Look. Yes, this is late. I own that. The matches are coming thick and fast this time of year, I have health and family responsibilities, and my day job is in academia which is careening towards final exams this week. So I know I haven’t posted the Bournemouth player ratings piece, and I know you’ve noticed.
It happens, and honestly do we really WANT to relive that particular match, especially when we have an entirely different loss to obsess with over the next couple of days? Well, maybe y’all do, but I don’t.
So here are the player ratings for Thursday’s match vs. Bournemouth, without a theme. I make no apologies. Let’s just move on.
5 stars:
--------
No [Tottenham](https://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com) players in this category.
4 stars:
--------
No Tottenham players in this category.
3.5 stars:
----------
**Fraser Forster (Community — 3.5):** I’ve been hard on Forster lately and I think for good reason. But he was unquestionably good, if limited, against Bournemouth with several key stops. Still scared about him playing out of the back though. On rewatch, I take back my initial take that B’mouth’s goal was mostly on him.
**Archie Gray (Community — 3.0):** A solid, if unflashy, performance in two positions that are not natural to him. Looked a little shaky at CB, but that’s understandable. Pleased with his effort
3 stars:
--------
**Ben Davies (Community — 3.0):** Hard to be too critical of Ben after he picked up an injury, but he was forced into a professional yellow early on and the entire back line struggled.
**Destiny Udogie (Community — 2.5):** I’ve had some issues with Destiny’s play in recent games but he was mostly okay in this one. Did let Kluivert past him on a couple of occasions.
**Pedro Porro (Community — 2.5):** Looked pretty good when he came on but I was hoping he’d get a longer rest.
**Ange Postecoglou (Community — 2.0):** No idea where to put Ange. Got it wrong, but his hands are also tied and the injury situation is brutal. So this is a default 3-star rating because ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
2.5 stars:
----------
**Radu Dragusin (Community — 2.5):** Radu’s been playing well lately so it’s not a surprise that he puts in a bad match every so often. This was one of them. Lost Huijsen for the goal, had a couple of poor giveaways. Bournemouth are a good team but he can (and should) do better.
**Yves Bissouma (Community — ):** Sloppy passing and some matador defending in midfield. Not a great match.
**Pape Matar Sarr (Community — 2.5):** One of his poorer performances this season. He relies on his motor, so I wonder if the constant churn of matches is affecting his overall play.
**James Maddison (Community — 2.5):** Had one curling shot toward goal but otherwise an ineffective performance. Got to credit B’mouth as well, but Maddison struggled to impose himself creatively on the match.
**Dejan Kulusevski (Community — 2.5):** God love him, he tried.
**Dominic Solanke (Community — 2.5):** Barely had a sniff at the ball all match. Starved for service but didn’t take his chances when they (rarely) came.
**Son Heung-Min (Community — 2.0):** He was just ok.
2 stars:
--------
**Brennan Johnson (Community — 1.5):** Just a brutal performance on both sides of the pitch.
1 star:
-------
No Tottenham players were as bad as a themeless player ratings article that’s two days late.
Tom Carroll Memorial Non-Rating
-------------------------------
**Timo Werner, Lucas Bergvall**