Brennan Johnson completely invisible – Three decisions Thomas Frank got wrong vs Bodo/Glimt
Thomas Frank was incredibly lucky that his Tottenham side managed to salvage a draw against an entertaining Bodo/Glimt team.
Richarlison missed an early chance on Tuesday, 30 September, which allowed the Norwegian side to grow into the game, but they did miss a penalty after Rodrigo Bentancur steamed into a reckless challenge.
Shortly into the second half, however, Jens Petter Hauge netted a beautiful effort before doubling Bodo/Glimt’s lead after 66 minutes, and Micky van de Ven had already had a goal ruled out at this point.
The Dutch international finally saw one of his efforts allowed to stand, and with an own goal just before the board went up with added time, Tottenham walked away from Norway with a point, somehow.
Frank’s substitutions certainly made a difference, though he could have made some better decisions.
Mohammed Kudus benched for Brennan Johnson
Mohammed Kudus has made an incredible impact for Tottenham, so supporters were incredibly surprised to see Brennan Johnson start ahead of him, given that the Welshman has struggled for minutes recently.
The 24-year-old was basically invisible during his hour on the pitch, trudging off with just 21 touches to his name, zero dribbles attempted, and a single shot off target [FotMob].
There likely would have been cheers back in North London when fans saw Kudus getting prepared to come on, and he got involved straight away despite only playing a fraction of the minutes.
As a substitute, Kudus completed 90 per cent of his passes, created one big chance, attempted a total of nine dribbles, completing five of them, and also entered into 14 ground duels [FotMob].
If Frank needed a sign to continue playing Kudus over anyone else in the team, this is it.
Djed Spence over Destiny Udogie
In a game where Spurs needed as much support in the final third as possible, especially with the likes of Kudus and Xavi Simons benched, Destiny Udogie would have offered far more service.
Djed Spence struggled to get into the game at both ends of the pitch, but with no chances created whatsoever, the attackers were left to fend for themselves against a resolute Bodo/Glimt side.
While neither has yet to register a goal contribution, Udogie appears to be a far more attacking figure, and this would have been the perfect chance to give him a much-needed confidence boost.
He has not quite been the same since picking up injuries in North London, but with the number of crosses being sent into Bodo/Glimt’s penalty area, there is no doubt that his ability would have helped rather than hindered.
Frank refuses to accept defeat with Rodrigo Bentancur
Bentancur deserved to be punished for his first-half challenge, and despite avoiding a sanction from referee Ivan Kruzliak, he should have been hooked far earlier than the 82nd minute.
Joao Palhinha was ready and available on the bench, and while Frank will have wanted to rest him fully, there was a game to be won in the Champions League, and he was desperately needed.
Bentancur missed too many challenges, was sloppy in possession, but remained on the pitch for the majority of the game. Had he been replaced earlier, it might have been a very different result for the Lilywhites.