Even worse than Davies: 4/10 Spurs lightweight, dubbed “stupid” by Carragher, had a howler.

Even worse than Davies: 4/10 Spurs lightweight, dubbed “stupid” by Carragher, had a howler.

In the Premier League on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur held Manchester City

to a 3-3 draw at The Etihad, avoiding a fourth straight defeat.

Spurs had led 1-0 in each of their previous four games, but this was the first time they had managed to salvage a point.

After going undefeated through the first ten league games of the season, Ange

Postecoglou’s team has suffered a severe decline in form due to a variety of injury and suspension concerns.

 

A number of players, including Manor Solomon, Micky van de Ven, James

Maddison, and Cristian Romero, were not available for selection.

Having joined from Leicester City over the summer, Maddison in particular has been missed after beginning the season

with three goals and five assists in 11 Premier League appearances.

Heung-min Son, Gio Lo Celso, and Dejan Kulusevski all scored goals, though, to

give them a great point that could have been all three.

Kulusevski’s final goal, which also tied the score, was a great moment for

Postecoglou and Spurs. The Sweden international beat Nathan Ake in the air with great determination and

unintentionally used his shoulder to find the top corner of Ederson’s goal.

The absence of Van de Ven and Romero has been felt greatly by the Spurs

defense, as full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal have been left to handle

the responsibility of keeping things tight, something they have not been able to accomplish.

But defensive issues are a team effort, and Postecoglou’s midfielder Yves Bissouma failed to do his share.

Defensive issues are not only created or resolved by central defenders or full-backs.

The Mali international was outmatched in the midfield and gave players too

much room to get past him as City appeared to be creating chances at will at various points in the match.

The central midfielder performed worse than Davies, the temporary center back

who had periods of strong defensive play despite his struggles.

Ben Davies’s statistical performance against Manchester City

The natural left-back turned central defender found himself isolated at times

in the first half as Pedro Porro did not give him enough cover against Jeremy Doku.

This gave the amazing Belgian wizard every opportunity to create havoc with

his speed and dribbling prowess. In one specific opportunity, the forward faced

Davies in the box and easily controlled the play before hitting the crossbar with a fantastic shot.

The Wales international displayed some of his strong defensive qualities even

though he occasionally found it difficult to keep up with City’s front line.

Throughout the match, Davies won all four of his duels (a 100% record),

including the two on the deck and the two aerial contests, showcasing his

strength against opponents such as Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland.

The left-footed enforcer produced a number of impressive interventions

during the 90 minutes, including one where he won the ball off Haaland to

start the move that Kulusevski scored from. He also made five clearances, one tackle, and one interception.

It cannot be denied, though, that City did generate 2.64 xG (Expected Goals) worth of opportunities, and Davies was a member of that defense.

To his credit, the titan of Wales made a great effort to stop the hosts from having

any more chances to end the game before Spurs could equalize.

And despite his lackluster performance in the middle of the park, Bissouma

could unintentionally be named the worst player on the field, but he was far from it.

Numbers from Yves Bissouma’s performance against Manchester City

The City game was a nightmare for the central midfielder, who struggled to make an impact both in and out of possession.

After serving a one-match suspension for Tottenham’s 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, he

was allowed to return to the starting lineup and was given responsibility for managing the game in the engine room.

Bissouma was unable to accomplish that because City’s players outplayed him far too frequently and he did not play to his full potential.

Although he did complete 88% of his 48 passes, Spurs were not particularly concerned about it because the midfielder was unable to consistently

break through City’s press and did not create any opportunities for his teammates.

His careless play in possession allowed Manchester City to win the ball back on

the edge of the box, which was the worst moment of his performance.

After failing to pass multiple Cityzens forwards, Bissouma lost a 50/50

challenge to Rodri, which gave the Spaniard the opportunity to set up Erling Haaland, who passed the ball to Jack

Grealish, who slotted in what would have been the winning goal had Kulusevski not intervened.

The former Brighton player’s play was deemed “absolutely stupid” by Jamie

Carragher, who was co-commentating for Sky Sports during the game.

Postecoglou will now be hoping that

when they host West Ham United on Thursday night in midweek, Bissouma is back to his dependable best.

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