No frills today, my heart’s just not in it and Tottenham Hotspur play football again today. But for the sake of completeness and record-keeping, here are the masthead and player ratings for Saturday’s home loss to Fulham.
Micky van de Ven (Community — 3.5): Honestly, Micky saved our ass on a number of occasions in this match. Hard to say he was excellent, but he was the best Spurs had to offer on Saturday.
Lucas Bergvall (Community — 3.0): Useful in midfield, which is about as high a complement as I can give any Spurs player after that match (non-Micky edition).
Archie Gray (Community — 2.5): One of the few players who was actually showing for the ball, though he had few options once he received it. I’m heartened by Archie’s improvement this season.
Randal Kolo Muani (Community — 3.0): Continues to be one of the only bright sparks in this Spurs offense. Hit side netting and looked pretty good on the rare occasions he had to attack Fulham’s goal.
Thomas Frank (Community — 1.5): Some credit given for tactically switching things up in the second half; Spurs actually looked decent for a half hour or so in the second half. But too little, too late.
Kevin Danso (Community — 2.0): Had a wayward header that directly contributed to Fulham’s first goal. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Mohammed Kudus (Community — 3.5): Boosted his performance during the half hour stretch when Spurs were cromulent and scored a banger of a goal, but was otherwise pretty poor — more aimless dribbling and even more aimless crossing. Super frustrating.
Pedro Porro (Community — 2.0): Horrendous match with numerous wayward crosses to nowhere, and bypassed fairly easily by Chukwueze
Joao Palhinha (Community — 2.0): Not the right choice for this match; I assume he started due to rotation. Continues to be an oddly-shaped puzzle piece in this Spurs team.
Destiny Udogie (Community — 2.0): Had a herculean task on the left side, but was shaky defensively and hesitant going forward. His deflection led to the first goal, which is hardly his fault. Still a poor match.
Richarlison (Community — 2.0): What is it that you say you DO here?
Xavi Simons (Community — 2.0): I think several things about Xavi are true: a) He’s a talented player, b) He needs time to adapt to the physicality and pace of the Premier League, c) He’s being tactically misused in this Spurs team. Anyway, he wasn’t good on Saturday.
Wilson Odobert (Community — 2.0): Was basically utilized as a left back, not he strength. Also not his fault.
Rodrigo Bentancur (Community — 2.0): Didn’t really offer much as Palhinha’s replacement.
Pape Matar Sarr (Community — 2.0): Spurs’ offense took a dip the moment he came on for Bergvall. Not that it was all that high to begin with.
Guglielmo Vicario (Community — 1.01, you don’t ruin the bit): Whoof, buddy. Whoof. (He didn’t deserve the constant booing, though.)
No Tottenham Hotspur players were as bad as 1 star or a player rating without a theme.