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Tottenham’s fullbacks almost doomed Spurs against Juventus

By Rucker Haringey

TURIN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 13: Alex Sandro of Juventus is challenged by Serge Aurier of Tottenham Hotspur during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur at Allianz Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 13: Alex Sandro of Juventus is challenged by Serge Aurier of Tottenham Hotspur during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur at Allianz Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Neither Serge Aurier or Ben Davies helped Tottenham at Juventus

There were a lot of bright spots in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Juventus yesterday, but the play of Mauricio Pochettino’s fullback pairing was not among them. Both Serge Aurier and Ben Davies had absolute nightmares in Turin. Their erratic play almost cost Spurs any chance they had to leave Italy with real Champions League momentum.

Heading into the match, most Spurs fans felt relatively good about both fullback positions. Davies played arguably his best match of the year against Arsenal. His brilliant cross into the box gave Harry Kane the opportunity he needed to give Tottenham the win.

The Welshman’s confident defensive play has also been on display as of late. He’s made several very confident, and stern challenges during the past few weeks that have endeared him to the Tottenham faithful.

Perhaps he became too confident in his ability to defend against The Old Lady. His clumsy challenge against Federico Bernardeschi gave Juventus the penalty leading to their second goal. Things looked quite dire for Spurs after going down 2-0 in the first ten minutes.

Unfortunately, Davies wasn’t the only Tottenham fullback who struggled during the match. Aurier might have been even worse. He struggled to contain the speed of Alex Sandro or the physicality of Mario Mandzukic. Like Davies, he also gave away an inexcusable penalty when he committed a stupid challenge against Douglas Costa in the bench. Fortunately for the Ivory Coast defender, Gonzalo Higuain failed to make Spurs pay for his penalty error.

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The good news for Pochettino is that he can expect better play in the return leg. Aurier won’t be available due to yellow card accumulation which will thrust Kieran Trippier into the fire. The English international has been playing good football as of late, and could have easily felt hard done by Pochettino’s decision to sit behind Aurier in this match. He isn’t Aurier’s equal in terms of athleticism, but he’s a far superior decision maker.

Pochettino’s decision on the left-wing is a bit more interesting. He could choose to give Davies another opportunity. His poor challenge in the box was very out of character. It’s not unreasonable to think he’d play a much better match against Juventus the second time around.

On the other hand, Pochettino could turn to Danny Rose. The Englishman is a much better athlete which might allow him to compete with Juventus’ top-notch athleticism. If the Old Lady get some of their attacking firepower healthy before the return fixture at Wembley, look for Rose to get the starting nod.

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In the end, Pochettino’s squad were lucky to earn a draw despite the poor play of Aurier and Davies. Spurs will have to get better play from their wide defenders moving forward if they expect to taste Champions League glory.

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