Tottenham Hotspur’s quest for a top-four finish in the Premier League suffered a significant setback as they succumbed to a 4-2 defeat against Liverpool on Sunday.
Hoping to bounce back from their midweek defeat to Chelsea, Spurs found themselves trailing by four goals around the hour mark, seemingly out of contention.
Despite a late surge with two goals in five minutes from Richarlison and Son Heung-min, Tottenham ran out of time and couldn’t salvage a result.
Tottenham’s defensive struggles were evident in Merseyside, with one player from Ange Postecoglou’s backline, Emerson Royal, having a forgettable half.
Forced to fill in due to injuries to key players, Royal struggled to contain Liverpool’s attacking threat, specially Mohamed Salah.
His lack of awareness was evident when Salah capitalised on his poor defending to head in Liverpool’s opener within the first 15 minutes of the match.
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane was among the critics, highlighting Royal’s shortcomings in reading the game and reacting to defensive situations.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Keane emphasised Royal’s apparent lack of awareness and intuition in crucial defensive situations, particularly evident in his positioning during Mo Salah’s goal.
Keane said (quotes via TBR):
“He doesn’t smell danger. Wherever he is in the back-four, he doesn’t smell danger. Whether he is at right-back or left-back, and he is not going to get to know at this stage of his career.”
Unfortunately for Postecoglou, Tottenham’s injury crisis leaves him no available left-back, forcing him to use Royal, a right-back, as a makeshift full-back.
It is interesting to see whether the manager continues to start him or plays Skipp as a makeshift left-back, a role he played after replacing Royal in the second half.