The half-time whistle has sounded in the West End of London, signalling the end of the opening forty-five minutes in tonight’s all-London affair between Tottenham and Chelsea – and it’s now time for our first-half player ratings.
Ange Postecoglou has been told the weight of his job lies on thin ice, depending on how results in Europe turn out.
It appears the club’s full focus has been shifted to the Europa League. Tottenham sit 14th in the Premier League in April and show no signs of escaping the bottom half of the league anytime soon.
In the meantime, Spurs look forward to a European quarter-final against Frankfurt over the course of the next fortnight.
Throughout the first half, we analysed each player’s individual performance, rating them on a scale of 1-10. Let’s take a look at our Tottenham player ratings…
Chelsea
Photo by SpursWeb
Tottenham’s first-half player ratings vs Chelsea
Guglielmo Vicario: Vicario made a couple of odd decisions that he was lucky to get away with. He fired a pass straight into a Chelsea player who was on the edge of the box before flapping at a cross instead of claiming it. His distribution continued to be a trending issue as the half wore on, as he put passes out of play or players under pressure constantly. He did however make a crucial save to deny Sancho just before half time. 4.
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Djed Spence: Djed had a big physical battle on his hands in the first half as he found himself up against the tricky Sancho. He often dealt with him well though. 5.
Cristian Romero: Cuti and his centre-back partner were cut open inside the first minute and were lucky not to see the ball find the back of the net, as all it took was one straight pass from the back to see Jackson through on goal. The Argentine settled into the game though, playing progressive passes in abundance and winning physical battles left and right. 6.
Micky van de Ven: Micky appeared slightly sluggish and slow to begin with, which aren’t words we often associate with the Dutchman. As the half grew on, he settled down more and made some important physical challenges against Jackson. 5.
Destiny Udogie: Udogie showed exciting flashes of brilliance going forward but fans were often knocked back down to earth whenever he passed the ball out of play or to a blue shirt seconds later, which just about sums up his season. The Italian was just way too wasteful in the first half, unnecessarily halting Spurs attacks while struggling to stop Chelsea’s. 3.
Lucas Bergvall: Bergvall was the tidiest player on the pitch in that first half. He didn’t get on the ball too often, but when he did, he was always two steps ahead looking to create the next chance. 6.5.
Rodrigo Bentancur: It was nice to see Bentancur sprinting for once, and the Uruguayan midfielder wasn’t half bad in the first half. He did nothing special, but he did nothing bad either. 5.
James Maddison: Maddison, despite being trusted as the most advanced midfielder, found himself too deep at left-back too often throughout the first half. It’s a strange approach considering his best work develops in the final third. 4.5.
Wilson Odobert: Wilson was kept quiet by Cucurella in the first half, as the young Frenchman wasn’t allowed the space or the time to boast his trickery at the Bridge. 4.
Dominic Solanke: Solanke had a couple of ‘nearly’ moments in the first half but nothing ever developed enough to turn into a clear-cut chance. He was quiet, otherwise. 4.
Heung-min Son: Sonny was the outlet for Spurs in the first half but his end product and final pass were wasteful. 5.5.
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