Bournemouth forward names Spurs defender as toughest opponent | OneFootball

When recently speaking on the Ball Talk Podcast, exciting AFC Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo has stated that Destiny Udogie is the toughest opponent he has faced so far this season.

Bournemoth wide man full of praise for Tottenham defender

After being asked the question, the 24-year old responded: "I think Destiny Udogie of Tottenham. He was definitely the hardest one I played, he was so up and down. The way Tottenham play as well, they’re quite similar to us in terms of running, they work hard and run a lot. So he took me backwards, forwards and sideways and it was tough.

I'm having to track him the whole way, and I think our tactics that game was like man for man for most of the game, so I was having to stay with him most of the time. If he dropped deep I'd have to go press him deep. If he's going in behind or running I have to track him as well, and then obviously with the press as well, it's hard to maintain that the whole game.

Although most will know, for the avoidance of doubt - he is talking about the game where Bournemouth beat Spurs back in early December, live on Amazon Prime. The game that finished 1-0 to the hosts, but could and should have been four or five - with Spurs being absolutely abysmal that day.

Nevertheless, when crunching the numbers, you can see why Semenyo said that. During the 90 minutes (85 against the Bournemouth forward), Udogie recorded; one clearance, one interception, six tackles, 10/12 ground duels won, 3/4 aerial duels won, two fouls drawn, and 2/2 successful dribbles.

Before his injury, we generally hadn't seen the best of the Italian defender this season, but it does feel like people are being a bit harsh on him. It is always very tough to come into a season having not had a pre-season, and he was having to play twice a week with very little rest for a lot of weeks during the first few months of the campaign.

Sure, in some games, he made mistakes, particularly in possession - that are hard to directly attribute to his injuries/fatigue, but there is no doubt a top quality player there when he is in peak physical condiiton. It would be great at some point to see a run of games tried with Djed Spence at right-back, with Udogie at left-back. Let's hope it can happen at some point this season.

As a side note; Spurs could do a lot worse than Semenyo. Someone very suited to Ange's style of play (as he says himself, Andoni Iraola's style is similar). At 24, he still has plenty of progression still to be made, and he is already this good. He has also played with Dominic Solanke, which could help him fit in even quicker.