‘Shocking’ Tottenham man slammed as Conte hints at ‘mistakes’ over not playing bit-part star instead
Davinson Sanchez had a “shocking” performance for Tottenham in their Premier League defeat to Wolves, according to Jermaine Jenas.
The centre-back played alongside Christian Romero and Ben Davies in the back three on Sunday as Spurs lost 2-0 to Wolves. Sanchez has played each of his side’s past six games following the FA Cup third-round win over Morecambe.
But Tottenham have lost four of those six games and failed to keep a clean sheet when they have won.
In Sunday’s loss to Wolves, a series of errors led to Bruno Lage’s team scoring both goals inside 20 minutes.
Sanchez played his part in Tottenham failing to clear their lines and the hosts therefore paid the price.
Jenas told Match of the Day of the Colombia international’s performance: “It was poor, really poor.
“The game was gone in the first half, defensively all over the place. A lot of Spurs fans are sitting there thinking ‘what’s going on?’.
“Defensively in the last couple of games they’ve been wide open, there for the taking. Wolves took them apart. The mistakes that are being made…
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“Davinson Sanchez today was shocking. Body language is important in defence and you need leaders. [Their panicking] just adds to the panic in the stadium.”
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris also struggled against Wolves. As a result, Jenas did not hold back on his verdict of the Spurs captain.
“The captain today… these are two really bad mistakes. [First goal] that is as bad as you’re going to see from what is supposed to be a top-level keeper, flapping at it like that,” Jenas added.
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“It could have been four of five easily with the space Wolves had, they were all over the place. [Tottenham boss Antonio] Conte has a lot of problems.
“Without [Eric] Dier, whose stock has gone through the roof in this period, they don’t have what it takes to come together and keep a clean sheet.”
Conte hints at Sanchez, Rodon mistakes
Conte insisted immediately after his arrival at Tottenham in November that the club are facing a massive task to get back among the hunt for Premier League and Champions League glory.
He reiterated that point on Sunday, claiming that “everyone maybe has to realise something has changed and you have to try to work to build again.”
Conte also admitted that he may have made a mistake over Joe Rodon’s game time, amid the criticism for fellow centre-back Sanchez.
Rodon has only played eight times in all competitions for Tottenham, including only once in the Premier League.
Conte said of the Wales international: “We are talking about a really good guy. We are talking about a person whose commitment is very high every day.
“But in this moment maybe I make mistakes to pick different players maybe. Maybe. My evaluation is to try to put on the pitch the best players at the moment.
“If I didn’t do this then maybe I did different considerations.”
Tottenham return to action on Saturday when facing Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
