Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur lost 4-2 at home in Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Barcelona.
In the early days of Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham Hotspur were still an expansive, attacking football team but their free-flowing approach was supported by a very sturdy defence.
Spurs had arguably the best back-line in the Premier League from 2014 to 2016 with Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld forming a formidable partnership in Pochettino’s second season in North London.
But Tottenham have looked increasingly leaky at the back in the first few weeks of the 2018/19 season. They have conceded seven Premier League goals already, four more than both Manchester City and Liverpool and two more than Chelsea.
Spurs were worryingly open once again in Wednesday’s 4-2 Champions League defeat against Barcelona on Wednesday, with Lionel Messi tearing the hosts’ defence apart in a mesmerising two-goal display.
And, speaking to Jim White on talkSPORT (4 October, 11am), Tony Cascarino has taken aim at Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez, who started at centre-back against Barca.
“Alderweireld is nowhere near the player he was 18 months ago. Vertonghen has been injured,” Cascarino said.
“Sanchez; I saw a lot of him at Ajax. Now, he’s got a lot in his game but he’s got a terrible habit of relying on his pace because he’s quick. He gave away the ball for fun (on Wednesday).”
Sanchez has endured a difficult start to his second season at Tottenham and is under pressure to justify the club-record £42.5 million the Londoners paid for him in the summer of 2017.
Alderweireld, meanwhile, is out of contract at the end of the season and has been a little below his best of late after being frequently tipped to leave over the last few months.
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