The Tottenham Hotspur defender did more than his side’s whole midfield in two key areas against Stoke City.
No one could really leave the Britannia Stadium with their head held high on Saturday afternoon. No one from Tottenham, that is.
While the Stoke players could celebrate a win during which they bossed a side previously 11 points above them off the park, Mauricio Pochettino’s men could have been under no illusions about just how bad they had been against the Potters.
But Federico Fazio actually had a lot less to be ashamed of than many of his team-mates. Tottenham fans have become used to the Argentine being the fall guy in recent months but, here, he was far from his side’s worst defender.
And, against Stoke, the 28-year-old posted two key stats that put Spurs’ whole midfield to shame.
| v Stoke | Interceptions | Headers | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federico Fazio | 7 | 8 | 90 |
| Nabil Bentaleb | 3 | 1 | 90 |
| Erik Lamela | 3 | 0 | 76 |
| Christian Eriksen | 1 | 0 | 90 |
| Ryan Mason | 1 | 0 | 90 |
| Nacer Chadli | 0 | 0 | 61 |
Indeed, as Opta stats show, Fazio almost won more interceptions than all Tottenham midfielders and wingers combined, while the centre-back won eight headers – four of Tottenham’s midfield and wingers didn’t win a single one.
Fazio came out on top in both departments compared to the rest of the Spurs side and, let’s not forget, he was still far from at the top of his game.
It’s clear, then, that a lack of fight in midfield ranks very high on the list of the north London club’s problems. Mousa Dembele or Benjamin Stambouli, anyone?
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