Tottenham’s summer-signing Serge Aurier found himself at the centre of a Sky Sports rampage after being sent off in a nightmare of a first Premier League start and is deemed ‘arrogant’.
A second yellow card in the second half saw Spurs resort to panic mode after sitting pretty with a 3-1 lead over London rivals West Ham at the London Stadium.
Harry Kane continued his hot form, scoring twice to take his tally for 2017 to 25 goals, while Christian Eriksen netted shortly after half-time to put the game almost out of reach for the Hammers.
Serge Aurier was dismissed for a second yellow card in Tottenham’s 3-2 win over West Ham
The French defender was shown a red card after a second foul on Andy Carroll
But two acts of foolishness, alongside many other questionable decisions, by French full-back Aurier saw him dismissed and allowed West Ham back into the game.
The defender was shown red for two challenges on Andy Carroll, and has been blasted by the Sky Sports punditry team for his display.
Jamie Redknapp was the first to make a significant dig at the Spurs new-boy slating his lack of understanding for the English game.
The dismissal put his team-mates under pressure as they narrowly avoid a late upset
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‘It comes down to intelligence,’ he said following the victory. ‘When you’ve been booked, you have to stay on your feet.’
‘He looked like he had no understanding of the Premier League today. Everything he did from a defensive and attacking point of view, he was all over the place.’
His lack of understanding gifted Slaven Billic’s West Ham with a lifeline back into a game, they were all but out of.
Javier Hernandez netted five minutes before Aurier’s dismissal, scoring his first goal against Spurs in nine games, which was followed up Cheikhou Kouyate three minutes before the 90 minutes was up.
Unfortunately for West Ham though, they couldn’t fina breakthrough, and Aurier was off the hook. But Alan Pardew puts his rash play down to arrogance.
‘He’s had a run in with the French manager and the PSG manager and I think he had a certain amount of arrogance about him today.’
After the game Sky Sports pundits criticised Aurier for his ‘arrogance’ and lack of ‘intelligence’
Jamie Redknapp, Alan Pardew and Teddy Sheringham all criticised the Frenchman
‘Maybe he’s been told a little too much,’ Teddy Sheringham chipped in, speaking of the hype surrounding the fixture. ‘He was eratic today. But it’s not about being eratic, it’s about being strong and controlled and getting against people.’
The victory saw Tottenham move into the top four for the first time this season and into third, just two points of both Manchester clubs at the summit.
But Mauricio Pochettino, who was blushing with relief in his post-match interview, was withdrawn in his criticisms and even felt a red card for the defender was undeserved.
‘I am happy with him,’ he said. ‘He is very welcome at our club but he was unlucky as I didn’t think he deserved the yellow card.
‘He doesn’t understand the differences yet between the Premier League and Ligue 1 and it’s important to support him after his mistake, I am just happy we won.’