Fringe player stuns in 9/10 display, another must face chop – Tottenham player ratings v Swansea

Fringe player stuns in 9/10 display, another must face chop – Tottenham player ratings v Swansea

David Woods

Dave is a huge Leeds fan and ardent disciple of Bielsa ball. A career in print magazines that included editing PC Zone, launching PokerPlayer and redesigning The Big Issue has finally led Dave to writing about the love of his life, Leeds United. It’s been a tough 2020 but the single scariest moment was the first quarter of the game against Man City. Rodrigo will be the saviour this season.

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Tottenham proved that there is life – and goals – without Harry Kane as they cruised past Swansea 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium.

They're the first team to book their place in the FA Cup semi-finals with the win and can relax for the rest of the weekend and watch their potential semi-final opponents in action.

And if they draw the winner of the Wigan v Southampton clash, they'll be confident of going all the way to Wembley for a shot at their first trophy of the Pochettino era.

Mauricio Pochettino decided to let Heung-Min Son lead the line in the absence of Kane, leaving Fernando Llorente on the bench.

Son didn't score but it didn't matter.

Christian Eriksen scored twice and Erik Lamela scored the other in a game that Spurs never looked like losing.

But not everyone performed as well as these two...

So how did each of Tottenham's stars get on in the clash?

Here, Football Insider rates the Spurs players out of 10 for their performances in Wales, including .

Click ‘reveal’ below to see how we rated Tottenham’s stars v Swansea

Goalkeeper and defenders

Michel Vorm - 8: It's pretty amazing that whenever he's called upon he puts in a fantastic performance. Commanded the backline and made a brilliant double save from Tammy Abraham in the first few minutes of the second half to keep Spurs in control.

Kieran Trippier - 7: A solid display without showing much of the attacking flair that's usually the best part of his game. Swansea didn't have any luck down his side.

Davinson Sanchez - 8: A rock. He's taken some criticism in recent performances but he was totally in control this afternoon and nullified the threat of Abraham.

Jan Vertonghen - 7: He was surprisingly shaky against Juventus in the 2-1 defeat at Wembley but he was back in charge today.

Ben Davies - 7: A very similar performance to that of Trippier's – defended well and didn't do too much going forward.

Click below to see how we rated Tottenham's midfield against Swansea

Midfielders

Eric Dier - 6: He's not as good as he was last season but he's just about good enough. Misplaced some passes in the first half but stepped his game in the second half. Fans are still looking for more from him though.

Moussa Sissoko - 8: Sissoko was a revelation today and took a lot of Tottenham fans by surprise. He's come in for masses of criticism from fans but, to their credit, they took to Twitter and rightly praised him for one of his best performances in a Tottenham shirt. Glimpses today of the man from Euro 2016 and a hint at the player that could be unlocked by Pochettino.

Click ‘reveal’ below to see how we rated Spurs’ forwards v Swansea

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Forwards

Heung-min Son - 8: The South Korean led the line and he's a man on fire at the moment. He couldn't find a goal today although he probably should have had one after another VAR incident. The video evidence was inconclusive, although it looked like he was level but the referee disallowed his effort for offside.

Erik Lamela - 9: A world-class performance and the best Tottenham player on the pitch today. This is the real Lamela and it shows the embarrassment of riches that Pochettino has in his side. Should have shown fans why he should be seen as indispensable and his goal was glorious. He's only been on the fringes of the Tottenham side since his return - this will push him to the front of Pochettino's mind.

Christian Eriksen - 9: Also brilliant. Eriksen scored twice and could have had a hat-trick, and he ran the show for Tottenham from the middle. He keeps getting better and better.

Lucas Moura - 7: If this is what he plays like when he's not fully fit, Tottenham fans must be licking their lips. Produced a moment of brilliance to set himself up for a shot on goal but couldn't execute it.

Click ‘reveal’ below to see how we rated Tottenham's substitutes against Swansea

Substitutes

Fernando Llorente (73') - 5: Will be gutted that he wasn't started in the absence of Harry Kane, but his display when he came on showed why he didn't. He should have scored and didn't, and the fact is that he's simply not good enough at this level and should be on his way in the summer.

Dele Alli (81') - n/a: A much-needed rest for Alli today and he didn't have a lot to do when he came on.

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