Journalist Alasdair Gold has slammed Tottenham Hotspur for letting Matt Doherty leave in the winter amid the hamstring injury to Ryan Sessegnon.
Why did Doherty leave Spurs in January?
Ahead of Spurs’ dismal defeat at the weekend, Sessegnon was absent from the squad with an injury. Since then, it has been reported that the player is set to miss six weeks on the sideline.
This will no doubt come as a blow to manager Antonio Conte and the north London club may well be regretting their decision to let Doherty leave for free this winter now.
Indeed, Spurs were so happy for the Irishman to depart in January after agreeing to terminate his contract early so he could head to Spain and join Atletico Madrid permanently.
While speaking on his YouTube channel, Gold has now slammed the “stupid” decision and dubbed it a “complete mess-up” at Spurs.
The journalist explained: “The alternatives [to Sessegnon] are, you turn to Ben Davies, I guess. Not as attacking but certainly can deliver a cross. I think you have to think of that.
“Or I guess you could switch Emerson Royal maybe to the left…
“It’s just another thing that makes the Matt Doherty decision all the more stupid. It really does. That was such a mess of a move. Just an absolute complete mess-up.”
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What has Doherty’s exit meant for Spurs?
As Gold alludes to, Ben Davies can play on the left side of the defence. However, he has mostly played as one of Conte’s three centre-backs this season, so this would be a disruption to the formation.
If not the Welshman, then Emerson can play there in theory but again, with just one career appearance in that position, it’s not a role he’s played often – so it is a bit of an awkward fit.
With all that being the case, it puts a lot of strain on 34-year-old Ivan Perisic to stay fit, when before hadn’t had to start every single game.
What’s more, Doherty has plenty of experience playing on the left side of the pitch when called up and so he could have helped ease the burden with Sessegnon out on the sidelines.
At the time it was reported that the Tottenham players were “shocked” to learn that their teammate was heading to La Liga permanently. Now, in reflection, they may also be pretty annoyed by the decision too.
