A young Tottenham team showed their inexperience on Thursday when they fell 1-0 against Pacos de Ferreira in the first stage of their playoffs in the Europa Conference League.
As expected, Spurs dominated the possession for the first 45 minutes, but they did not create any real chances and ended up deservedly shortly after the break after the three-man defense was completely invalidated by a counterattack that ended perfectly by Lucas Silva just before the whistle.
Spurs began to increase the pressure after the break but really struggled to create any of the notes as Pacos sat deep to defend his lead, and the Portuguese side remained very comfortable to seal a well-deserved 1-0 victory.
This is how the Spurs players went on.
Romero’s debut did not go to plan / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
Pierluigi Gollini (GK) – 5/10 – Had nothing particularly tricky to do but maybe could have done better with the goal. It did not look like he liked one-on-one at all.
Cameron Carter -Vickers (CB) – 2/10 – Saw so decoction defensively. Allowed way too much to get past him and obviously had no idea how to play with Romero.
Cristian Romero (CB) – 4/10 – Didn’t exactly cover himself in glory either. Had some really shaky moments, almost gave up some good chances early and ended up out of position for the opener.
Ben Davies (CB) – 5/10 – Is not a midfielder and that was quite clear. Even his passing was sloppy all too often.
Gil had some amazing moments / Gualter Fatia / Getty Images
Matt Doherty (RM) – 4/10 – The kind of show that will have reminded Nuno while he was selling him in the first place. So disappointing to move forward and it felt like he had placed everything he touched.
Giovani Lo Celso (CM) – 4/10 – Would have laughed at this level of resistance. Really struggled to make ends meet and looked uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn’t move the ball around with his usual grace.
Harry Winks (CM) – 4/10 – Another absent performance from one of the game’s most experienced players. Could not grab the ball at all and did not bid close enough.
Ryan Sessegnon (RM) – 5/10 – Obviously lacks both fitness and confidence. Had a non-existent first half but slowly started to recover after the break.
Nile John (AM) – 3/10 – Gets this low rating only because he did not offer anything at all during his 45 minutes, but it’s entirely everyone’s fault. Starvation of service throughout the first half.
Bryan Gil (LM) – 6/10 – Looks very fun. Had some very exciting moments early on the left side and sometimes got his own teammates crazy with the things he could do. Missed some end product but it should come with time.
Scarlett was way too isolated / Gualter Fatia / Getty Images
Dane Scarlett (ST) – 4/10 – Just so alone at the top. Gil often drove in to try to take the game to Scarlett but it just did not work. Feeds long balls and goalless runs throughout the evening. Really made a shift to try and get involved.
Our second change for the night.
➡️ Bennett ⬅️ Sessegnon
? 1-0 ⚪️ (80 ‘) pic.twitter.com/TvtJYfzhYL
– Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) 19 August 2021
Jack Clarke – 5/10
J’Neil Bennett – N / A
Maksim Paskotsi – N / A
