Tottenham Hotspur suffered another worrying defeat against Fulham on Sunday, and BBC pundit Troy Deeney was unimpressed by Ange Postecoglou’s side in the 2-0 loss.
While the Australian tactician made several changes from their 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League three days earlier, the North Londoners delivered an uninspiring performance at Craven Cottage, with Deeney particularly critical of Rodrigo Bentancur and Mathys Tel.
The ex-Watford striker highlighted the duo’s efforts in the first few minutes of the game while analysing the match for Match of the Day 2 and was far from pleased.
Deeney Slams Tel and Bentancur
'That can’t happen at any level'
Deeney was critical of both Tel and Bentancur’s performances in Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat to Fulham and questioned their defensive work rate early in the game:
“We could have showed you every single player giving the ball away, but we’re just going to highlight these two.
“[Rodrigo] Bentancur and Tel, who the manager just spoke about – wanted to get fit, just look, this is two minutes into the game.
“Look at the difference in running, obviously they turn the ball over, it’s a three versus two defensively which is not great.
“But look, look at Tel, look at Bentancur running past him – that can’t happen at any level.”
Spurs suffered their 15th defeat in 29 league matches this season – their joint-most at this stage of a Premier League campaign.
The loss left them languishing in 14th place and increasingly likely to finish outside the top 10 for the first time since 2007/08, when they ended up 11th under Juande Ramos.
Questions over Postecoglou’s future at the club have resurfaced once again, with some even suggesting a Europa League quarter-final exit could spell the end of his reign in North London.
Tottenham will face Chelsea away on 3 April after the international break.
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