Ange Postecoglou’s substitutions late in the game as Tottenham were holding on against Everton left Paul Robinson baffled as two points were dropped.
Spurs’ resistance was broken by Jarrad Branthwaite’s 94th-minute header on 3 February after the manager had reverted to a defensive shape in an attempt to hold onto a 2-1 lead provided by two excellent Richarlison strikes.
But the decision to bring on the “lightweight” Bryan Gil in such circumstances was a “strange” one according to BBC Sport pundit Robinson, while switching to a back five with the addition of January signing Radu Dragusin was asking for trouble.
Postecoglou has done a lot right since he arrived from Celtic in the summer but the former Spurs keeper feels he caused his own problems in dropping two points at the death at Goodison Park.
He exclusively told Tottenham News: “I think in the second half when Spurs got deeper and deeper you look at the manager’s substitutions, Pape Sarr came on for [Rodrigo] Bentancur, [Oliver] Skipp came on for [Timo] Werner, Gil and Dragusin were the two that, for me, weren’t needed.
“Gil came on and he’s lightweight, he doesn’t look like he’s Premier League-ready, and to put him into a game like that where you’re hanging on for the last 10 minutes, I thought that was a strange decision.
“And then to bring Dragusin on for [Pierre-Emile] Hojbjerg and play a back five. He went in alongside [Cristian] Romero and [Micky] Van de Ven with [Pedro] Porro on the right and [Destiny] Udogie on the left.
“They just invited pressure on, with Sarr and Skipp in front of that back five and Gil and [Dejan] Kulusevski flanking that trying to defend as well.
“His substitutions at the end of the game just invited Everton onto Tottenham, with Everton and their physical prowess, trying to get set plays.
“Being inside Goodison Park, the way that game was going, you could see that goal coming, and being honest, from a neutral point of view Everton deserved it.”
