Struggling Spurs player was ‘dangerous’ for his country last night, Jose Mourinho’s not using him properly – TBR View

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Matt Doherty hasn’t exactly had the best time at the club since his arrival last summer.

The 29-year-old joined Tottenham from Wolverhampton Wanderers last August in a reported £14.7million deal, penning a four-year deal in North London.

Doherty made 50 appearances for Wolves last season as they finished seventh in the Premier League and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo tended to deploy the Irishman as a right wing-back ahead of three at the back.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has been using Doherty more as a conventional right-back as part of a back four.

He is yet to fully convince the Spurs faithful of his suitability for the club, and he especially struggled in the North London derby before being omitted against Dinamo Zagreb and Aston Villa.

However, Doherty put in a much-improved performance on Wednesday night in the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifying opener against Serbia – at right wing-back.

Although Ireland were beaten 3-2, the Spurs man looked much more at ease and was able to create good opportunities for his side, even though most of his duties were defensive ones.

Pundit Arena gave him 6 out of 10 and wrote: “Doherty has struggled for form with Tottenham, with Jose Mourinho opting not to use him as a wing-back where he played his best football for Wolves.

“Doherty was in his natural Wednesday night, playing in front of Coleman as a wing-back. And it showed.

“The Dubliner got into dangerous positions and delivered some dangerous crosses into the penalty area. He also worked hard all night, tirelessly covering the entirety of the right-wing.”

RTE gave him the same score, writing: “Sloppy in possession on a couple of occasions at the beginning but as the game wore on the Tottenham Hotspur man looked more and more at ease.

“It was from right wing-back that he rose to prominence at Wolverhampton Wanderers and he created one dangerous moment in the second half when he flashed a ball across the face of goal.

“Looks to be more of an attacking threat in this formation and can definitely play in the same side as Coleman.”

All signs are pointing to Jose Mourinho simply not using him properly, and if he’s got no plans to deploy him at right wing-back, then he might as well just put him up for sale in the summer, where he can find a club that’ll make good use of him.