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Tottenham Hotspur: Gold drops Oliver Skipp claim following Villa win

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Image for Tottenham Hotspur: Gold drops Oliver Skipp claim following Villa win

Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold has been speaking on the latest episode of the Gold & Guest talk Tottenham podcast following the Lilywhites’ weekend victory. 

Spurs picked up three well-needed points against Aston Villa after three consecutive defeats in the league which saw Nuno Espirito Santo’s side prove slack defensively.

Should Oliver Skipp be starting for Spurs?

Yes

Yes

No

No

The positive result was matched with an impressive display from midfielder Oliver Skipp, who did not start either of the games against Arsenal or Chelsea.

Following his loan spell at Norwich City last season, Skipp had made a bright start to his Spurs return with four consecutive starts in the league – but only came on as a second-half substitute against the Blues and the Gunners (via Transfermarkt).

Discussing the three points against Dean Smith’s side, Gold had the following to say on the display of Skipp and the message it may have sent to Espirito Santo.

“When I look back, I kind of forgot that he didn’t start against Chelsea and Arsenal, and you just look back and I think Nuno realised, what a mistake.”

“I asked him [Skipp] about what Nuno’s done for him and what he’s been teaching him, and he was saying very much: sticking centrally after when Spurs lose the ball and creating that shield in front of the defence. And we so saw that [against Villa]. We saw that in match situations and it was just the difference.”

TIF Thoughts on Skipp starting…

After a run of three consecutive games in which the Lilywhites had conceded three goals, it was evident Espirito Santo needed to add more defensive ability in his midfield.

With Skipp in the squad, Spurs were able to provide their defensive with an extra layer of protection as the 21-year-old and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg sat in front of the backline in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Having two defence-minded midfielders in the starting XI, Skipp sitting back also allowed Hojbjerg to stretch his legs up the field, which was seen as the Dane opened the scoring.

In other news: ‘Give him the armband’, ‘Best tweet today’ – Many THFC fans buzz over ‘fantastic’ touchline clip

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