Tottenham Hotspur have made it three wins out of three in the Europa League as they saw off AZ on Thursday night.
It wasn’t a vintage performance by Spurs, but they got the job done, courtesy of Richarlison’s 53rd-minute penalty.
AZ’s Maxim Dekker kicked out at Lucas Bergvall in the box to gift Tottenham a spot kick early in the second half.
Richarlison, making his first start of the season, was seen arguing with James Maddison over who would take the penalty.
Maddison, who captained Spurs on the night, ultimately allowed his teammate to take the spot kick.
It proved an inspired decision, as Richarlison confidently struck the ball down the middle for the winner.
However, Glenn Hoddle was not happy with what the £175,000-a-week (Salarysport) forward did.
Glenn Hoddle slates ‘unprofessional’ Richarlison after Tottenham penalty debacle
Hoddle, speaking to TNT Sports after the game, felt it was a “bit unprofessional” for Richarlison to take the ball off Maddison.
The fact Richarlison scored [the penalty] is great and that is difference between winning the game,” he began, as per BBC Sport. “But I don’t know, it is a bit unprofessional.
“If he’s taken off or he’s injured then there might be a scenario where you leave it to the players, but it only works out if you score.”
What James Maddison and Ange Postecoglou made of Richarlison actions
Maddison, speaking to the press at full-time, said he was happy to let Richarlison take the spot kick as it gave him a chance to boost his confidence and possibly kickstart his season.
Initially we both wanted to take it,” he said. “I’m a senior player, I was captain today, I was going to take it, but I thought Richarlison has come back from an injury, it’s difficult for a striker – a first goal gives confidence.
“It was a split second decision to let him take it. [It’s] leadership, obviously I wore the armband but even if I wasn’t the captain I would still like to think I would make a decision that is best for the team. Hopefully that gives him a big boost.”
Meanwhile, Postecoglou simply said: “As long as they score mate I couldn’t care less. As long as they work that out.”
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Tottenham Europa League win over AZ Alkmaar at Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Here are my rapid reactions to the match.
Mikey Moore is the second of Tottenham’s youthful players that have truly shined in one of the 3 Europa League games that Tottenham has played. Moore played the entire first half on the right side of the Tottenham formation, a tactical choice that seemed to leave Moore struggling to find his footing, but in the second half Tottenham’s manager, Ange Postecoglou, made the tactical decision to sub off Timo Werner and bring on Brennan Johnson, a move that allowed Moore to shift back to his normal position along the left side.
It didn’t take long for Moore to find a rhythm once he took his place on the left hand side, and he gave Alkmaar’s defenders trouble throughout the entire second half. Moore routinely found pathways where none existed and pushed the pace on the left hand side, creating chances early and often throughout the second half.
While Moore failed to turn any of these chances into a true goal, the showing today gives a glimpse of what Tottenham’s coaching staff see in the homegrown talent of Mikey Moore. With that being said, there’s an argument to be made that the time has come to let Moore be among the every game substitute list for Tottenham’s Premier League Matches, and if that arguments being made, allow me to offer a name to remove from that substitute list for Moore to replace.
Timo Werner has been given the nod in all 3 of Tottenham’s Europa League matches so far this season, and has been given ample opportunities to turn the playing time into a form of success. So far, not only has Werner failed to find the net, he’s failed to truly make any keeper even remotely worry when he’s had opportunities on goal. Today, Werner found himself 1 on 1 with Alkmaar’s goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owuso-Oduro in the 26th minute, and with ample time to determine what kind of shot he was going to take, Werner shot the ball right at Owusu-Odoro’s feet. The playing time being given to Werner at this point seems to be being wasted on a player whose confidence in front of goal is completely gone, and at this point, with the youth that Tottenham have invested money in, It makes more sense for the club to start getting young players like Mikey Moore the experience that they need to grow. Werner is a 28 year old player who Tottenham doesn’t have a lot of money invested in, while Moore is 17 and a player that Tottenham has been training since he joined their youth program in 2016.
Another young player who deserves some attention is Lucas Bergvall. While he hasn’t had any outstanding moments for Tottenham since joining the club this past summer, Bergvall has shown flashes of something that Tottenham doesn’t have available to them in their midfield as of now.
Routinely, the Swedish midfielder will find himself in situations where a lot of players would lose possession as they are surrounded by the opposition, but somehow Bergvall seems to thrive in these specific situations. Regularly, he works his way out of the danger with one or two flashy moves, and then passes the ball away. and moves on.
While Bergvall hasn’t done anything impressive enough to push for the regular substitutes list, he is a player to keep an eye on as Tottenham’s season progresses.
