Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been singling out one player following their 1-0 defeat and claim Ange Postecoglou is using him in the wrong role.
Ange Postecoglou’s team were toothless in the Netherlands as they managed just one shot on target against Alkmaar.
Tottenham Hotspur will now travel back to North London having to come from behind in the tie following one of the most underwhelming showings under the Australian.
But one player had a particularly poor performance and Spurs supporters are certain that he is playing so poorly because he is being used in the wrong role.
Tottenham fans don’t think Rodrigo Bentancur should be playing holding midfield role
Tottenham fans don’t think Rodrigo Bentancur should be playing as the holding midfield role in Postecoglou’s system.
The 27-year-old’s work off the ball has been slammed by the fans who think he just doesn’t offer enough in terms of tracking back and closing down the opposition.
There was also criticism for his inability to move the ball forward with his passing and claims that Bentancur, who Spurs signed for £21m, is always looking for the safe option.
Tottenham fans have taken to X to call for Postecoglou to think about swapping Bentancur, who lost possession 15 times, out for another option in the number six role.
One fan claimed: “Bentancur is so slow yet plays every game. Bissouma is far better in that role in my opinion, but prone to lapses in concentration that tend to end up in goals so are more noticed. He’s better at tidying up as a six than Bentancur is.”
“Bentancur out of possession is nothing but a liability, every game we watch the opposition teams win the ball and immediately run at the defence with no presence at all from the six,” added another supporter.
There were yet more calls for Bentancur not to play as a holding midfielder: “Son looks past it, Tel can’t do a job as a striker (yet) and Bentancur is no holding midfielder. Why can’t Ange see the same?”
“In the duels Bentancur looks so lazy and he’s showing for the ball just to recycle it, don’t know how he wasn’t taken off, this is on the manager this shocking performance,” claimed another fan.
Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended for the second leg vs AZ Alkmaar
Postecoglou won’t be able to play Bentancur, who is in talks over signing a new Tottenham contract, in the number six role in the next game against AZ Alkmaar as the midfielder is now suspended for the second leg.
He picked up a booking in the 62nd minute for his third of this season, with bookings from earlier in the competition not being reset until the quarter-final stage.
Speaking to TNT Sport, Postecoglou said: “We were always walking the tight rope there with him being on the (two) yellow cards and obviously they don’t get wiped off until the quarter-final stage. Disappointing but we have seven days to address that.”
