Unfortunately, Destiny Udogie had to miss another important game for Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, though Spurs were able to beat Chelsea convincingly anyway, holding a 2-0 clean sheet victory. Andy Robertson started in his stead at left back, just as he did the game before in a 3-1 win over Coventry.
The reality, though, is that while Robbo was not terrible in either game, he was not a reason why Spurs won either. He is a veteran leader and backup but struggles to actually push the ball forward anymore at his age and is liable to getting toasted defensively by better players and athletes on the wings. Most of the nervy moments against Coventry and Chelsea came at Robbo's flank.
Funny enough, the blueprint to replacing Udogie, who will hopefully be back once more next weekend in the upcoming rivalry fixture with Crystal Palace, may be shifting to the back three Roberto De Zerbi called upon against Coventry.
Instead of playing Robertson as the left wing back, a healthy Savio or even Archie Gray as a wing back with Pedro Porro, who returned from his own injury as a substitute against Chelsea, on the right side being a solution. And then the left sided center back could be Micky van de Ven, who even starts as a left back himself for the Dutch national team, with Jan Paul Van Hecke and either Tosin Adarabioyo or Marcos Senesi giving even more ball progression and passing from the back end.
Tottenham Hotspur looked so good with the ball against Covenry even with a back three, and taking Andy Robertosn out of the equation for some more defending without Destiny Udogie while still getting more attacking push with a midfielder like Dejan Kulusevski (when he is ready to start, of course), Archie Gray, or even Lucas Bergvall off the left - or Savio as a winger - can help Tottenham's attackers a lot more than going with Robertson.
Udogie has become so important to Tottenham, and fans have noticed how much more effective the team is with the bal and at creating chances with the Italian international in the starting 11. And after scoring two big wins without him, fans will be even more excited to see how Tottenham look with Udogie healthy. And if not, maybe trying a lineup with better players than Robertson can lead to even more dominant defending and chances going back the other way.
This article was originally published on www.hotspurhq.com as Tottenham have a better way to replace Destiny Udogie than Andy Robertson .
