Tottenham Hotspur flop Matt Doherty should be thriving in Antonio Conte’s wing-back system but Thursday night was another grave reminder that he just may not be good enough for the club, let alone the Italian head coach.
The north Londoners endured one of the most humiliating nights in their history as they were beaten by the lowest-ranked team in the Europa Conference League, losing 2-1 to NS Mura in Slovenia.
Conte watched on in horror as ten-man Spurs lost in additional time to the PrvaLiga minnows, who are some 329 places behind them in UEFA’s coefficient rankings.
Playing in Maribor’s stadium, rather than their own, the Black and Whites took an early lead thanks to an absolute wonder strike from Tommy Horvat in the 11th minute.
It soon went from bad to worse when Ryan Sessegnon picked up his second yellow card after just 31 minutes, though things looked to have improved in the second half when Conte made an array of changes which saw substitute duo Lucas Moura and Harry Kane combined for the equaliser.
That was until Amadej Marosa’s marauding solo effort in the game’s dying stages sealed the Lilywhites’ embarrassing fate.
In amongst the quartet of substitutions – just ten minutes after the break – was Doherty. He managed just 54 minutes before being hooked. There’s little chance of the Irishman starting over Emerson Royal anytime soon after that wretched display.
The £14.4m-rated right-back, who earns around £74k-per-week in N17, made his first start since September and thoroughly underwhelmed – perhaps a surprise as he should be used to a system like this from his time under Nuno Santo at Wolves.
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Conte’s wing-backs are an influential part of his success and the 29-year-old dud managed only 49 touches and lost possession ten times, meaning every five-and-a-half minutes he was on the pitch, he was a liability with the ball at his feet.
Elsewhere, Doherty failed in his two dribbling attempts and did not create a single chance from out wide, in addition to committing one foul and losing 75% of his battles against the lowly opposition, as per SofaScore.
The Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick was particularly scathing in his review of the right wing-back, grading him a 3/10 – the worst after the England U21 international.
‘Touch looked rusty and wasteful with his final ball. Like Sessegnon, blew an opportunity to impress a manager desperate to implement a system which should suit him,’ he wrote.
Meanwhile, former midfielder Jamie O’Hara lambasted a whole host of Spurs stars, including Doherty, who he dubbed “shocking” to Sky Sports News during the encounter.
As evident above, it was another dire reminder that the 2020 summer signing is just too poor for Spurs. If the club can move him on in January, then they must consider doing so.
AND in other news, Fewer touches than Gollini: Spurs disaster who lost 80% of duels betrayed Conte against Mura…