Tottenham still looked ‘fragile’ of their win over Manchester United, claims former Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf, who isn’t sure the victory is a turning point for the club.
Spurs picked up a morale-boosting 1-0 win over the Red Devils on Sunday, with James Maddison coming back from injury to attain the one goal of the sport.
Back-to-back victories for Ange Postecoglou’s side have seen them climb to twelfth within the Premier League table, not where they wish to be, but a much healthier state than they were in a few weeks ago.
The injury nightmare that they’ve been through in recent months appears to be easing, with not only Maddison but goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario returning to the starting XI.
Leboeuf was impressed with the Italian stopper, but his performance demonstrated how open Spurs were on the back, even against a blunt Manchester United team.
Alejandro Garnacho, specifically, had a wonderful probability to attain for the Red Devils but fired his shot over the bar from contained in the box in the primary half.
The Frenchman reckons Spurs are still showing signs of weakness, partly on account of ongoing injuries to the likes of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, and shouldn’t be getting too enthusiastic about their form just yet.
‘Vicario is back and has been excellent today,’ Leboeuf told ESPN FC. ‘He’s been under criticism rather a lot through the starting of the season and he’s come back and had a big impact today. But it surely’s still fragile.
‘If Vicario was the person of the match it’s because Manchester United created dangers.
‘I discovered, due to injuries and absences, I discovered Spurs very vulnerable on the back. If Garnacho had been a little bit bit more precise they’d have been 1-1 at half-time and possibly it could have been a special game.
‘You may say, “we had a excellent game, we feel higher, now we will start from there and it’s going to be a brand new era for us this season.” No, no no, it’s still very fragile from Spurs.’
Postecoglou was delighted to have Maddison and Vicario available again, hailing the pair’s impact on their return to the starting XI.
‘It was enormous to have them back, not only for me, but for the players, for the staff, the fans,’ Postecoglou said.
‘They’re top players, and we now have missed them, regardless that the opposite guys have done every part of their power to contribute. There may be a reason the experienced players are there and today they really stood up for us.’
Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert also returned and got here off the bench, with Postecoglou adding to the BBC: ‘Even the fellows coming on, Brennan and Wilson, great to get them back into it.’
The Australian did, nonetheless, confirm that three players suffered knocks within the win over United, although he doesn’t expect them to be serious injuries.
Son Heung-min, Kevin Danso and Rodrigo Bentancur were all taken off on account of minor problems.
‘He got a knock on his knee,’ Postecoglou said of Danso. ‘Him, Sonny and Rodri all got form of knocks. I don’t think it’s anything significant. But the fantastic thing about it now could be we will actually get them to get better as a substitute of attempting to patch them up and throw them out [onto the pitch] again [in] midweek.’
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