Jermaine Jenas could only find a shred of solace in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s first-half efforts for Tottenham Hotspur whilst reporting for BT Sport.
Spurs suffered another subdued Premier League defeat at the hands of their city neighbours Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho’s men hardly laid a finger on their fierce rivals in what was a highly one-sided contest.
Jenas was understandably critical during his scrutinous half-time breakdown of events.
“I’m watching a group of players who look scared, who don’t want to get on the ball,” the ex-Spurs midfielder admitted on BT Sport.
He did however go on to lightly praise Hojbjerg for attempting to change Tottenham’s passive approach, in amongst the continuous critique of his former club.
“Hojbjerg is doing everything he can to get past his man. Look at (Serge) Aurier, standing doing nothing. Hojbjerg is doing all he can to get them out of that particular problem.
“(Moussa) Sissoko has got his arm up. He should be in there receiving that and turning. That’s his job as a midfield player.
“Everybody’s hiding, nobody’s interested. To be fair to Hojbjerg he is actually trying to make things happen.”
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has not missed a single minute of league action this season after signing from Southampton in the summer.
He has become Mourinho’s most trusted midfielder but was just another bystander in yesterday’s humbling loss.
The first half was a particularly dismissal display of everything Spurs fans have feared about Mourinho’s style of play.
Sitting back, attempting to soak up pressure and counter attack where possible, they rarely stepped in Chelsea territory and it often looked like a training game for Thomas Tuchel’s side.
It was not until the final 15 minutes of the match that they begun to apply some pressure upon Chelsea’s defence.
Erik Lamela had a shot easily saved by Edouard Mendy before Carlos Vinicius missed a decent header late on.
All was in vain as Spurs trudged off the pitch empty-handed and their egos bruised. They play West Bromwich Albion on Sunday in a no room for error fixture.
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