Opinion: Player ratings from Tottenham’s FA Cup exit to Middlesbrough

Tottenham Hotspur are out of the FA Cup after a woeful defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough this evening.

Let’s take a look at how the individual players got on:

Hugo Lloris – 6 – Can’t have too many complaints about the work with his hands as he made some very nice stops. Looked suspect at times with his feet though.

Matt Doherty – 6 – Wasteful in the golden chance he got to score or assist Son in the first half but his overall game and dangerous late runs down the right were decent.

Cristian Romero – 5.5 – Desperately wanted to make something happen with his underlapping runs and even got in the box a few times. Unfortunately, Spurs failed to create chances and also conceded opportunities aplenty to Boro.

Eric Dier – 7 – Tottenham’s best player by a mile. His job was to protect that penalty area today and he did it really well. Went close with two corners and a free-kick. Perhaps the only player who didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.

Ben Davies – 5 – Got caught out for Boro’s eventual goal as he looked extremely fatigued as the match wore on. Sloppy on the ball at times after starting the match well.

Ryan Sessegnon – 6 – Made lots of great wing-back runs in the opening 60 minutes and came close to scoring a couple of times. Tired out towards the end of his time on the pitch but a promising performance.

Harry Winks – 4.5 – Worked hard and was neat and tidy in the first 60 minutes but I wanted to see some more positive passing down the centre of the pitch into the feet of Harry Kane. All too safe and, as the minutes ticked by, it became tired and sloppy too.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 5 – Same as Winks really. He was tidy on the ball and got about the pitch well but I wanted to see him use the ball a little better in terms of creation. Past the 60 minute mark, Hojbjerg was barely able to run.

Dejan Kulusevski – 5.5 – Not his best game in a Spurs shirt. He struggled to keep up with the pace of the game and gave the ball away a lot in possession. Definitely had some nice moments but looked a case of a lot of football in a short space of time since joining.

Heung-min Son – 4 – Probably his worst game for Spurs in a good while. Had all the energy but the ball seemed to just bounce off him today. Two golden chances to make it 1-0 to Spurs but he fluffed his lines with both. Just was not his day, not by a long shot.

Harry Kane – 5.5 – You desperately wanted Spurs to create this man a chance but it never happened, beyond the ‘offside’ goal. He tried to drop deep but was largely smothered out of the game.

Subsitutues: 

Emerson Royal – 5 – Added much-needed fresh legs but, as usual, lacked the killer instinct to deliver a great ball or burst past his man.

Steven Bergwijn – 5.5 – Added a new dynamic for Spurs when he came off the bench. Had a great chance to score but delayed the shot and refused to hit it with his left.

Sergio Reguilon – 5 – Didn’t really make any difference in his cameo.

Dane Scarlett – N/A

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