Juan Foyth endured a difficult Premier League debut for Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Speaking to Tottenham Hotspur’s official website, Erik Lamela has lept to the defence of team-mate Juan Foyth, whom he claims had an “amazing game” last night.
The 20-year-old defender was given his Premier League debut in the 3-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, having posted a brilliant performance away to West Ham in midweek.
But it was certainly one to forget for the young Argentine, who conceded two penalties.
First, Foyth tripped Raul Jimenez in the box as Ruben Neves pulled one back for Wolves, before the big centre-back then conceded another one by fouling Jonny, with Jimenez making it 3-2.
As a result, Lamela, who opened the scoring for Spurs at Molineux, claims to Tottenham’s website that his compatriot was “angry” afterwards, but revealed that he consoled the youngster.
“He was a bit angry because but I told him ‘Juan, relax, you did an amazing’. For me, he had an amazing game.
“It’s so difficult when you haven’t played for a long time and he’s played two games in three days. I’m so happy for him because he’s starting to show his quality and I told him, for me, tonight he was amazing. The penalties… sometimes the defenders are there and have to defend and he was unlucky.”
It was a bit of a baptism of fire for Foyth but, at 20 years old, he will no doubt improve.
As he showed in East London during the week, he has the potential to be an exceptional defender and over time he will no doubt turn into one. For now, he is raw, and that must be remembered when criticising him, but Mauricio Pochettino certainly has a major talent on his hands.
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