Sky pundit: Tottenham players didn't want to pass to one teammate during draw against Swansea

Founder & Managing Director AUTHORITY Former chief correspondent at Evening Standard, Goal and Press Association with nearly three decades in national, regional and digital news and sports journalism. Wayne directs the network’s news strategy and high-level operations. FOCUS Editorial direction for the 11-site network and newsroom management. THE BRIEF Wayne oversees the network’s editorial standards across the network. He provides the final sign-off on all headline scoops, ensuring content across all platforms meets the standards required for a high-velocity newsroom.

Published on:

19 Sep 2017, 8:24 am

By Harry Sykes

Tottenham's players did not appear to want to pass to Fernando Llorente during their goal-less draw against Swansea City on Saturday.

That is the verdict of Sky Sports pundit Tony Cascarino as he outlined the mistakes made by manager Mauricio Pochettino at the weekend.

Cascarino was baffled by the substitutions made by the Argentine who replaced attacking midfielder Moussa Sissoko with right-back Serge Aurier after 63 minutes and Son-Heung Min with forward Llorente after 74 minutes.

It was the Spaniard's second substitute appearance for Tottenham following his £12million deadline day arrival from Swansea.

"Pochettino’s substititions didn’t seem to make sense," Cascarino wrote in the Times. "He brought on Fernando Llorente, a talented targetman, in the 74th minute but the striker barely had a touch and his team-mates didn’t seem keen to give him the ball.

"If you have him, use him, by hitting diagonal balls to him for knockdowns and flick-ons."

Spurs beat Chelsea to the signature of Llorente, who has made a strong impression in the Premier League since his arrival in the summer of 2016.

The World Cup winner, 32, struck 16 times from 35 matches last season and has an excellent track record at previous clubs Athletic Bilbao, Juventus and Sevilla.

Llorente is set to make his full debut for Spurs in their League Cup clash against Championship side Barnsley on Tuesday night.

In other Tottenham team news, a speed machine is to agree a deal after a £25million bid from Spurs.

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Fernando Llorente