Ex-Spur claims defender is not good enough for a top-four side

Tottenham Hotspur really shot themselves in the foot this summer when it came to their first-choice right-back.

The club chose to sell Kieran Trippier, who had been the starter for the past couple of seasons, but failed to bring in a replacement.

Ever since then, Pochettino has struggled to fill the void at right-back, while Trippier is thriving in Spain for Atletico Madrid.

The Argentine gaffer played Kyle Walker-Peters at right-back for the first three matches, but the youngster looked out of his depth at times.

Davinson Sanchez then filled in as a makeshift full-back for a couple of games, but he looked exactly that, makeshift.

Finally, Serge Aurier was welcomed back in from the cold and started the matches against Crystal Palace and Leicester City in the Premier League.

However, despite setting two up against Palace and scoring a goal against the Foxes which was later chalked off, ex-Spurs player Darren Bent does not think Aurier is good enough.

Bent was asked whether Serge was top-four quality, to which he replied (Football Insider): “No, personally no. Defensively, he’s all over the place, positionally, he’s all over the place.

“People get in behind him, I don’t think he’s particularly great on the ball – yeah, he scored a great goal the other day which was chalked off but when you look at the right-backs that they’ve had.

“People aimed a lot of Trippier but you knew what you were getting from Trippier. Technically on the ball he was very good, positionally he got himself into the right areas.

“Aurier, he’s powerful, but he’s often left wanting. He’ll break forward and leave that right side exposed, a lot of the time the right centre-half is one-v-one with the wide man. That’s something they definitely need to work on.”

Spurs Web Opinion:

I have to agree with Bent on this one. Serge Aurier is not good enough. He may have pace to burn, but he does not have a defensive head on his shoulders. Although he has done well in his first two matches, I also don’t think he will be able to keep up his end product at the other end of the pitch either. Trippier should have remained at the club and Spurs now need a long-term replacement. For me, Max Aarons or Youcef Atal are needed.

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