Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has hailed Destiny Udogie after his ‘dominant’ performance against Arsenal.
Destiny Udogie rebounded from a difficult early start to end up shining for Tottenham Hotspur against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
That’s the view of Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecolgou, who has been speaking to Football London about Udogie’s performance.
Udogie was given a rough ride in the opening half an hour as Bukayo Saka ran riot, including his role in the opener as his shot was deflected in by Cristian Romero.
Tottenham rallied with a Son Heung-min leveller before Saka put Arsenal back in front from the penalty spot.
Son grabbed another equaliser for Tottenham, handing Postecoglou and co a deserved 2-2 draw.
Ange Postecoglou hails Tottenham ace Destiny Udogie
This was a real test for Udogie.
The Italian has been praised in the early stages of his Spurs career but going up against Saka was his biggest challenge so far.
Udogie had a rough start, almost gifting Arsenal an opening goal before backing off Saka for Arsenal’s opener.
The 20-year-old had to show some resolve to come back fighting and Postecoglou loved what he saw.
The Australian suggested that a question praising his maturity and bravery was ‘spot on’ whilst accepting that getting an early booking could have made life difficult against Saka.
Postecoglou felt that Udogie rebounded so well that he ended up as the ‘dominant’ player on that side of the pitch, even better than Saka despite the yellow card.
“Spot on. I thought both our full-backs had difficult jobs today. Arsenal’s wide players are outstanding players and that’s where their threats are,” said Postecoglou. “Destiny getting booked early, it could have made it difficult. But the way he dealt with it, in the end I thought he was the dominant player on that side of the pitch.”
“He finished really strong and had to contend with having a yellow card. It’s a great learning experience for him and for all the guys. They’ve come through that, going toe to toe with a top side. You would much rather win and wouldn’t be happy if you lost, but if you put the result to one side, you walk away thinking, ‘OK if we continue down this road, we can be a team that competes against the best,” he added.
Udogie rebound exciting for Tottenham
It would have been easy for a young player in his first North London derby to get completely overawed by the situation.
Up against one of the best wingers in Europe, struggling on the ball and then a breakdown in communication with Brennan Johnson for the opening goal.
Udogie didn’t stop though; he kept trying to impact the game going forward, he kept getting close to Arsenal players and showing the physicality to come out with the ball
Udogie won five tackles against Arsenal, as well as one successful dribble, one blocked shot and four clearances.
The way Udogie dug deep to get his game back on track was seriously impressive and indicative of the huge talent Tottenham have on their hands after a £15million move from Udinese.
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