Tottenham duo’s careers ‘falling apart’ as Nuno told to shun terrible stars

Chris Sutton claimed that two Tottenham stars look like they are “falling apart” following the defeat to Vitesse Arnhem.

Spurs gave themselves major work to do in the Europa Conference League after losing 1-0 in the Netherlands. Nuno Espirito Santo fielded several international stars, but they looked sluggish from the off.

Indeed, the hosts looked the better team and eventually claimed victory with a sweet volley.

Despite having a lack of experience on the bench, Tottenham did have nine international players in their starting team.

Harry Winks and Dele Alli – who were previously well in with England – were two of them.

Speaking during BT Sport‘s analysis of the match, Sutton slammed the pair for their lack of impact against Vitesse. Host Jermaine Jenas noted that there was a lack of leadership and understanding.

Sutton said: “That’s individual and collective responsibility. I was really disappointed with the likes of Harry Winks and Dele Alli, two players who we’ve seen in the past and are top, top players.

“But for whatever reason, their games are falling apart at the moment. They’ve really got to buck their ideas up.

“The question is, do they have a future at Tottenham. How does Nuno see it? They weren’t the only ones.”

Spurs hold talks with Monaco for Aurelian Tchouameni

Tottenham sporting director Fabio Paratici has reportedly held talks with Monaco for midfielder Aurelian Tchouameni, with more updates on Dusan Vlahovic and Joe Rodon.

Winks has long been linked with a move away from Spurs. Indeed, Everton have reportedly enquired about a loan deal ahead of the January transfer window.

Alli, meanwhile, supposedly has interest from the new regime at Newcastle.

Nevertheless, neither midfielder is currently ahead of the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp in Nuno’s pecking order.

Tottenham lack of desire slammed

Glenn Hoddle said: “There’s no creativity, nobody wanted to run the game out there and stamp their authority and say to Nuno, ‘I’m your man, I can get in your first team’.

“But also go and win this game, an important game for them. They weren’t up for that test, I’m very, very disappointed.”

Sutton echoed those comments. He said: “You could say it was a Tottenham second team, but how many of those players have come off the pitch tonight and got Nuno thinking, ‘D’you know what, we can think about chucking him in to the first 11 and trusting him’. None.”

Despite the defeat, Nuno insisted that he welcomed the opportunity to hand his fringe stars minutes and get them involved in what will be a “tough schedule”.

Tottenham’s next task is a Premier League London derby against West Ham on Sunday,

From Porto sorrow to Zorro: Paulo Fonseca’s most iconic moments