Davinson Sánchez has stopped being paired with Eric Dier in central defence and as a result, his performances have notably improved. Against Crystal Palace last night the Colombian was pretty imperious.
Perhaps it’s a complete coincidence – but having previously established that Dier was making catastrophic errors, incapable of admitting them, and willing to deflect blame onto others – the explanation would be some tale.
Breaking down the 24-year-old’s passing reveals tonnes of goodness. Nobody passed the ball forward with greater accuracy.
Only one Tottenham player recovered the ball with greater frequency than Davinson.
Nobody made more successful clearances for either side than Sánchez.
Nobody made more successful defensive aerial duels for either side than Sánchez.
Tottenham are still finding line-ups that work, and this might be the point where those fans who badgered Mourinho for ‘chopping and changing’ his backline to draw a breath and try to understand that if you don’t know the combination to the locked briefcase, it can take a good few goes before the lock pops open.