Tottenham Hotspur defender Japhet Tanganga has reflected on his Spurs first-team breakthrough.
A number of Tottenham Hotspur fans have taken to Twitter to praise Spurs academy ace Japhet Tanganga for his “great attitude” reflected in his comments looking back at the past month (Tottenham website).
The 20-year-old had previously only played one senior game for Tottenham – in the League Cup defeat to Colchester United earlier this season – before making his Premier League bow against Liverpool on 11 January.
Although Tottenham fell to a 1-0 defeat, Tanganga – part of a three-man defence along with Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez – put in a great performance, especially considering the baptism of fire by taking on the European and world champions.
Since then, Tanganga has gone from strength to strength, playing the full 90 minutes in the Premier League games against Watford and Manchester City as well as the FA Cup third-round replay against Middlesbrough and the two fourth-round ties against Southampton (Transfermarkt).
With the winter break allowing for a period of reflection, the versatile defender looked back at his breakthrough, telling the Spurs website: “At times it’s been different to what I expected because I thought maybe if I was playing on this stage I would have got nervous but I feel like I’ve been really calm.
“I haven’t been fazed by the opponents or the circumstances, I feel like I know what my game is, I know why the manager has put me in, he’s shown trust in me and he knows what I’m capable of doing so it’s just about sticking to my game. I feel like all the work I’ve been doing, it’s all for this moment right now and it’s just been great.”
Some Tottenham fans hailed Tanganga’s comments on social media:
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