Tottenham player ratings v Fulham: Harry Kane breaks his August hex

The 3-1 final scoreline might flatter Tottenham’s performance slightly, but plenty of Spurs put in really good shifts against Fulham.

Tottenham always expected to earn three points against Fulham, but this match didn’t progress quite like Mauricio Pochettino expected. Spurs got off to a good start with Lucas Moura’s late first half goal, but then were threatened when Fulham equalized in the second stanza. Then, Pochettino made some decisive tactical shifts that earned his squad the victory.

As usual, there were some excellent performances for Spurs. Unfortunately for Pochettino, a few of his key players were well off the pace as well. In this piece we’ll evaluate each Tottenham player who entered the match. We start by taking a look at the fullbacks.

Fullbacks

Kieran Trippier-8

The obvious thing to discuss here is that Trippier hit an absolutely brilliant free kick to give his club the lead. It was exactly the sort of strike that helped him propel England to the World Cup semifinals. Seeing him do it for his club was a delight for Spurs fans.

On the other hand, he had a ton of opportunities to fire in quality crosses in the first half. Time and time again he got the ball down the right wing in the opening 45 minutes. Unfortunately, he really didn’t trouble Fulham with any sort of dangerous crosses during that period. It was a good day, but not a world-class effort for England’s first choice right back.

Ben Davies-5

Pochettino should be very concerned about his left back position at this point. Davies was awful in this match. Almost all of Fulham’s dangerous attacks came as a result of him being beat down the left hand side. Ryan Sessegnon is a tremendous talent, but he shouldn’t be able to beat Davies every time he touches the football.

Don’t be surprised if his poor outing gives Danny Rose real hope of earning his way back into the starting XI. If Davies doesn’t improve soon, he’s going to find himself on Pochettino’s bench.