Player Watch: Rodrigo Bentancur

[The Scarecrow]

I really dont get the Lo Celso love in. Tine and time again he has failed to live up to the hype.

It's neither love in nor hype. He's just a better fit for the system than the alternatives.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I can't imagine the medical team would recommend a player that has been out injured for almost a year to start two matches in such quick succession. Hopefully i'm wrong but surely there is a high chance of reinjury if you take such a risk.

Yeah this is my thought also. The fact he played 86 mins as well. I’d love him to be fit enough to start but realistically I think it could be a little too much for him so soon.

 

[mil1lion]

I think Tuesday and then Sunday should be fine to start back to back. I would start Lo Celso too but have Donley on the bench ready in case he doesn't impress. Hojbjerg is a good bench option if we need to defend a lead late on.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

 

[kd2000]

Would rather he plays than PEH

I honestly dont see a world where Ange drops PEH for this Sunday.
Muscle Fatigue could be an issue. and the obvious potential for muscle injuries

 

[N'Obody]

Man, he's still got it. Great to see this.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I honestly dont see a world where Ange drops PEH for this Sunday.
Muscle Fatigue could be an issue. and the obvious potential for muscle injuries

I think PEH starts - but it's also possible that PEH plays higher up, and Bentancur plays the 6. Not necessarily a 10, but more as two 8s - along with Sarr.

PEH has played higher up for Denmark, and Bentancur is better suited to playing the 6 anyway.

 

[carpediem1906]

Bentacur must (& PEH must not) start against Villa

Lolo will be vital (and PEH would be disastrous) against their fluid passing n movement n ball carrying in midfield

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Bentacur must (& PEH must not) start against Villa

Lolo will be vital (and PEH would be disastrous) against their fluid passing n movement n ball carrying in midfield

I agree completely but i just cant see PEH not starting. I reckon it will be PEH, Sarr and Bentancur all starting.

 

[HildoSpur]

I agree completely but i just cant see PEH not starting. I reckon it will be PEH, Sarr and Bentancur all starting.

Yeah I'll be stunned if that's not how we line up. If Bissouma was available then yeah PEH probably won't get a look in but as it is he will 100% start in my opinion.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I really dont get the Lo Celso love in. Tine and time again he has failed to live up to the hype.

Would you care to elaborate on multiple times that he has failed?

Time and time again he has failed to stay fit long enough to get back to full match fitness and play himself into form, so concerns about his injury record are understandable.

However, on the one occasion that he avoided injury / illness for more than two consecutive months (without being loaned out), and was given a decent run of games, he ended up being our best player. If you don't recall this then I presume you didn't watch us during the second half of the 2019-20 season. In that form he would be a very useful player in our current system (creative passing, comfortable on the ball, good positioning & tactical awareness, aggressive pressing, interceptions & tackles etc.).

If he failed to live up to the hype "time and time again" for Argentina, he wouldn't have 48 caps for them. He also wouldn't have consistently started for them during their 2021 Copa America win or their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign. Good enough for the World Champions, but apparently not good enough to be our second-choice no.10 and not good enough to be 5/6th in our overall CM pecking order.

 

[HildoSpur]

Would you care to elaborate on multiple times that he has failed?

Time and time again he has failed to stay fit long enough to get back to full match fitness and play himself into form, so concerns about his injury record are understandable.

However, on the one occasion that he avoided injury / illness for more than two consecutive months (without being loaned out), and was given a decent run of games, he ended up being our best player. If you don't recall this then I presume you didn't watch us during the second half of the 2019-20 season. In that form he would be a very useful player in our current system (creative passing, comfortable on the ball, good positioning & tactical awareness, aggressive pressing, interceptions & tackles etc.).

If he failed to live up to the hype "time and time again" for Argentina, he wouldn't have 48 caps for them. He also wouldn't have consistently started for them during their 2021 Copa America win or their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign. Good enough for the World Champions, but apparently not good enough to be our second-choice no.10 and not good enough to be 5/6th in our overall CM pecking order.

Give over, the guy has been a disaster of a signing. We should get rid at the earliest opportunity. Is he a good player? Yes. Is he a good player for Spurs? No.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I think PEH starts - but it's also possible that PEH plays higher up, and Bentancur plays the 6. Not necessarily a 10, but more as two 8s - along with Sarr.

PEH has played higher up for Denmark, and Bentancur is better suited to playing the 6 anyway.

I really don't want to see Sarr play as a no.10 ever again. He's just not suited to it.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Give over, the guy has been a disaster of a signing. We should get rid at the earliest opportunity. Is he a good player? Yes. Is he a good player for Spurs? No.

We should have moved him on due to his recurring injury issues. We have failed to move him on due to his recurring injury issues.

That doesn't make him a bad player when he is fully match fit. On the only occasion that he had a decent run of fitness and playing time in a Spurs shirt, he was being widely talked about on SC as being our best player and Mourinho was giving him high praise. Let's not rewrite history to fit an agenda.

 

[HildoSpur]

We should have moved him on due to his recurring injury issues. We have failed to move him on due to his recurring injury issues.

That doesn't make him a bad player when he is fully match fit. On the only occasion that he had a decent run of fitness and playing time in a Spurs shirt, he was being widely talked about on SC as being our best player and Mourinho was giving him high praise. Let's not rewrite history to fit an agenda.

I'm not saying he is a bad player at all. I am however saying that he has shown next to nothing in a Spurs shirt since we signed him, barring a month or two of decent performances. He needs to move on, we need him to move on and we need to accept that being a good player for your international side doesn't necessarily translate to being a good player in the Premier League.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I really don't want to see Sarr play as a no.10 ever again. He's just not suited to it.

I think we would play with 2 8s, and a 6.

Bentancur
Sarr Hojbjerg

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I'm not saying he is a bad player at all. I am however saying that he has shown next to nothing in a Spurs shirt since we signed him, barring a month or two of decent performances.

Barring being our best player during the only prolonged spell of consistent playing time that he's had in a Spurs shirt.

He's currently been injury free for 1.5 months and was deemed match-fit enough to start Argentina's last game (after coming on as a sub in the previous two). There's enough evidence to suggest that he deserves a chance to prove himself while Maddison + Bissouma are unavailable.
Who else do you suggest we put in the no.10 role that has any hope of doing a better job? Bentancur is still in the process of regaining match fitness and is better suited to a deeper role than no.10. Sarr has been good as a no.8, but was really poor in the no.10 role. Donley is an 18-year-old with only 8 PL2 matches under his belt. We don't have much choice but to start Kulusevski at RW and Johnson at LW, due to other injuries (Solomon, Perisic, Richarlison & Sessegnon), so any talk of Kulusevski playing no.10 is out the window.

EDIT: I forgot about Gil, but he hasn't shown anything during his limited opportunities this season (probably why I forgot him). Choosing him (with Kulu moved to 10) over playing Lo Celso at 10 would be obstinate.

He needs to move on, we need him to move on and we need to accept that being a good player for your international side doesn't necessarily translate to being a good player in the Premier League.

I agree that he needs to move on. What I disagree with is the suggestion that we should neglect to use him during our current injury crisis, despite not seeming to have any better options.

 

[HildoSpur]

Barring being our best player during the only prolonged spell of consistent playing time that he's had in a Spurs shirt.

He's currently been injury free for 1.5 months and was deemed match-fit enough to start Argentina's last game (after coming on as a sub in the previous two). There's enough evidence to suggest that he deserves a chance to prove himself while Maddison + Bissouma are unavailable.
Who else do you suggest we put in the no.10 role that has any hope of doing a better job? Bentancur is still in the process of regaining match fitness and is better suited to a deeper role than no.10. Sarr has been good as a no.8, but was really poor in the no.10 role. Donley is an 18-year-old with only 8 PL2 matches under his belt. We don't have much choice but to start Kulusevski at RW and Johnson at LW, due to other injuries (Solomon, Perisic, Richarlison & Sessegnon), so any talk of Kulusevski playing no.10 is out the window.


I agree that he needs to move on. What I disagree with is the suggestion that we should neglect to use him during our current injury crisis, despite not seeming to have any better options.

Bentancur is the obvious answer there fitness permitting. Ange played PEH ahead of Lo Celso so that tells you everything you need to know really. Don't get me wrong, if he was to play i'd give him my full support and hope he does well however I would be absolutely shocked if he was able to maintain a good level for more than 3 matches in a row because in the several years we have had him in the squad that's about all you can expect from him. It's just not good enough.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I think we would play with 2 8s, and a 6.

Bentancur
Sarr Hojbjerg

I'd be very comfortable with that if we had the trio of Son - Kane - Kulusevski playing ahead of them, all in their form of the second half of the 2020-21 season (i.e. all three creating & scoring consistently, with Kane acting as a world-class no.9 + world-class no.10 simultaneously).
As things are, I have doubts about where the creativity would come from. I think we'd be too dependent on moments of individual brilliance (even more so than we were under Mourinho's defensive/negative regime). Obviously we were never going to have a like-for-like back-up for Maddison, without a drop in quality, but I don't like the idea of us simply accepting that our midfield needs to be significantly less offensive and significantly less creative any time he's not available.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Bentancur is the obvious answer there fitness permitting.

I would understand Bentancur being tried as the no.10 if he's fit enough to start. I don't think he is though (starting against Bolivia is not equivalent to starting against Villa or Man City).

Ange played PEH ahead of Lo Celso so that tells you everything you need to know really.

Ange tried Sarr as a no.10, with Hojbjerg playing deeper, and Sarr failed in that role. He played like a shadow of his next worst performance of this season.
Hojbjerg has also regularly been subbed on ahead of Lo Celso, but late subs are more about tactics than one being better than the other.

Don't get me wrong, if he was to play i'd give him my full support and hope he does well however I would be absolutely shocked if he was able to maintain a good level for more than 3 matches in a row because in the several years we have had him in the squad that's about all you can expect from him. It's just not good enough.

We might get a decent couple of months our of him before he breaks down with his next injury (i.e. just enough time for Maddison to recover). If he gets injured again sooner than that, or fails to deliver after several consecutive starts, then we can fall back on 'Plan D' (with Lo Celso at 10 being 'Plan C'), rather than jumping straight to the inferior 'Plan D' just in case 'Plan C' fails.