Individual errors cost Tottenham Hotspur dearly on Thursday night, as they bowed out of the Europa League with a 2-0 defeat at Fiorentina.
The result saw the Italian side progress 3-1 on aggregate, but many people who witnessed the will argue that the better team went out.
Spurs only have themselves to blame for their failure to reach the last 16. In fact, they have three players to blame specifically!
Here’s how Mauricio Pochettino’s men rated in Florence…
SEE ALSO:
(Video) Mohamed Salah Goal: Chelsea Loanee Punishes Jan Vertonghen Mistake.
(Video) Mario Gomez Goal: Fiorentina 2-1 Up On Tottenham Thanks To This Strike… Lucky Finish?
(Video) Roberto Soldado Sinks To New Low: Spurs Miss Out On Crucial Away Goal Through Flop’s Incompetence.
GK: Hugo Lloris 7.5/10
Made two impressive saves in the second half, including a stunning stop to prevent Mohamed Salah making it 2-0, minutes before he actually did make it 2-0.
RB: Vlad Chiriches – 5.5/10
Played most of the match at right-back, but switched to centre-half for the final 15 minutes. Did OK defensively, but wasn’t great in an attacking sense.
LB: Ben Davies – 6/10
Contributed to some slick attacks in the first half and was reasonable after the break too, although he got booked for a bad tackle on Milan Badelj.
CB: Federico Fazio – 5/10
Won most of his headers, but criminally lost possession on the halfway line, before getting blitzed for pace by Mario Gomez in the build-up to Fiorentina’s first goal.
CB: Jan Vertonghen – 3.5/10
Never looked in control and the way he allowed Mohamed Salah to get in for the game’s second goal was nothing short of disgraceful.
CM: Nabil Bentaleb – 6/10
Played some very slick passes and had a decent game, before being sacrificed for the introduction of Harry Kane on 63 minutes.
CM: Benjamin Stambouli – 6.5/10
Was key in helping Spurs win the midfield battle.
AM: Erik Lamela – 4.5/10
Less anonymous than usual, but still significantly below-par for a Tottenham player.
AM: Christian Eriksen – 6.5/10
Was very positive with his shots, passing and off-the-ball runs.
AM: Nacer Chadli – 5/10
Got in behind Fiorentina in the early stages of the match, but become less of a threat as the game went on. Subbed on 63 minutes to make way for Andros Townsend.
ST: Roberto Soldado – 3/10
Spurs would most likely have gone through if Soldado had maintained the slightest bit of concentration when he was put through two-on-one with the Fiorentina goalkeeper in the first half. Everyone expected Tottenham to go 1-0 up as the Spaniard ran towards goal with Chadli in support and not a defender in sight. Unfortunately, Soldado was so relaxed that he played a pathetically-tame pass to the keeper, leaving Chadli and 2,000 travelling fans gobsmacked.
Subs:
Harry Kane – 6/10
Worried Fiorentina a couple of times with his power, but was unable to produce any heroics today. Had a goal disallowed which was very offside.
Andros Townsend – 5/10
Fiorentina had him worked out straight away and he created nothing cutting in from the right.
Kyle Walker – 5.5/10
Was only on the pitch for 15 minutes. Got forward a lot, but lacked the guile to break down a deep and well-drilled defence.