Clive Allen labelled Tottenham Hotspur’s performance against Barnsley as lacklustre, but suggested that Harry Winks and Juan Foyth provided positives.
Clive Allen has told The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT (broadcast on 20th September 2017; 7:53 am) that he thought that Tottenham were lacklustre in their League Cup tie with Barnsley on Tuesday night, but suggested that Harry Winks and Juan Foyth gave Mauricio Pochettino reasons to be positive.
Spurs booked their place in the fourth round of the competition as Dele Alli’s goal midway through the second-half was enough to get the better of the Championship side in front of a quiet Wembley.
And Allen expressed his disappointment at the performances of many of the Tottenham players, suggesting that they missed an ideal opportunity to make a statement to Pochettino that they should be playing more often, but added that Winks’ return to the starting lineup following the injury he suffered at the end of last term and Foyth’s debut provided reasons for optimism.
“I thought it was a lacklustre performance considering a number of what you would say squad players their chance and they didn’t perform anywhere near the level I think Mauricio would have been hoping for to put pressure on the other players that, at the moment, are playing in the Premier League games,” he told The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT.
“There were some positives for me. Harry Winks was back after an injury lay-off that curtailed the end of his last season, so it was good to see him back fit and on the field. The young 19-year-old Argentinian Foyth was excellent at the heart of the defence in his first game.”
As reported by the Guardian, Pochettino had seemingly confirmed in the build-up to the game that the League Cup was low down on his list of priorities, so he may not be too disappointed by the display.
But for players like Foyth, he will know that with plenty of depth rivalling him for a place in the team, the competition presents a brilliant opportunity to prove himself.
And if the summer signing now breaks into the Premier League side off the back of the performance against the Tykes, then perhaps those players Allen was disappointed with will have the motivation they need to step their games up whenever they get a chance, regardless of which competition it comes in.
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