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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Tottenham Hotspur fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, but the match could have bigger consequences for two of their players – one of whom was involved against the Foxes, and one who wasn’t.
Kyle Walker-Peters started the 2019/20 season in the starting XI following the departure of Kieran Trippier to Atletico Madrid and with Serge Aurier seemingly out of favour, but he picked up an injury against Newcastle United that saw him miss the subsequent Premier League clashes against Arsenal and Crystal Palace.
However, with Aurier not travelling to Greece to face Olympiacos as Mauricio Pochettino rotated his team, the 22-year-old was back in the matchday squad in Athens.
He had to settle for a spot on the substitutes’ bench though as Pochettino selected Davinson Sanchez at right-back despite the same experiment not going well previously against Arsenal, as you can see from these fans’ reactions on Twitter.
That was a signal that the Argentine manager doesn’t fully trust the right-back seeing as he was surely fit enough to start having been named on the bench, and worse was to come for the trip to face Brendan Rodgers’ men at the weekend as he was omitted from the 18 altogether.
The situation is an indication of where Walker-Peters stands with the north London outfit, and that he isn’t viewed as good enough even when the only other options available aren’t natural full-backs.
Meanwhile, Victor Wanyama was linked with a move away from Tottenham during the summer, but both the English and European transfer windows closed without an exit materialising for the Kenya international, as a transfer to Club Brugge collapsed.
Prior to the Leicester encounter, the 28-year-old had been on the bench on three occasions this term, as well as missing out on the squad on three occasions as per Transfermarkt, but Pochettino decided to introduce him as a 67th minute from the bench against the Foxes with the visitors leading 1-0.
It’s fair to say that it was a disastrous cameo from the former Southampton and Celtic man, as he gave the ball away in the build-up to the hosts’ equaliser, before failing to close down James Maddison effectively for the winning goal.
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The African looks to be firmly behind the likes of Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko already in the central midfield pecking order, and this latest display may have just sealed his exit in the New Year if there are some takers for him.