Tottenham Hotspur are no closer to climbing back up the Premier League table after they were beaten 2-0 by London rivals Fulham on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou’s side remain stuck in 13th place in the division, five points behind Crystal Palace in 12th, after goals from Rodrigo Muniz and former Spurs man Ryan Sessegnon secured all three points for the hosts.
The Lilywhites, as you can see in the clips above, did have chances to take the lead before the second-half strikes from the Fulham pair, as Dominic Solanke missed two big opportunities to find the back of the net.
Tottenham’s £55m signing from Bournemouth last summer failed to step up and put his team in front, which provided the Cottagers with the chance to go on and win the match – and they did.
Solanke was far from the only Spurs player who underperformed on the day against Fulham, however, as Yves Bissouma was hauled off the pitch at half-time after his struggles in the opening 45 minutes.
Spurs' poorest performers against Fulham
Postecoglou decided to go with the Mali international as part of his starting midfield three alongside Archie Gray and Rodrigo Bentancur at Craven Cottage.
Unfortunately, however, the former Brighton & Hove Albion man did not justify his manager’s faith in him with a positive performance on the pitch against the Cottagers.
Instead, Bissouma struggled badly with his play in and out of possession in the opening 45 minutes before he was withdrawn from the action, to be replaced by Lucas Bergvall for the second half.
The central midfielder only completed 82% of his attempted passes in the first half, despite not attempting a single long pass or cross, and did not create a single chance for his teammates. This suggests that he was sloppy in possession without offering any threat to the Fulham goal.
Minutes played
45
Touches
17
Ground duels won
2/6
Aerial duels won
0/1
Tackles + interceptions
1
Clearances
0
Fouls committed
2
Possession lost
8
As you can see in the table above, Bissouma also struggled out of possession throughout his time on the pitch for the Lilywhites, losing five of his seven physical duels.
He made more fouls than tackles and interceptions made combined, which speaks to how much of a liability the midfielder was off the ball, and his play at both ends of the pitch may have contributed to Postecoglou’s decision to take him off the pitch.
Chalkboard
The 28-year-old dud was not, however, the worst player on the pitch for Tottenham during that first-half display. Winger Brennan Johnson was also taken off after the first 45 minutes, after he put in an even worse performance than Bissouma at Craven Cottage.
Brennan Johnson's performance against Fulham
The Wales international was selected to start on the right side of the front three for Spurs, with Solanke down the middle and Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel on the left flank.
It was Johnson’s lack of fluidity in possession that ultimately cost him in the first half, though, as he failed to be effective with the ball at his feet for Tottenham on the wing.
The former Nottingham Forest man was substituted off at the break, with club captain Heung-min Son coming on in his place, after he was unable to cause many, if any, problems for Antonee Robinson.
Johnson ended the first half with zero shots attempted, zero crosses completed, zero long passes completed, and zero chances created for his teammates in his 45 minutes on the pitch. On that evidence, it’s hardly a surprise that he was handed a dismal 3/10 player rating by Football.London at full-time.
Minutes played
45
Shots
0
Key passes
0
Dribbles completed
0/2
Crosses completed
0/1
Long passes completed
0/1
Pass accuracy
55%
As you can see in the table above, the Welsh forward was completely ineffective at the top end of the pitch and incredibly loose with his passes, which gave Robinson a fairly easy afternoon.
Johnson also struggled to deal with the physicality of the Fulham players, losing four of his six duels, as he put in an even worse performance than Bissouma, who at least completed 82% of his passes and was not expected to make a difference in the final third.
Why Spurs should drop Brennan Johnson
Postecoglou must, now, ruthlessly bin the Welsh attacker from his starting line-up when Spurs are back in action against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after the international break, by bringing Son or Wilson Odobert back into the side.
Johnson has been in disappointing form of late for the North London outfit, with just two goals and zero assists in his last ten appearances against Premier League level or Europa League opposition.
Both of those goals came in a 4-1 win over relegation-threatened Ipswich Town, who were in League One two seasons ago, which means that the ex-Nottingham Forest man has failed to register a goal or an assist in any of the other nine outings.
The 23-year-old is not a dynamic winger who is likely to progress play with passes or dribbles to make things happen, but he does have excellent positioning and a good feel for when a chance will come his way.
Non-penalty xG
0.48
Top 2%
Non-penalty goals
0.47
Top 6%
Assists
0.10
Bottom 24%
Expected Assisted Goals
0.08
Bottom 11%
Shot-creating actions
2.20
Bottom 9%
Progressive passes
2.99
Bottom 37%
Progressive carries
2.73
Bottom 38%
As you can see in the table above, Johnson is exceptional at finding himself in high-quality goalscoring positions, yet leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to his use of the ball outside of his shooting opportunities.
He ranks incredibly lowly among his positional peers in the Premier League at progressing play and creating chances for his teammates, which was part of the issue with his performance against Fulham.
This is backed up by his return of just two assists, from 1.43 xA, in 26 appearances in the top-flight this season, which shows that he rarely provides his fellow attackers with chances to score.
When Johnson does not get the big chances to score in matches, the former Forest man does not offer much to the side on the right flank and that is why – amid this current dry spell in front of goal – Postecoglou should drop him from the starting line-up.
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