Danny Murphy has drooled over the impact Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen made in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Saturday.
Aaron Ramsey put the visitors ahead at Wembley in the first half after seeing Alexandre Lacazette denied, but Harry Kane equalised from the spot in the second half before Hugo Lloris pulled off a match-saving stop to deny Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 89th minute.
However, it was the Vertonghen – who is on £100,000-a-week [Spotrac] – who the Match of the Day pundit reserved his praise for, as the pundit believed the player deserved applause for his covering tackle late in the match.
“I also have to say the covering tackle from Jan Vertonghen to deny him the rebound was incredible —exactly the kind of desire to stop conceding that will give Pochettino a lift. You have to applaud defenders when they do things like that,” he said in his Daily Mail column.
OPINION
Neither Tottenham nor Arsenal were particularly impressive in this 1-1 draw, and a 2-1 win for either side would have really flattered their efforts on Saturday. The Gunners were better as a whole, but to be honest, they could have done a lot better. Spurs are lucky to have an experienced defender like Vertonghen, because, if it were not for him, they could have lost a third game on the bounce – and that would not have done them any favours in terms of achieving a top four spot. To have the instinct to get in the way of a ball like that is the sign of a very good centre-back and the fans will no doubt remember it as a pivotal point in their season. Murphy is right to heap praise on him – even though he did not make it on to the scoresheet, his contribution was outstanding compared to some of his teammates.