Peter Crouch has told BT Sport that he doesn’t think Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld has been the same since Jan Vertonghen left.
Alderweireld and Vertonghen once had a rock solid partnership at Spurs, but that was broken up this summer.
Tottenham decided to let Vertonghen go, as they felt that the 33-year-old was showing signs of age.
The veteran defender ended up moving to Benfica in the summer after his release.
Tottenham have since really struggled at the back, with Jose Mourinho failing to find a consistent pairing.
Alderweireld has only played a rotational role, with Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier actually favoured over him in recent times.
And Crouch feels that the £11 million man (Guardian) is suffering as Vertonghen is no longer at the North London club.
“I think there has been issues. I don’t think the goalkeeper has been playing particularly well, he’s been suffering with a lack of confidence. I think Dier and potentially Alderwiereld as well are suffering with a lack of confidence,” he said.
“I don’t think Alderweireld’s been the same player since Vertonghen’s left, for whatever reason.
“We all know how Mourinho likes to set up and that’s with a strong defensive unit, but unfortunately there’s been too many individual errors back there.”
Alderweireld did feature for Tottenham on Thursday night alongside Dier, as they kept a clean sheet against Wolfsberger AC.
It now remains to be seen whether Alderweireld will have done enough to keep his place, with Spurs set to take on Burnley on Sunday in their next game.
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