Danny Mills has said that he believes Serge Aurier needs to prove he is mentally competent in order to play in the Premier League.
The Ivorian has been somewhat frozen out by Spurs at the beginning of this season, making his first start in the Premier League game against Crystal Palace last Saturday (via Transfermarkt).
Aurier has been playing second fiddle to Davinson Sanchez and Kyle Walker-Peters, as he even found himself out of the squad altogether against Manchester City and Newcastle United.
In an exclusive interview with Football Insider, Mills warned the Ivory Coast international that he could well be dropped despite his footballing ability.
He said: “It’s not ability, it’s just mentally. He’s got to make the right decisions at times, be a little bit more switched on and be a little bit more defensively minded and thinking at times.
“The Premier League is ruthless, you can’t give away chances. You give away chances and quite often the team put it in the back of the net. He’s an Ivorian international. He’s got the ability.
“He needs to realise if he doesn’t start to do the defensive side of the game and isn’t a little bit more defensively switched on, he’s not going to play because Walker-Peters is going to come back in.” (Source: Football Insider)
Unfortunately, Mills is right in his assessment of Aurier. The full-back’s ability is not in question as Aurier showed last season. The former Paris Saint-Germain man made the second-most tackles and the sixth-most clearances of any player in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad last campaign, suggesting he does indeed have the defensive ability to succeed in the English top flight (via WhoScored).
However, Aurier also averaged the most fouls and was dribbled past the fifth-most times of any player in the squad. This is a clear sign that despite his ability, he does have the tendency to be rash and lose focus while at right-back.
Aurier’s Spurs career could well be cut short if he doesn’t learn to focus more, as Pochettino has shown he clearly trusts Sanchez and Walker-Peters more.
Tottenham fans – do you think Aurier deserves a run in the first team? Let us know by entering your comments below!
