is one of the best wingers in the Premier League right now and maybe the one guy meeting or even exceeding the expectations of his price tag this summer, and De Zerbi honestly should not be selling his impact short, especially when he has been praising inferior players like Solanke.