Kyle Walker-Peters really struggled against Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Tottenham safely secured their passage through to the knock-out stages of the Champions League on Tuesday night, after a superb display in the Camp Nou against Barcelona.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side put on one of their very best European displays of all-time, but the 1-1 draw would have been bittersweet for the Argentine.
Kyle Walker-Peters started at right-back for Spurs, and he went into the game on the back of huge amounts of praise from his manager and teammates.
Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, however, he looked totally out of his depth against Barcelona, and was subbed off after just 61 minutes of the game.
The youngster was at fault for Ousmane Dembele’s goal early on, and he looked lost for vast amounts of the game.
He was constantly caught out of position and, because of that, he was forced into reckless actions to catch up with his opponents.
Walker-Peters was booked in the 15th minute having been easily beaten down Barca’s left hand flank, and his performance as a whole would have left Spurs fans longing for the return of Kieran Trippier or Serge Aurier.
Pochettino has a lot of faith in the 21-year-old, and he is highly regarded in north London, but Tuesday night’s performance would have been a real wake-up call to the player, his manager and the club’s fans.
Whilst it may sound harsh, the right-back was obviously not ready for a game of such importance.
That isn’t to say that he won’t have a lot to offer Tottenham in the future, however. He obviously has bags of potential, but Poch might just have to be careful when and where he uses him between now and the end of the season.
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