Three winners and three losers from Tottenham’s Champions League win over Villarreal - Opinion

Thomas Frank has led Tottenham Hotspur to victory in his first ever Champions League fixture, but the win looked under threat towards the end of the game.

Tottenham Hotspur got off to a fast start against Villarreal, opening the scoring thanks to a goalkeeping howler. Their passing and movement was excellent and it felt like the start of what would go on to be a comfortable victory.

However, Spurs slowed down as the match went on and the second half in particular was not easy to watch at times. Regardless of this, Thomas Frank’s team did enough to kick off their Champions League campaign with a win.

Here are the three winners and losers from Tottenham’s closely contested victory over the Spanish opposition.

Micky van de Ven bossed proceedings again

Micky van de Ven found himself on the scoresheet last Saturday and he continued to display his attacking skills against Villarreal. The centre-back created one goalscoring opportunity, played two passes into the final third and hit seven successful long balls.

Van de Ven passed the ball more times than any other player and kept a pass accuracy rate of 93 per cent. He was just as good in defence, making recoveries, clearances and an important last man tackle.

It did look as though van de Ven may have made a costly error towards the end of the game when a Villarreal forward went down in the box. However, the foul was committed outside the penalty area and the Dutchman escaped with a yellow card.

Rodrigo Bentancur helped steady the Tottenham ship

It was important that Tottenham controlled the game tonight and Rodrigo Bentancur was the key to doing so. He did his job on the night and looked particularly good in the first half.

Despite this, some supporters have taken issue with Bentancur’s lack of ambition moving forwards. They would have preferred to see him play in a more positive manner and pass the ball up the pitch.

Ultimately, this did not matter in the end because Spurs won the match anyway. It was a solid performance from the midfielder and most importantly, it was good enough to help his side get the win.

Guglielmo Vicario is living in leisure at Spurs

Guglielmo Vicario essentially had a free, front row ticket to Tottenham’s clash with Villarreal. The Italian goalkeeper was rarely called into action and he is therefore exempt from any potential criticism.

As Villarreal failed to score, Vicario picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season, which looks good on paper even if he has not always been required to step up.

Antonin Kinsky does not look likely to challenge for the first-team spot anytime soon, which means Vicario is going to be starting all the important matches this season. The fact no one is really talking about him after Tuesday’s victory can only be a good thing. No frantic moments, no nervy moments with the ball at his feet. Life is going well for Vicario at Tottenham.

But what about the three losers from Tottenham 1-0 Villarreal?

Richarlison did not threaten at all for Tottenham

No Tottenham player started the season better than Richarlison, but his display in the Champions League was underwhelming. It is hard to remember what the Brazilian actually did while he was on the pitch and the player himself looked like he was disappointed with his performance when he was replaced by Randal Kolo Muani.

Richarlison failed to fire a single shot in 77 minutes and he picked up a needless yellow card. His most notable contribution was winning three free kicks and making a few clearances.

It still looks like Richarlison’s spot in the first-team is secure, but this is due to a lack of strong opinions on the bench. He needs to get back on song and show that he can keep up a good run of form throughout a whole season.

Xavi Simons could have been sent off

The referee of Tuesday night’s fixture was far too happy dishing out cards and many of his decisions went against Spurs, some of which were clearly incorrect. However, Xavi Simons actually benefitted from a moment of leniency by the referee.

The Tottenham new boy was unlucky to be booked in the first place, but he committed a bookable offence when he knew he was already on a yellow card. Simons got away with a warning, but he might not have been so lucky on another day.

Playing on the left wing is certainly not helping the Netherlands international. He looks limited in the role and needs to be given a chance in attacking midfield, even if that means sacrificing another player for a game.

Archie Gray has spent another Spurs fixture on the bench

Injuries played their part in Archie Gray being able to make 28 Premier League appearances last season, but he would still have felt optimistic about playing regularly under Frank.

The England u21s midfielder started against Burnley on the opening weekend of the campaign, but he is yet to play a single minute since that match. He once again sat on the bench against Villarreal, as four different Spurs midfielders took to the pitch over the course of the game.

Even when Joao Palhinha does not start, it looks more likely that Frank will not seek a direct replacement in Gray. Instead, he will select Bentancur along with Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall. On top of this, moving Simons inside would only make Gray even more unlikely to play. At this point in time, he is looking like the youngster Spurs forgot they had.

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