Shay Given thinks Tottenham star ‘has to do better’ after watching him vs Brighton

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Tottenham had to fight back late to rescue a point in their Premier League return against Brighton, although Shay Given actually criticised the impact of one Spurs player during the game.

Thomas Frank made a number of changes to his side who were victorious in the Champions League against Villarreal, with the highlight change seeing Xavi Simons drop to the bench.

It was the Dutchman who changed the game when he came on in the second half, playing a key role in their second goal, which ended up being a Jan Paul van Hecke own goal.

Despite the strong fightback from Spurs, there was disappointment that they fell two goals behind early on.

Shay Given criticises Spurs man after draw vs Brighton

Clean sheets have been frequent since Frank took over, however in truth this is down to the brilliance of the likes of Cristian Romero and Micky van der Ven, with Guglielmo Vicario having a quiet start to the season.

The Italian didn’t cover himself in glory for Brighton’s second goal, with former goalkeeper Given believing that Vicario should have done better with the long shot from Yasin Ayari.

He told BBC Sport: “It’s a good strike from Ayari but I think Vicario has to do better. I think he was surprised a bit. Bergvall gave the ball away and he wasn’t set, so he gets a hand to it but doesn’t drive into the save with his feet.”

Frank learns a lot about his side in draw vs Brighton

Given the amount of fixtures coming their way in the coming weeks and months, Frank was always going to need to start rotating his starting side soon.

However, he will have left the Amex stadium knowing that it would take some extreme circumstances for him to bench Simons again.

The Dutchman featured in a more central role than where he has been so far for his new side, and Spurs fans have called for Simons to play in the number 10 role on a number of occasions already.

Their predictions came true in this game, and this could be the start of the former RB Leipzig man having a far stronger impact than before at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.