Standout display proves how important Pape Sarr can be for Tottenham

 

There were a number of criticisms aimed at Antonio Conte during the death throes of his Tottenham career, many, if not all, of them justified. One was the lack of rotation involving his favoured XI and those that arguably deserved a chance to secure a regular starting spot. Yves Bissouma is a case in point. The Mali international has been the lynchpin of Ange Postecoglou's midfield, anchoring the side well and driving the team forward where needed, yet barely featured under Conte.

 

Another case in point is Pape Sarr. The 20-year-old joined from Metz in 2021 and immediately returned to the French side on loan for the season before linking up with the north London side last summer. Sarr, though, started just two league matches last season, the 2-0 North London Derby defeat to Arsenal in January, and the 6-1 mauling at Newcastle in April, with the youngster subbed off in both. 

 

However, Postecoglou has sought to use Sarr more frequently that his permanent predecessor. Sarr was a second half introduction at Brentford on the opening weekend of the season, replacing Oliver Skipp with 15 minutes to play, but Postecoglou elected to use the Senegal international from the outset against Manchester United on Saturday evening. The Australian boss was justified by his decision to use the youngster from the outset. 

 

In one of the two number eight roles either side of Bissouma, Sarr is the ideal fit. He has the requisite dynamism to help provide cover for the defence and get forward to support the offensive, rendering him the perfect box-to-box player in this Spurs setup. This is crucial for the north London outfit with James Maddison tasked with prying defences apart, so a midfielder to aid both Bissouma and the summer signing depending on the passage of play is vital. 

 

Sarr ticks all the boxes to succeed in the role as he showed in the 2-0 victory over United. Nine of the 15 tackles Spurs made against United on Saturday were by Spurs' starting midfield trio, with Bissouma making five of those, and Sarr and Maddison making two of those. However, while the former and latter each had their core duties as noted by their respective numbers - Maddison chipped in with an additional two key passes - Sarr was required to make the late runs into the box to wreak havoc on the United goal. 

 

 

Sarr managed more shots (5) than any other Spurs player against Erik ten Hag's side, all of which, including his goal, were from inside the box. For additional context, the midfielder has made nine touches inside the opposition box in his Premier League career - seven of those were on Saturday. Sarr's strike was exactly what is to be expected from the Senegalese youngster in the 4-3-3 system. As Dejan Kulusevski broke down the right, Sarr made his move into the box. Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes both failed to track the Spurs man, while Casemiro was caught ball watching. 

 

Kulusevski's cross deflected off Lisandro Martinez and into the path of Sarr, who reacted fastest to tuck past Andre Onana to put Spurs ahead. This is exactly what Postecoglou would have demanded from Sarr in order to help complete the midfield. With Skipp in the side, Spurs lacked a player to link the two banks of midfield, but Sarr is the perfect gap between the more defensive minded Bissouma and the attacking link that is Maddison. 

 

Having impressed in his sporadic outings last season, the onus was on Sarr to go some way to really consolidate a regular spot in the Spurs side. In Postecoglou's forward-thinking 4-3-3 setup, he has the ideal foundation to take his game to the next level and as his man of the match outing against United showed, Sarr can be a key man in the Australian's debut campaign at the club.

Standout display proves how important Pape Sarr can be for Tottenham