Tottenham Hotspur remain in a Premier League fight for survival after a diabolical display against Arsenal, making it difficult to find positives from Igor Tudor’s first game in charge.
However, there were one or two signs that the Croatian might be able to improve Spurs once he spends a bit more time familiaring himself with the squad.
Let’s take a look at the three winners and losers from one can only be described as an absolute hammering.
Randal Kolo Munai scored his first Premier League goal
Randal Kolo Muani has finally opened his goalscoring account in the Premier League after a very well taken equaliser against Arsenal.
The Frenchman was unlucky not to have a second, as he had the ball in the back of the net. Unfortunately, his goal was ruled out as he was deemed to have pushed Gabriel in the back, causing the defender to leap rather dramatically to the ground.
Regardless of this, Muani has finally shown signs that he can replicate his Champions League form in England and he may well have been helped by Tudor’s arrival.
Radu Dragusin had a good first half for Tottenham
Radu Dragusin made 20 defensive contributions during the North London derby, which was 11 more than Micky van de Ven.
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The Romanian played quite well across the opening 45 minutes and appeared to hold his own against the Premier League leaders.
This was not the case so much in the second half, as Dragusin made an error which led to a goal and looked out of his depth. However, one good half is better than nothing.
Thomas Frank was not the only issue at Tottenham
Thomas Frank may be feeling a little vindicated after Tottenham’s dreadful 4-1 defeat to Arsenal, as it shows he was just one of many problems.
Tudor had the best part of a week to prepare for the fixture and eventually Spurs ended up looking just as hopeless as they were under Frank’s leadership.
Time will tell if parting ways with the Dane was the correct decision, but nothing much has changed after his first match away from the club.
Now let’s take a look at the three losers…
Djed Spence was appalling against Arsenal
Djed Spence started over Souza as expected, but Tudor may be left regretting this decision based on the English international’s rotten performance.
From inaccurate passes to unsuccessful dribbles, it is hard to see what Spence did which actually ended up helping his team.
The right wing-back failed to provide any attacking threat and he lost a staggering 12 ground duels during the game, as well as being the player at fault for one of Arsenal’s goals.
Conor Gallagher made no impact on the North London derby
No true Tottenham fan would wish harm on Rodrigo Bentancur, but a good number of them were relieved when the Uruguayan was ruled out with an injury.
However, Spurs went and signed Conor Gallagher as his replacement, another player who has done very little for the side.
Gallagher is a decent enough central midfielder, but Tottenham need a more progressive option who will push the team forwards and the 26-year-old is simply not that player. His performance against Arsenal was uninspiring and ineffective.
Joao Palhinha should not play as a Tottenham centre-back
Other than the odd sliding challenge, Joao Palhinha did not get an awful lot right in the Spurs defence on Sunday.
This was not the first time the 30-year-old has played at centre-back this season, but it should probably be the last based on his performance.
It looked certain earlier in the campaign that Tottenham would make Palhinha a permanent signing this summer, but this is surely in doubt now.