Glenn Hoddle was critical of how Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur defended up against Bukayo Saka and Ben White for Arsenal’s opening goal in the north London derby.
The Tottenham legend thinks that Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson got confused by how Arsenal changed their play ‘very well’ out on the right flank, as he told Premier League Productions (24/09/23 at 2:55 pm).
That moment allowed Bukayo Saka to cut onto his favoured left-foot with all the space in front of him, with his shot then deflecting off Cristian Romero and into the back of the net.
At the end of the day, you make your own luck and that’s what Arsenal did on that occasion, as it was a pretty poor opening from the away side.
The battle between Bukayo Saka and Destiny Udogie was eye-catching throughout, with Paul Merson praising the Spurs man for how he played after he got booked early on.
You just think, if Spurs had started the game better, then they probably would have walked away with three points because they were the better team as the game wore on.
Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson’s confusion
“They get a bit of an overload and they change the play Arsenal very well,” said Hoddle. “Saka has too much space.
“Udogie was booked as well, which was a problem. A nice little overlap from Arsenal. Too much space. They had to sort that out quicker and they could have averted that opportunity.
“Ben White gets ahead of Brennan Johnson, so he has to hand him over. Udogie has to take the runner. I take the runner. You take the ball. And you do that time and time again on the training ground.”
Great response from Tottenham
When that early goal went in, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Spurs fans were worried that history was going to repeat itself and they were going to stare at another defeat away at Arsenal.
Even when Gabriel Jesus was gifted a guilt-edge chance to score, the home team were on top.
But just before the break, the game turned on its head, as Spurs started doing what they have done under Ange Postecoglou this season and that’s commit men forward and run at the opposition’s defence like the red arrows.
And even though Arsenal could have been 2-0 up at one point, it was the Arsenal fans, towards the end of the game, worrying about Spurs scoring a late winner.
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