Martin Keown hails Tottenham Hotspur youngster Juan Foyth

Follow us on Google Discover

Juan Foyth’s second Premier League outing for Tottenham Hotspur wound up much better than his first.

Speaking to BBC’s Match of the Day program, Arsenal legend Martin Keown has singled out Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Juan Foyth for praise.

Foyth was the hero on Saturday night as his second-half goal was enough to give Tottenham a 1-0 victory away to Crystal Palace.

In doing so, the 20-year-old defender responded perfectly to what Keown claims was a ‘nightmare’ Premier League debut at Wolves last week, in which he conceded two penalties.

The former Estudiantes starlet, an £8 million signing in 2017 [Daily Mail], didn’t get off to the best of starts at Selhurst Park, but the former Arsenal has lavished praise on the youngster for his all-around display.

“He made his debut, gave two penalties away and this would have been a bit of a nightmare for him,” Keown told MOTD.

“What impressed me was the manager stuck with him and you could see the game last week affected him, he gave the ball away, he dives in, it was early in the game and you felt he went into this game as a boy and came out a man.

“He doesn’t go with Townsend [in one attack], he should, he doesn’t recognise perhaps where the danger is, another one where they’re playing out from the back, which you have to do when you play for Tottenham, you have to be technically gifted, and he puts it out of play.

“But then he suddenly said to himself ‘I’m going to play, I don’t care, I’m going to trust my ability and pass the ball’ and look at the quality he showed. Really good character, almost typical of this Tottenham team now and to get his goal, I’m delighted for him.”

It’s obvious that Tottenham have a potential gem on their hands here, because Foyth, at just 20 years old, is going to get better and better.

It must be reassuring for Mauricio Pochettino to know that although Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen are no spring chickens any longer, he has Foyth and Davinson Sanchez as Spurs’ next centre-back pairing perhaps.