Why Thomas Frank must drop 4/10 star from Forest loss to save his job – opinion

Thomas Frank should drop Rodrigo Bentancur

As per our ratings, Rodrigo Bentancur was given a 4/10 for his performance in the 3-0 defeat to Forest. Indeed, the central midfielder’s performance was clear to see in his stats from the game, courtesy of SofaScore.

Bentancur had 46 touches on the ball, completed 29 out of 33 passes and delivered one accurate long ball. The Uruguayan was mostly conservative with his passing, as evidenced by 15 out of 16 completed passes in his own half. He did create one big chance, which led to the only shot on target from the visitors.

He lost possession five times, won zero of three attempted tackles, made two clearances, two interceptions and two recoveries. Also, the midfielder won just one out of five aerial duels. Defensively, Bentancur was not that bad, but in terms of controlling the flow of the game, he wasn’t up to the mark and got rightly hooked in the 59th minute.

Joao Palhinha has been dropped in recent Premier League fixtures at the expense of Archie Gray. So, he remains someone Frank could turn to if he decides to drop Bentancur following Sunday’s dismal defeat to Forest.

Palhinha was indispensable to the team in the opening months of the new season for providing a layer of protection to the backline and bringing much-needed balance. However, since Frank has opted to drop the Portuguese international, Tottenham have conceded goals at an alarming rate. They have kept just one clean sheet in the league in recent memory.

That said, if Frank is to persist with the same setup he’s been using for the majority of the season so far, then the Dane won’t be successful, and he must be more open to making some changes and trying new things if he is going to save himself and save Tottenham’s season.