OPINION
Tottenham Hotspur produced one of their worst performances of the season as they crashed out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Goals from Connor Wickham and Andros Townsend sealed the deal for Roy Hodgson’s side, as Spurs followed up their Carabao Cup exit on Thursday with another defeat.
Pochettino’s men were well beaten on the day and will reflect on this as a dreadful few days for them. Now they have to pick themselves back up and go again against Watford on Wednesday.
As usual there is plenty to be gleaned from the match, and This is Futbol has rounded up three things to be learned from Tottenham’s disappointing defeat to Palace, with three stars deserving of the axe:
Gazzaniga has missed his chance
There have been calls from some quarters at times this season to hand Paolo Gazzaniga the number one shirt at Spurs. However, his performances over the last week have shown why that should not happen.
He copped some blame for N’Golo Kante’s goal on Thursday, which was probably unfair, but he definitely deserves some criticism for Wickham’s strike on Sunday. He parried the ball straight into the path of the Englishman and for a goalkeeper of his quality, it was very poor.
These two games were a chance for the former Southampton man to stake his claim for a first team spot. However, in that, you have to say that he has very much failed.
Trippier’s troubles continue
Kieran Trippier has had a very poor season for Tottenham. Whether that’s because of a World Cup hangover, exhaustion, or what, he simply has not been good enough for Pochettino’s side.
His crossing, usually his best attribute, was way off on Sunday, as were his set pieces. The nadir, though, was of course his penalty miss. Had he scored that it would have been 2-1 and Spurs would have been in with a shout.
However, he thrashed it wide and Tottenham found it hard to break Palace down in the second half. He’s not a bad player, by any means, but even he must acknowledge that he has dipped well below his usual standards of late.
Walker-Peters’s moment of madness
Kyle Walker-Perers gifted Palace a penalty when he inexplicably hand-balled in his own box. Townsend stepped up and swept the resulting spot kick past Gazzaniga with ease.
What the young man was thinking at that moment in time is anyone’s guess. It was an absolutely criminal error and he has to hold his hands up – no pun intended – and admit responsibility to his team mates.
It’s a real shame because this was another opportunity for the youngster to get some much needed minutes. He fluffed his lines, though, and never really recovered from that back-breaking first half mistake. Pochettino would do well to axe all three of these players for the Hornets clash.