Tottenham Hotspur fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham at Craven Cottage this afternoon, sending Ange Postecoglou into the international break with a lot to think about.
Below, we have given each Spurs player a rating on a scale of 0-10 based on their performance in the London derby away to Fulham.
Tottenham Hotspur player ratings vs Fulham:
Guglielmo Vicario – 5
The Tottenham goalkeeper didn’t have a whole lot to do against the Cottagers, such was the scrappy nature of the London derby. Very little he could do about the goal.
Djed Spence – 4
A familiar pattern seems to be emerging that Spence is far more effective as an inverted left-back than a natural right-back. Perhaps lucky not to give away a penalty for a push on Raul Jimenez. Played pretty well until the final few minutes when he gave up completely in defence and let Ryan Sessegnon go.
Cristian Romero – 4
Romero was in one of those moods today, more intent on stepping out of defence and snapping at the opposition than marshalling his back line. When you’re half a yard short of sharpness, it really shows.
Ben Davies – 4
Davies is so often solid and uneventful. For the most part, that was the case again today. He made lots of good headed clearances throughout. Unfortunately, he got outmuscled by Ryan Sessegnon for Fulham’s second goal which killed the game.
Destiny Udogie – 5
Back into the XI at left-back against Fulham, Udogie looked full of energy but rarely found a chance to actually put it to good use. The game was so scrappy, Spurs barely got in down the left side at all. Looked much better in the second half but still lacked an end product.
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Rodrigo Bentancur – 3
As one of Tottenham’s more experienced players, you just expect so much more from Bentancur. Sloppy on the ball and didn’t match the energy of the Fulham midfielders off it. Rumours are Spurs are in talks with Bentancur over a new contract, but he isn’t showing that kind of form.
Archie Gray – 6
For the first time in a long time, Archie Gray was back in a familiar midfield role. He thrived when bouncing the ball around to keep Spurs ticking over but looked a little rusty when it came to build-up play and defensive positioning at times. Just a case of needing more minutes there.
Yves Bissouma – 2
Shockingly poor once again from Bissouma. Off the ball, he was rash and showed poor positioning. On the ball, his passing was all over the place. He could soon find himself below Gray, Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison, Sarr, and Kulusevski in the midfield pecking order. Bissouma was rightly hooked at half-time.
Mathys Tel – 5
Started on the wing today rather than the number nine role. It was still a quiet game from Tel but he at least showed a couple of flashes of creativity with some impressive runs off the wing. Early indications are that he looks more comfortable there for the time being.
Dominic Solanke – 5
Did his best to hold the ball up and bring others into play but he was feeding off scraps and rarely got the ball in Fulham’s half. Solanke missed the creativity of Maddison and Kulusevski out there. Had a couple of headers just wide in the second half but missed a golden chance set up by Maddison.
Brennan Johnson – 3
Did not get into the game at all. Brennan Johnson has been clinical with the timing of his runs and back post finishing this season, but has been worryingly ineffective between those moments on the ball.
Substitutes:
Lucas Bergvall – 7 – Came on and added real drive to Tottenham. First name on the team sheet in midfield these days.
Heung-min Son – 6 – Looked so dangerous in the first 20 minutes after coming on, but soon fizzled out.
James Maddison – 5.5 – Got 25 minutes off the bench and should have had an assist to Solanke.