Lucas Bergvall has come in for high praise following his substitute cameo against Rangers in the Europa League.
Tottenham could only manage a 1-1 draw at Ibrox on Thursday, with Dejan Kulusevski scoring the equaliser after Hamza Igamane gave Rangers the lead.
Spurs have now won just one of their last eight matches across all competitions, with the pressure piling on manager Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian didn’t mince his words reflecting on the match, with German winger Timo Werner coming in for particularly scathing criticism.
However, one player who left Glasgow with his head held high was Bergvall.
The 18-year-old came off the bench for the final 29 minutes of the match and conducted himself excellently, completing 27 of his 28 passes and being dispossessed just once.
The Sweden international also made three tackles, two recoveries and one interception, while winning five of his nine combined ground and aerial duels.
Bergvall certainly caught the eye of pundits Glenn Hoddle and Ally McCoist, who are club legends of Tottenham and Rangers, respectively.
“I think young Bergvall looks good,” Hoddle said on TNT Sports (via TBR). “Looks really good. He looks confident. It’s the first time I have seen him come on and be a bit adventurous with the passing.”
McCoist added: “He’s one of those boys who always looks like has a bit of time. He always makes a bit of time and space for himself.”
Why didn’t Lucas Bergvall start against Rangers?
Four of Bergvall’s five starts in a Tottenham shirt so far have come in the Europa League and given the talent he’s shown already, supporters may well have been disappointed to see him on the bench on Thursday.
However, Postecoglou has revealed he always intended to start Bergvall, but was ‘feeling a bit under the weather’ on the day.
“I thought Lucas was excellent when he came on as well,” Postecoglou told reporters (via Football.London). “He was due to start tonight but wasn’t feeling well today. He was a bit under the weather today.
“We had to keep him on the bench, but that’s a massive positive for us. Those two (Bergvall and Archie Gray) as 18-year-olds, to be already contributing and experiencing these things will be of enormous benefit to us.”
