Player Watch: Davinson Sanchez

[Beefyboy]

I hate what happened to Dav but I do think it's being slightly taken out of context maybe?

I felt that the booing was much more aimed at the management. That's how I took it. We subbed on a guy who we know isn't up to it at the moment, he cost two goals and then came off again. Rather than change the system or do something different, we made the same basic mistake. It's complete ineptitude.

As a fan you pay alot of money and booing is pretty much the *only* means you have of expressing your discontent. And that tactical debacle definitely deserved discontent. It wasn't a "you are a crap player we hate you" it was a "what the bloody hell are you (management) doing?"

Edit: oh I'm talking nonsense apparantly we were booing him on the ball. Yeah that's just shitty

 

[johnwhitesghost]

And by element you mean a vocal majority at the stadium today. Truely sad and absolutely embarrassing.

When we look at the constants that are preventing our club moving forward, it’s interesting that very rarely does this “constant” element get mentioned. Older Spurs fans will recall that the crowd, or this element, have always needed a “boo boy”. It’s been part of our club for much longer than Levy and ENIC.

 

[Trees]

Sounds like Sanchez treatment was OTT. Poor sod.

However as a fan base how much more piss do we need taken out of us ? he is patently out of his depth every time he plays. Poor positional sense and against any1 physical he is not up to it.

Surely the management know this ? It beggars belief that we are playing this 5 at the back crap continually.

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

The booing really shocked me and I can't remember seeing this before happening to players after a mistake. He is a hard working player who always tries and he doesn't deserve this.
Saying that, I do think the club's management is also culpable in this situation. There was an element of 'why are you still here?' about the booing which wouldn't have happened to a new or young player. Sanchez should have been moved on 3 or 4 years ago and this insane reluctance to review the squad and move inadequate players on that we have is really starting to bite now.
I do have to ask why Davinson himself hasn't pushed for a move considering he rarely plays. Maybe he has, I don't know.

 

[sidford]

Good small piece in Athletic on it

Booing Sanchez achieves nothing - he's just another piece of collateral damage at Spurs

The Colombian has struggled but he's barely played and being booed won't help him or the team. It's the club that is a mess right now

theathletic.com

In a miserable season that Tottenham Hotspur are desperate to be done with, there’s stiff competition for the lowest point.

But a confidence-stricken Davinson Sanchez being booed by his own fans as he was substituted after only coming on as a substitute 23 minutes earlier in Tottenham’s 3-2 home defeat to Bournemouth felt like the saddest.

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We all have our different thresholds for when, if at all, we deem it acceptable to boo a player from the team you support.

But this felt extremely harsh and counter-productive.

Yes, Sanchez had made mistakes as Spurs’ 1-0 lead became a 2-1 deficit. Yes, fans pay a lot of money for their tickets and have the right to express their frustration. Yes, shaky performances from Sanchez have become too frequent.

But this was not a player who wasn’t trying and one could therefore argue merited some fan displeasure. It was someone undercooked (he hasn’t started a Premier League game since October) in a role they’ve never looked comfortable in, and clearly lacking confidence. For these reasons, some fans pinned the blame for how things played out on acting head coach Cristian Stellini for deciding to put on a clearly struggling Sanchez.

In any case, the boos started before he was substituted, with his last few touches all being met by derision from the home crowd. He looked distraught as he left the pitch. Yes, he is paid handsomely so it’s understandable that sympathy from many will be in short supply, but leaving aside whether you think this kind of thing is deserved, it’s hard to make the case that it will benefit Sanchez or the team. That, surely, is the supporters’ main priority.

Spurs captain Hugo Lloris claimed he even heard Sanchez being booed when he entered the pitch as a 35th-minute sub for the injured Clement Lenglet. Three minutes later, Sanchez undercooked a pass to Pedro Porro, who was dispossessed and Bournemouth equalised. Sanchez was not alone in receiving criticism — Porro deactivated his social media accounts following a wave of abuse after the game — but that Matias Vina goal continued an unfortunate run, now standing at three, where Spurs have conceded at least once within the first 15 minutes of Sanchez entering the field.

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The idea that Sanchez is an accident waiting to happen is perhaps why fans were so quick to turn on him after the goal even though Porro was much more at fault.

“I feel really bad for Davinson,” Lloris told beIN Sports after the game. “He’s a team-mate, he’s a friend and he’s been fighting for the club for many many years now, and it’s just sad. The story is sad for the club, for the fans, for the player. It’s something you don’t want to see in football.”

Lloris added in relation to his claim that Sanchez had been booed when he took the field that: “I’ve never seen this in my career.”

Unfortunately for Lloris, that’s not even true. As recently as January, Emerson Royal was booed when he came on as a substitute against Aston Villa, having been roundly jeered a couple of months earlier in the home win against Leeds. In different circumstances and with the anger more directed at then-head coach Antonio Conte, Sanchez himself was hardly welcomed with open arms when he came on as a late substitute with Spurs chasing a goal against AC Milan in March.


Royal has, to his credit, rebounded well from that period when he was public enemy number one, but your own fans turning on you is an extremely difficult thing for a player to go through — and just before he was substituted Sanchez flew into a tackle that suggested he was struggling to focus. Across north London, Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboue never really recovered from being booed and subbed off as a sub in a 2008 home game against Wigan Athletic. “When you are a footballer and your own fans boo you, it’s very bad, your confidence goes,” Eboue later reflected. “After that happened I said to (the then Arsenal manager) Arsene Wenger, ‘I don’t want to come in any more for training because I feel bad’. I got back home and I was crying.”

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We’ll get a sense of how Sanchez responds in the next few weeks, with Stellini saying afterwards he would continue to play the defender if Spurs need him (which they might depending on the recoveries of Lenglet and Ben Davies, though Stellini may decide Japhet Tanganga is a safer option). In his post-match press conference, Stellini said he had not yet had a chance to speak to Sanchez, but that he stood by bringing him on and then taking him off given Spurs were 2-1 down after 58 minutes (having just conceded when Sanchez inadvertently prodded the ball into Dominic Solanke’s path).

But whatever happens, the whole episode feels symptomatic of a club desperately trying to make sense of a season that has completely unravelled. Spurs surely won’t play Champions League football next year after this wretched defeat and though Sanchez was partly culpable for this latest embarrassment, there are many far bigger reasons Spurs find themselves in this mess.

The “sad story” Lloris talked about has been going on for a while — this is merely the latest chapter. Sanchez has enjoyed some good moments at Spurs, his first season in 2017-18 in particular when he formed a strong partnership with Jan Vertonghen. But given his contract expires in 14 months and the possibility he will be sold this summer, what happened on Saturday is likely how his time at the club will be best remembered.

It’s a shame, and though he must take responsibility for his mistakes against Bournemouth and in other matches, it was hard not to feel sympathy for Sanchez on Saturday.

The latest bit of collateral damage at a club that is hurting and desperately trying to make sense of how it has come to this.

 

[fuzzylogic]

Whilst I don't rate him and think we should have shipped him out some time ago. He didn't deserved that treatment from his fans, I wouldn't be surprised if we never see him on the pitch again for us. And for his own good he needs to move somewhere else. If I was him I'd have instructed my agent to start getting the wheels in motion for a move away in the summer.

 

[DiVaio]

Not saying its right to boo the players but some of you are going over the top with these reaction today. PSG fans are booing Messi regularly in France. Real Madrid spent years booing Bale. These are some of the best players ever. Booing is part of the game, just a shame for Sanchez that he got to experience it today.

Yeah and it didn't help Bale or Messi to become better in any way.

 

[Trees]

Whilst I don't rate him and think we should have shipped him out some time ago. He didn't deserved that treatment from his fans, I wouldn't be surprised if we never see him on the pitch again for us. And for his own good he needs to move somewhere else. If I was him I'd have instructed my agent to start getting the wheels in motion for a move away in the summer.

Either the player is badly advised (should have left long ago) or badly run club still want transfer fee for him. Either way yet again a shambles

 

[Oh Teddy Teddy]

I don't feel sorry for any Premier League footballer (bar serious injury). They have a career that makes them multi-millionaires, and if they can't cut it at least they have made a mint trying.

This warped idea that earning a lot of money means their mental health can’t take a hammering or that verbal, personal abuse is fine (or doesn’t warrant empathy) has to stop.

 

[Stamford]

I don't feel sorry for any Premier League footballer (bar serious injury). They have a career that makes them multi-millionaires, and if they can't cut it at least they have made a mint trying.

Why don't you try thinking critically about why the amount he earns is irrelevant to his feelings. It's not difficult.

 

[Jules77]

The booing really shocked me and I can't remember seeing this before happening to players after a mistake. He is a hard working player who always tries and he doesn't deserve this.
Saying that, I do think the club's management is also culpable in this situation. There was an element of 'why are you still here?' about the booing which wouldn't have happened to a new or young player. Sanchez should have been moved on 3 or 4 years ago and this insane reluctance to review the squad and move inadequate players on that we have is really starting to bite now.
I do have to ask why Davinson himself hasn't pushed for a move considering he rarely plays. Maybe he has, I don't know.

It happened a few months ago to Royale.

 

[RuskyM]

Our fans get the success they deserve. It's not "elite mentality" to treat players like this, it's not a sign of winners, it's just spiteful and cruel, and given that it's happened on the pitch to Emerson too it's now endemic. There is no rational reason for tens of thousands of people to boo someone just for not being good enough. And it's not a spur-of-the-moment thing, because it's happened for years. Porro having to deactivate his account because of abuse, Dier being harangued constantly, Winks, Ndombele, players constantly being seen as the problem because of perceived mental deficiencies despite having no evidence of this (outside of the ravings of managers that have a) reason to blame others for their failure and b) have had this at other clubs too): maybe it's not our players that need "a painful rebuild". Maybe our fans need to take a fucking look at themselves and ask why anyone would want to fight for a fanbase that will cut you loose if they get restless.

Booing one of our own and cheering him off is so much more embarrassing than the result. They're not trying to upset you. Fucking shameful to be associated with us at present.

 

[easley91]

Thought we learned from the Emerson debacle. Apparently not. I get it, he's not a great footballer and should be sold. But that doesn't excuse the treatment he received. Booed when he got on the ball after the goal, which actually was Porro's fault as well. No need for it.

I really don't understand why any prospective player or manager would want to come to play for this fanbase? We treat our own like crap when things aren't going out way.

Sanchez was crucial in Romero's absence end of last season and that seems to be forgotten about.

Said it before and I'll say it again. I HATE OUR FANBASE.

 

[JacoZA]

You don't get to refer yourself as a "fan" if you abuse a player to this extent. End of.

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

It happened a few months ago to Royale.

It did you're right

 

[spursfan1991]

It is not a new fanbase either, i have seen some posts blaming tourists which is nonsense.

This fanbase has historical form for this behaviour, just ask Gus Poyet and Hossam Ghaly (ridiculed for having a bad game but at least he had the guts to throw the shirt on the floor). We were shit then and there certainly werent any tourist fans during those days.

It seems the club has had too many cockerals attending for far too long and maybe this is one of many reasons we have not had the luck to get over the line as a lot of these fans dont deserve any success.

 

[Spursberg]

The lap of honour could be awkward

More than that time the players were forced out to do it 30 min late?

 

[Ray Ray]

I was in the stadium and had to tell a few people off for booing. Disgraceful.

I have just got back home from the game, last one I was able to get over to was against Leeds.

Our so called "fans" are genuinely an embarrassment.

They booed Emerson that day and cheered when he came off, the exact same as yesterday with Sanchez.

It's actually embarrassing to be associated with classless people like that. Anyone that gives 100% for the club, whether they are good enough or not, should always have our "support".

Such a toxic atmosphere around the club these days, it's hardly going to make any potential new manager watch and think this is going to be an exciting club to come into.

 

[THFC_SWE]

Maybe I'm overreacting, but I'm not sure I want to watch the remaining games this season. The way Sanchez was treated felt like the final straw for me. I can watch 90 min of crap football, but treating our own players like that is something else.

 

[C-oops]

Anyone who thinks the booing was justified, the cheering when he was substituted was ok, knowing what it does to any human, regardless of how much money they earn, on a human level is a disgusting piece of shit and not someone I'd want to know in any walk of life. Completely devoid of any basic human decency, compassion or empathy. Unable to see in anything other than black or white, not able to reason. Arseholes.
I'm just happy knowing he's more successful and will have a better life than any of them could ever hope to be or have.