Tottenham Hotspur finally showed some rarely-seen spirit last night, as they battled from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against an impressive Manchester United side.
With the visitors having surged into a 2-0 lead before the break, Pedro Porro managed to thump home their first before Heung-min Son equalised with 11 minutes to go.
Although it marked another game without a win, Ryan Mason’s new-look side seemed refreshed, free from the burden of Antonio Conte and his disciples.
Despite relinquishing 60% of the ball to Erik ten Hag’s men, it was in fact the Lilywhites who boasted the most shots with 18. However, due to the constant wave of Red Devils attacks, this put undue pressure on a back line still recovering from their 6-1 drubbing last weekend.
With Clement Lenglet having watched that display from the bench, it was thought that his return last night would see the Frenchman unburdened by such a demoralising performance. Eric Dier clearly was still suffering, outlined in his 6.3 Sofascore rating.
The England international was particularly bad throughout the encounter having looked all at sea defensively, making it “so easy” for United – as per Football.London’s Rob Guest.
However, the Barcelona loanee had no such excuse, with his 6.1 rating the lowest of anyone on the pitch.
How did Clement Lenglet play vs Manchester United?
Starting on the left-hand side of a back three, as Mason sought to learn from Cristian Stellini’s mistakes, the 27-year-old looked shaky all game both with and without the ball.
Little defensive interactions from the centre-back suggest an anonymous showing, with his 36 touches standing as proof of that. This allowed him to retain a 97% pass accuracy, although this only saw 28 passes completed; hardly an outstanding return. via Sofascore.
Such unwillingness to assert himself on the game left Spurs lacking at the back, and whilst he would make three clearances, this did not make up for the fact that the £145k-per-week dud was dribbled past once and lost 80% of the five duels competed in.
The culmination of his rough night came when Bruno Fernandes fed the ball through his legs to fashion himself an opening, truly exacerbating the embarrassment suffered at the hands of a strong United side.
Although Dier put in another questionable 90 minutes at the heart of defence too, at least his defensive numbers stood out: four clearances, one block, one tackle and one interception is a huge upgrade on his partner at the back.
With his loan set to expire this summer, and an average rating of 6.61 in the Premier League only set to diminish with last night’s showing, there has been little to suggest that a permanent deal would be a fruitful one for Tottenham.
Daniel Levy will want to hold off on any rash transfer decisions until he has his new manager in place, who can come to his own conclusions about the current squad. However, given how his spell in England has gone thus far, most incoming bosses would likely come to a similar conclusion: he is not good enough for where they want to be.