Tottenham thumped Crystal Palace 4-0 on Saturday and BBC pundit Garth Crooks put right-back Serge Aurier in his Team of the Week.
It was Aurier’s first appearance of the season after he had said he wanted to leave Spurs in the summer and he finally impressed BBC pundit Garth Crooks who said it was “about time” the 26-year-old finally performed.
Writing in his column for the BBC, Crooks said, “Every time I have seen Aurier play for Tottenham I have been left desperately disappointed and quite often angry. Disappointed because of his lack of performance and angry because of his inability to respect the depth of quality in the Premier League.
“This is not France where there are only a couple of decent teams in the league but the toughest and most demanding league in the world. Against Crystal Palace the former Paris St-Germain defender woke up to that fact and finally played like it. And about time.”
TiF Tactics –the performance Aurier needed
Serge Aurier was finally played at right-back by Mauricio Pochettino and the French defender repaid his manager with a brilliant display in a 4-0 win for Tottenham.
It wasn’t just Crooks who Aurier impressed, but Pochettino himself, who said, “I think he was very happy. We were very happy too. I think the performance was great.” [Independent]
Aurier provided two assists and got an 8.1 rating from WhoScored, the second-highest rating of any player on the pitch. Only Heung-min Son, scorer of two goals, got higher with 8.3
By contrast, Danny Rose at left-back got the second-lowest score for Tottenham with a 6.7.
With Kieran Tripper gone and Kyle Walker-Peters still out injured, it was a big opportunity for Aurier and he delivered.
By contrast, Walker-Peters has only managed a 7.41 rating from WhoScored this season in his three appearances in the Premier League, with a 6.51 against Man City and a 6.39 against Newcastle.