Four Spurs flops that shouldn’t play again as club sink to new low | Football | Sport

Thomas Frank’s spell in charge of Tottenham came to a pathetic end after they were felled in their own back garden by an out-of-sorts Newcastle United. And a handful of Spurs players should be directed towards to the exit door with him.

N17 was a place of sorrow on Tuesday evening after a 2-1 home defeat and results elsewhere meant the Lilywhites slipped to 16th in the top-flight table. A relegation battle now looks tangible and although the club finished 17th last season, they were never truly threatened with Championship football. This latest defeat was especially dull and while it must be noted just how many players are sidelined, some of the men who stepped onto the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turf against the Magpies should not do so again. The following four Spurs players simply don’t cut it.

Yves Bissouma

Ex-Brighton man Bissouma looked a shrewd purchase when snapped up for £30million in 2022 and although he showed early promise, he should not still be a Tottenham Hotspur player.

The 29-year-old has faced several disciplinary issues and quite frankly should have been offloaded already. His contract expires in the summer and it is relatively clear he does not have a future in north London beyond then – so why waste time playing him?

Bissouma has only had to step into Spurs’ midfield due to injuries and he has been correctly left out of their Champions League squad for the knockout stages. Against Newcastle, 45 minutes was all it took for Frank to realise Bissouma was out of his depth after some sub-par passing and a couple of lazy fouls.

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Randal Kolo Muani

Before his summer arrival, Randal Kolo Muani had been on Tottenham’s radar for some time. But it baffles the mind that his parent club PSG paid a total of £77m for his services from Frankfurt in 2023.

Fortunately, Spurs don’t have an option to buy the French forward in his current loan deal and he once again disappointed against Newcastle. He was introduced after 70 minutes and showed next to zero attacking intent.

Kolo Muani’s only promising outings have come in the Champions League and he is yet to score in the English top flight. Although Tottenham can’t really afford not to have him feature wth so many attackers injured, few fans would complain if he rode the bench and jetted back to Paris come the season’s end.

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Mathys Tel

The case of Mathys Tel is one where Spurs chose to dig themselves a deeper hole rather than cut their losses. The club shelled out roughly £8m last season to secure him on loan and he showed tiny shoots of promise.

But the hefty purchase option included in his deal simply should not have been taken up. Tottenham negotiated the fee down to £30m but even half of that would have been too much to pay for a player who showed so little.

The 20-year-old does put in a shift out wide and unlike others, often tries to take on his man. But against Newcastle some greedy play and unsuccessful shots from distance didn’t help things. Tel reportedly wanted to leave in January and it would be unsurprising if he bid goodbye in the summer.

Radu Dragusin

Criticising Radu Dragusin seems rather harsh, considering he has only just returned from a long-term knee injury and has been unequivocally thrust back into the fray.

But even before his injury, the Romanian did not look on par with Tottenham’s other centre-half options. In the Newcastle defeat, it was painfully obvious how lumbering the Romanian was compared to Micky van de Ven, and some of his passing was miles off what is expected.

Again, Dragusin gets somewhat of a pass all circumstances considered, but he is not up to the standards Spurs should insist upon. The £21.5m paid for him would hopefully be easy to recoup as he is aged just 24.