Spurs Blogsville

Former Spurs man is mad to suggest player who got ‘bullied’ midweek will be replaced – Opinion

|

Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat against Manchester United was something of a wake-up call for Jose Mourinho, and for Harry Winks, it was a night to forget for the England international.

The 23-year-old midfielder had a torrid night at Old Trafford, with WhoScored awarding the Tottenham academy product a rating of just 6.4, one of the lowest ratings handed to any of the players who played in that match on a day where Spurs were well off the boil.

Burnley...

Win

Lose

Draw

Winks performance, and Tottenham’s on a whole, was poor, yet former striker Darren Bent has issued an odd critique on the English midfielder’s showing in Manchester on Wednesday night in an interview with Football Insider, with the now-retired attacker seemingly hinting that Spurs should replace the youngster with a more physical player.

Bent said: “Harry Winks has done well the last few weeks, he’s maybe not featured as much under Mourinho but physically, he got bullied. That makes me think I wonder if Mourinho’s going to look for somebody like a Matic. I know people will go: ‘Why would you go back to that old-style player,’ but sometimes you need someone in there who’s a powerful presence and Matic is that.”

Indeed, the former Derby Country striker might be onto something with Spurs needing to add some kind of steel to the midfield with Mourinho seemingly keen on sticking to a 4-2-3-1 as records from Transfermarkt show, but replacing Winks should not even be a consideration for the Spurs manager.

Indeed, Winks has proven over the past 18 months to be one of Tottenham’s most important players, with a scout report from Total Football Analysis highlighting how the youngster’s versatility in midfield is a prized asset for Spurs and one that few of the club’s midfielders can provide as well as the English international.

Winks has all the hallmarks to be a long-serving midfielder for Tottenham, and although he does occasionally lack the physicality to dominate every game from the middle of the park, replacing him should be far from Mourinho’s mind.

Share this article