Tottenham Hotspur suffered their fifth defeat of the new Premier League season on Sunday afternoon, losing at home to Ipswich Town, a result that has prompted Alan Pardew to question the Lilywhites' squad, claiming that Brennan Johnson shouldn't be starting regularly for Ange Postecoglou's side.
An acrobatic finish from Sammie Szmodics and a tap-in from Liam Delap outweighed Rodrigo Bentnacur's header at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as Ipswich claimed their first victory of the campaign. The result leaves Spurs tenth in the Premier League table, and sparked discourse surrounding Postecoglou and the construction of his ensemble.
Johnson, who was hooked after 84 minutes against the Tractor Boys, has been in fine goal-scoring form this season, netting seven times in all competitions already. However, Pardew has questioned whether he should be playing as prominent a role as he is, in a Tottenham side looking to compete for a place in the top four.
Pardew Doesn't Think Johnson Should be Starting
"I don't think so"
Leaving Nottingham Forest for Spurs last summer in a £45 million deal, Johnson experienced a mixed debut campaign in North London, finding the back of the net on just five occasions in 34 appearances. Beginning this term in more prolific form, the Welshman has found himself playing significantly more minutes, starting ten of Tottenham's first eleven league matches.
Dubbed 'undroppable' by Alan Shearer back in October, former Newcastle manager turned pundit Pardew doesn't share the Magpies' legendary striker's optimism about Johnson. Speaking on talkSPORT on Sunday, the ex-coach claimed the 23-year-old winger should be more of a squad player for Postecoglou:
"You've got young players of huge potential, even Johnson, who's a regular in your first team. For me, taking him out of Forest and putting him into Spurs' first team as a regular, I don't think so. But in and out maybe. That's the level we're talking about. Now, Son, I think anybody in the Premier League, any of the top five clubs, would love him in their squad."
While a more sporadic role could be beneficial for Johnson at this point in his career, Postecoglou's hand has been somewhat forced into utilising him more frequently, due to the poor form of Timo Werner, who has been described as 'atrocious' this season.