Juan Foyth needed to step up as Tottenham eye two defenders

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Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with moves for two young defenders recently, so Juan Foyth arguably needed to prove himself in their cup tie.

Juan Foyth must have known when he joined Tottenham in the summer that he was going to have to be patient if he wanted to become an important player in Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

In recent years, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld have certainly staked a claim to be considered the best centre-back pairing in the Premier League – while the arrival of Davinson Sanchez shortly before Foyth’s would have left the 20-year-old knowing that it was going to be difficult to enjoy anything like regular game-time during his first year with the club.

Foyth is yet to feature in the Premier League and the majority of his minutes have come in the FA Cup, so it was little surprise that his inclusion in the team was amongst the changes made ahead of Wednesday’s fifth round replay with Rochdale.

It was a difficult night for Spurs at times, but they ultimately booked their quarter-final spot with an emphatic 6-1 win largely thanks to a hat-trick from Fernando Llorente.

For Foyth, it was a challenging night. It looked as if he often struggled to cope with the League One side’s attack and his partnership with Eric Dier did not seem to click as Keith Hill’s men went into half-time level at 1-1.

And despite the emphatic win, Foyth may perhaps look at the performance as an opportunity that he could not really afford to pass up with Tottenham recently being linked with two young defenders.

ESPN reported in January that Spurs are keen on Ben Wilmot of Stevenage, while The Sun suggested at the end of February that Brighton’s Ben White is being looked at.

With Rochdale up for the contest, Foyth had a real chance to prove that Pochettino does not need to worry about bringing in anymore young centre-backs anytime soon.

And while one performance on a night where conditions made the game difficult to negotiate will not make Pochettino’s mind up regarding any players within his squad or whether to pursue any targets, it could certainly be argued that Foyth may feel that he has let a real opportunity slip through his grasp.