Premier League

Aurier is close to being great for Tottenham

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Image for Aurier is close to being great for Tottenham

OPINION

Tottenham put in a heroic display against Juventus on Tuesday night to earn a 2-2 draw in the Champions League, but Serge Aurier once again was a weak-link in his side’s performance.

Spurs supporters slammed the right-back for his display on social media, with a few sharing that they had given up on expecting Aurier to put in good performances.

Tottenham fans were right to be angry with the 25-year-old as he had made a mistake that could have proven critical on another day.

Aurier hacked down Alex Sandro in the box in the first half, after Harry Kane had scored to get Spurs back in the game.

Thankfully after scoring two goals earlier in the match Gonzalo Higuain, who stepped up to take the resulting penalty-kick from Aurier’s challenge, couldn’t grab his hat-trick as he blasted his shot against the crossbar.

Christian Eriksen was then able to score an equaliser from a free-kick in the second half in order to put Spurs in a good position ahead of the second leg at Wembley on March 7.

However on another day, Higuain could have scored his second penalty of the game which could have led to Tottenham falling to a defeat that could have led to their Champions League exit.

Aurier also received a yellow card during Tuesday night’s game, his third of the tournament, which means he will be suspended for the second leg.

Based on his performance in the first leg, that could seem like a blessing to Spurs supporters, as Mauricio Pochettino can’t pick him no matter what.

But Tottenham fans must realise once Aurier sorts his discipline problem, he will be a key player at the club.

The 25-year-old has all the attributes to be one of the main players at Spurs, given his tackling ability, knack for holding on to the ball and his strength in the air.

Aurier joined the club in the summer for £23million from Paris St Germain, according to the BBC, and his discipline problems kept him from achieving more success as the French giants.

During his time at PSG, the 25-year-old received a suspended sentence for elbowing a police offer and had countless suspensions on the field for incidents that just showed his hot-headiness.

Aurier was banned for insulting a referee on Facebook and then insulted manager Laurent Blanc and teammate Angel Di Maria while on Periscope.

While thankfully there’s been no reported incidents of that nature at Spurs regarding Aurier so far, the defender did get foolishly sent off against West Ham earlier in the season and gave a penalty away in the match against Real Madrid.

Both of these incidents could be linked to his rash decision making as he doesn’t always appear to consider the consequences to his actions.

However that’s the only flaw to his game, it might be a major one that can lead to him being a liability, but that his only weakness.

Now if Aurier was to overcome his discipline issues, which is possible, the right-back would be reliable and be seen as a key player for Tottenham as they aim to achieve success in the future.

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