Journalist Alasdair Gold has questioned the fitness of Tottenham Hotspur defender Matt Doherty as he struggled in their recent pre-season friendly.
Spurs took on Roma last weekend as they looked to step up preparations for the upcoming Premier League season. In the end, the game was settled by a single goal from Roger Ibanez as Jose Mourinho’s side won 1-0.
Doherty started the game, but it sounds as if he didn’t have the greatest of outings, with Gold calling his display ‘mixed’ and highlighting his lack of fitness.
Indeed, when talking about the match on his YouTube channel, Gold said of the wing-back: “It was Matt Doherty’s turn this time around [at right wing-back]. After having not played a minute against Rangers, he got a fair old chunk of this game.
“He was… mixed. He had some good attacking moments; he had one header, although it was just offside, the ‘keeper pushed onto the post. He was really getting forward.
“But I was watching him at one point in the second half, he was knackered. He had an iffy moment at the start as well, I think, when he missed an interception.
“There were a couple of little shaky moments defensively, but I did think he got better as it wore on.”
Will Matt Doherty ever come good for Spurs?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Matt Doherty and Spurs…
After a slow start to the previous season, the Tottenham defender did manage to finally nail down a regular spot in the team under Antonio Conte before a medial collateral ligament tear left him on the sidelines for the rest of the campaign.
Following that setback, he would have hoped to regain full fitness during pre-season – especially with Emerson Royal and now Djed Spence to contend with for the wing-back position at Spurs.
Worryingly for Doherty, though, with the Premier League set to begin this weekend, he doesn’t seem to have made a great impression during his latest outing and may require a little longer before he’s fully fit and ready to play.