Former Tottenham star Dimitar Berbatov singled out Destiny Udogie for criticism in the defeat against Brighton on Sunday, with the Italian defender not covering himself in glory for the first goal that sparked the home side’s comeback.
Spurs took a 2-0 lead away to the Seagulls, but ended up losing 3-2 in what will have to go down as one of the worst results of the Ange Postecoglou reign so far.
Udogie has mostly shown himself to be a promising young player since his arrival at Tottenham, but this was not his best moment as he badly misjudged a cross into the box, scuffing his attempted clearance and allowing it to fall to Yankuba Minteh, who made no mistake with a clinical finish from close range.
See below as Berbatov made it clear he was far from impressed with Udogie here, as he branded this a rookie error by the 21-year-old…
“It’s a rookie mistake” ?
Dimitar Berbatov says Destiny Udogie should have done better for Brighton’s first goal. pic.twitter.com/lAtQLXT9z4
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 6, 2024
“I think it’s a rookie mistake. He has games under his belt, he should do better. From there, everything went wrong,” Berbatov told Sky Sports during their coverage of the game.
“You’re a defender first and foremost, you have to defend. In this day and age, full-backs do go and attack, and the first thought might be to attack, but it’s about reading the game.
“You need to anticipate… you need to be ready no matter what. When you make mistakes, someone will punish you.”
Destiny Udogie comments are harsh but fair from Dimitar Berbatov
While Udogie is still young and learning the game to some extent, it is also true that he’s actually played a lot of football for someone of his age, and if he’s playing for a club with ambitions of finishing in the top four of the Premier League, he undoubtedly needs to be doing better in situations like this.
Udogie will now hope to learn from this and improve for the future, but for now his error certainly helped give Brighton the confidence to get back into this game, and eventually saw them successfully pull back a surprise victory.
