Assessing Rodrigo Bentancur's importance to this Tottenham side
Deep into second half injury time at Bournemouth, and the ball fell to Rodrigo Bentancur after his glancing header had been blocked. Rather than snatch at the opportunity, the Uruguayan showed all the composure of a prime Dimitar Berbatov to beat Mark Travers and secure Spurs all the spoils. Tottenham had fallen 2-0 down shortly after the break and it looked as though their winless run would extend to four games.
Ryan Sessegnon halved the deficit 12 minutes into the second half, and shortly after his goal, Bentancur was introduced. It was in the final half hour where Spurs really began to turn the screw, with the former Juventus man the heartbeat for the side. During his time on the pitch on the south coast, Bentancur completed 30 passes. Bournemouth, as a team, made 45. Of the three successful dribbles during his time on the pitch, the Uruguay international completed two, as he took the game to the Cherries.
His absence from the starting XI only served to magnify his importance to this Spurs side as his introduction swung the game back in their favour, culminating in Bentancur's winning strike. Juventus fans were quick to ridicule Spurs for spending big on the Uruguay international back in January, yet as the saying goes; 'One man's trash is another man's treasure'. From the former with the Old Lady, Bentancur has quickly become the latter under Antonio Conte at Spurs.
Teammate Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is often the one to grab the game by the scruff of the neck to help Spurs out of any current funk, yet while the Dane's warrior-like attitude is often front and centre in the middle of the park, Bentancur's influence has often dropped under the radar. And yet, after Saturday's win at Bournemouth, only Harry Kane (7.47) has earned a better WhoScored rating than Bentancur (7.23) of all Spurs players in the Premier League this season.
Bentancur now has two goals and two assists to his name for Spurs, and what's been key has been the timing of which he has been directly contributed to a goal. He scored the goal to put Spurs ahead shortly after the break against Leicester, and then assisted the first of Son Heung-Min's hat-trick a little later in that game. He then provided the assist for Hojbjerg's goal to put the game beyond doubt against Everton earlier this month, with Bentancur turning clutch when needs must.
Yet it's not just his goal contribution that has rightly drawn the admirers, but his hard work off the ball that has caught the eye. While Spurs still have issues - they start games too slowly and concede far too many chances for a team on the hunt for silverware - Bentancur does all he can to keep opponents at bay having made more tackles (30) than any other Spurs player in the Premier League this season. It's a quality to his game that is evident in the Champions League, too, with Bentancur having won possession 30 times in Europe's elite club competition; no player has done so more times.
However, while some players in his position may seek to win the ball and shift possession on to a teammate, Bentancur instead robs his opponents of the ball and seeks to turn defence into attack. He may have completed just 13 dribbles across his 12 league outings, yet of the 55 players to have attempted 20 or more dribbles, Bentancur has the third best dribble success rate (61.9%) in England's top tier this term.
While Hojbjerg's rough and ready approach is enough to rouse the team, so too is Bentancur's ability to ghost past an opponent when needs must. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going, and Bentancur does just that by charging upfield with the ball at his feet. This ever growing influence in the midfield has been all the more imperative in the absence of Dejan Kulusevski in attack, with Spurs lacking the creative guile in the Swede's absence.
It's hardly a perfect approach, with Spurs needing a creator in midfield, even with Kulusevski fit and available, yet Bentancur has taken it upon himself to get forward from midfield to aid the team in the final third. In a period when Spurs have really lacked a player to link the midfield and attack, Bentancur has come up trumps to the benefit of Conte's side.
With a place in the next round of the Champions League at stake on Tuesday, and then a testing welcome of Liverpool to follow, Bentancur's ever growing influence will be crucial. He's shouldered the responsibility in recent weeks, and fans can come to expect more of the same between now and the break for the World Cup next month.
