Tottenham Hotspur lost 4-2 to Arsenal at the Emirates today.
Mauricio Pochettino has told The Independent that Tottenham Hotspur defender Juan Foyth was ‘one of the best players on the pitch’ in this afternoon’s 4-2 defeat by Arsenal.
The Tottenham boss raised eyebrows before kickoff by dropping Toby Alderweireld for the 20-year-old, who had three Premier League games under his belt at the time.
It was a big gamble by the Spurs manager and one that backfired, with Foyth’s mistake directly leading to Arsenal – who were 2-1 behind at half time – going 3-2 ahead through Alexandre Lacazette on 75 minutes.
But Pochettino has told The Independent that his young centre-back was one of the game’s stand-out performers.
He said: “When he misses the pass, there are still 50 metres to the goal. Because he’s young, it’s easy to blame him.
“But for me, Juan was one of the best players on the pitch. If we put out the pass that wasn’t good, then for 90 minutes he was the best. By far.”
Foyth clearly has a massive future at Tottenham, but dropping Alderweireld for him was a major gaffe by the former Southampton boss.
He came through the win over Chelsea okay last week, but exposing him to his first North London derby after only three games in England’s top flight might’ve been a questionable decision by Pochettino and one that ultimately led to Spurs’ demise.
Arsenal leapfrogged Pochettino’s side in the Premier League table, though only on goal difference.
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