BBC pundit suggests Norwich knew Tottenham man was ‘fragile’ in the second half

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Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the FA Cup on Wednesday night.

Jonathan Walters has criticised Michel Vorm’s performance during Tottenham’s FA Cup defeat to Norwich on Wednesday evening.

The former Premier League striker claimed that the away side knew that Vorm was ‘fragile’ during the second period after the Tottenham man looked very rusty during the opening 45 minutes. 

In the first half, Vorm nearly spiled Lukas Rupp’s fairly simple long-range effort into his own net before he failed to properly deal with Kenny McLean’s shot from outside the area in the second half, which led to Daniel Farke’s men equalising.

Speaking to BBC’s coverage of Tottenham’s FA Cup tie, Walters was critical of how Vorm performed, as Jose Mourinho’s side were eventually knocked out on penalties.

“He hasn’t played since what October 2018?” Walters told MOTD. “And this is really poor [nearly spiling Rupp’s shot into his own net]. It’s like he’s already thinking what he’s doing next [before he has saved the shot]. And how he is going to distribute it.

“That just leads you into the second half. As a player you know that the keeper is fragile. You know you get your shots off on him.

“The same thing [in the second half]. It’s a good strike [from McLean which led to Norwich’s equalier]. But it’s straight at the keeper again. If you cannot catch it. You have to hit it away from there. It’s great following up from Drmic, but this was straight at him. No movement at all. Even if there was, you are a Premier League keeper.”

Vorm returned to Tottenham earlier on in the season when Hugo Lloris had sustained a long-term shoulder injury and the North London club needed more depth in that area.

It has been some while since the Dutchman donned the gloves for a senior game, and it showed against Norwich.

It’s understandable why he was so rusty, but in the end, his mistake played a part in Spurs getting knocked out, as they will now turn their attention to Premier League matters, and then, later on, their second-leg tie against RB Leipzig in the Champions League.