Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright was on Match of the Day duty on Saturday night, and he singled out two Tottenham Hotspur players for high praise.
Speaking after watching their 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at White Hart Lane, Wright was left hugely impressed with full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker.
While Harry Kane stole the headlines with his hat-trick, the focus was on the job that the pair are doing for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, both from an attacking and defensive perspective.
As seen in the graphic below, Walker’s constant pushing up the pitch not only forces the opposing winger back to do a defensive job and nullifies his threat, but it always offers an outlet for Spurs down the right flank and he has been dominant in that role for some time.
Meanwhile, Rose was described “as arguably one of the best left backs in Europe at the moment” by Wright on the show, as he didn’t give Nacer Chadli a chance against his former club as he adopted similar tactics to Walker and was a huge reason behind the comfortable win.
Pochettino will have changes to make next time out due to Jan Vertonghen’s injury, but with a solid back three and with Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama offering defensive coverage in midfield, it gives both Rose and Walker licence to get forward.
From a statistical point of view, Walker has created 30 chances so far this season, the most of any defender in the Premier League, while Rose is in fourth place with 25 as they continue to play pivotal roles in Tottenham’s success this season.