Some supporters criticised Victor Wanyama on social media after Tottenham failed to beat Colchester United over 120 minutes and lost in a penalty shootout – Spurs were eliminated from the EFL Cup in the third round.
Wanyama nearly left Spurs over the summer before turning down a move to Club Brugge and Mauricio Pochettino has surprisingly brought him back into the starting XI. The decision has backfired, however, as the 28-year-old’s been below-par upon his return.
Despite making only two appearances this season, Wanyama was culpable for the two goals Tottenham conceded in Saturday’s defeat to Leicester City and didn’t come away with a lot of credit against Colchester either.
Dier Wanyama Skipp, what were we expecting with such a shoddy midfield
— louis (@louis_metis) September 25, 2019
Poch needs to fix up
He’s the one training the players and motivating them.
Drop the ones who don’t want to play for Spurs. Eriksens one
Wanyama shouldn’t be getting a game
Start working on new tactics because we only have a plan A and teams know how to stop us
— C (@CYiddy) September 25, 2019
He can turn it around, I know he can
Whether he will remains to be seen
He needs to open his eyes up. Play our BEST team week in week out and stop giving hand me downs to people like Wanyama!
Pochs loyalty to giving fringe players game time will be the reason he gets sacked
— C (@CYiddy) September 25, 2019
The biggest issue from that result, those players on the fringes of the squad, Wanyama, Dier, KWP etc look nowhere near the level to put pressure on the first 11
— Chris (@harkus86) September 25, 2019
@VictorWanyama please leave spurs in the next window bro
— 🏁 🇯🇲 (@KieranKyze) September 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/DaveCharging/status/1176777092706553856?s=20
Poor half from Spurs.. Wanyama having problems against a non-league side. Still think we will score a couple in second half though. Tanganga looking like a 45 mill purchase, and Sanchez like a reserve-player. Like seeing Dier again. #COYS #THFC #carabao
— Martin Lund🇺🇦 (@halund3) September 24, 2019
First half thoughts:
• Dele making those runs in behind again (Shades of 2015)
• Dier controlling loose balls and playing well as a 3rd cb when needed
• Wanyama is nowhere near the player he used to be
• Skipp should be used as a sub in games more often#COYS #THFC #COLTOT— Ishaq (@IshaqThfc) September 24, 2019
I agree on Wanyama – post-injury. He looks like a shadow of himself now.
Skipp turned 19 last week and has a massive ceiling. If you mean is he completely ready and fully formed now – then obviously not.
— Football And The City (@ballandthecity) September 25, 2019
And again Wanyama was the weakest link in midfield giving possession away cheaply and his stray passes..
— The Sess (@thabomariri) September 25, 2019
As per WhoScored, Wanyama played a full 90 minutes in midfield, made 89 touches, won three aerial duels, made three tackles, completed 88.2% of his 76 passes, had two shots and made two interceptions. Tottenham face Southampton on Saturday, but it’s unknown if the Kenyan international will feature.
Wanyama has struggled for form, fitness and playing time in the last two seasons, amassing 838 minutes of Premier League football in 2017/18 and 509 in 2018/19, so questions must be asked why Pochettino has brought him back in from the cold.