Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara has harshly criticised Ange Postecoglou’s decision to put Rodrigo Bentancur on against Chelsea.
The Uruguay international had been out injured since rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in February against Leicester City.
He was perhaps one of Tottenham’s best players last season if not the best before his unfortunate injury.
The midfielder has been working hard behind the scenes to recover from the injury and made a long awaited return last week against Crystal Palace when he came off the bench to get some minutes.
But the chaotic game against Chelsea yesterday which saw Romero and Udogie get sent off and James Maddison and Micky van de Ven get injured forced Ange Postecoglou to send the Uruguayan on for the final 30 minutes.
Despite the circumstances that led to Bentancur’s introduction, Jamie O’Hara harshly criticised the decision while providing live commentary on TalkSPORT during the Spurs vs. Chelsea match.
O’Hara suggested that Bentancur looked out of match practice and was chasing shadows, indicating he was not fit for the game.
He said:
“Bentancur. You look like you’ve been out for 10 months. You look like you’ve been out for a long time. Why’s he put him on? Why has he played in this game? He’s been chasing shadows.”
“I think he’s brilliant, and I can’t wait for when he’s back fit properly, but now he looks like he has been out for a long time.”
Ange had not much choice but throw Bentancur in the mix considering the injuries and sending offs had completely changed the shape of Tottenham.
The Australian fielder a never seen before 0-7-1 formation with an extremely high defensive line which worked wonders until 75th minute.
Spurs also managed to create several chances of their own despite playing with 9 men and also had a goal disallowed.
The game however showed that Spurs seriously lack squad depth and that they will have to make several signing in January to bolster their squad if they want to seriously compete with the top teams in the league.
