Ledley King has admitted on Sky Sports that he was “surprised” that Davison Sanchez was omitted from the Tottenham team for their 1-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester United on Saturday.
Spurs made three changes from the starting XI that crushed Liverpool last weekend, with Eric Dier, Ben Davies and Moussa Sissoko replacing Sanchez, Kieran Trippier and the injured Harry Kane.
Tottenham defended well for the majority of the match, but Jan Vertonghen failed to track the run late on of Anthony Martial, who latched on to a Romelu Lukaku flick-on to bundle in the game’s only goal.
Speaking to Sky Sports’ Premier League channel in the immediate aftermath of the clash, Spurs legend King was flummoxed that club record signing Sanchez missed out at Old Trafford as Dier dropped back into the back three from his usual midfield position.
“Dier has not played there much this season so I was a little bit surprised Sanchez did not play,” King said. “Obviously, they brought Sanchez in, spent a lot of money on him and he has been good.
“I’m not sure for the reasons he did not play today, but Dier is a good enough player to deal with it regardless.”
OPINION
King was not the only Tottenham fan left scratching his head at the omission of Sanchez, who was benched despite performing admirably in the draw at Real Madrid and the triumph against Liverpool last week. Spurs could not gain control of the midfield until the emergence of Mousa Dembele in the second half, and would surely have been better served with Dier in his favourite central midfield slot ahead of the ineffective Moussa Sissoko, and ex-Ajax centre-back Sanchez in defence.