Jermaine Beckford has claimed that Matt Doherty looked ‘out of his depth’ at Tottenham, as he told the Kelly and Wrighty Show on Premier League Productions (14/04/22 at 1:20 pm).
But the former Premier League striker thinks Doherty has now been transformed by Antonio Conte and he looks ‘comfortable’ in Spurs colours.
That’s why Doherty’s season-ending injury, which occurred during his side’s win at Aston Villa, would have hurt the fans the most.
They were loving the improvement their £15 million signing was making (Guardian), only for that to be ended at the wrong time because of an injury.
But it still doesn’t hide the fact that the Republic of Ireland international is proving that he still has enough left in him to thrive in north London, as Beckford thinks he has been a ‘stand out’.
“There are some players who were out in the cold and were brought back in,” said Beckford. “And they have been unbelievable.
“You have touched upon a few of the names there. Doherty is the one that stands out to me the most.
“When he first signed, I thought ‘you know what he was a pretty good signing. Solid signing from Wolves. He will do a job’. He didn’t look comfortable at all and looked completely out of his depth.
“Now, up until the point of his injury, he was comfortable. He looked really good. He was going forward with determination and desire. Getting back and defending. He looked half decent.”
When Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Jose Mourinho in the Spurs dugout, Doherty would have felt that was the time to pick his stumbling career up.
He was a manager that helped elevate his qualities to a Premier League level when the duo were part of Wolves’ promotion to the Premier League and push into Europe.
But, even Nuno, who knew Doherty’s game inside and out struggled to get the best out of him.
Although, Conte, like he has done with many other Spurs players, hasn’t failed at that task.
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