The stats behind Tanganga's fine Tottenham debut

Jose Mourinho isn't adverse to springing a squad selection shock, particularly against Liverpool. In April 2014, when the Reds were chasing the Premier League title, Liverpool welcomed then-Jose Mourinho's Chelsea to Anfield. The Portuguese boss handed Tomas Kalas his Premier League debut that afternoon as the Blues came away 2-0 winners. 

While Mourinho's squad shock didn't reap the same rewards on Saturday evening, Japhet Tanganga can still take solace from a fine Premier League debut. The young defender had made just one senior Spurs appearance prior to the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool, that coming in a Carabao Cup penalty shootout defeat to Colchester, yet he looked more the seasoned pro in his 90 minutes than a number of current Spurs stars. 

Starting at right-back in a 4-4-2 setup, he was quickly called upon to make a clearance off the line and while it wasn't always backs to the wall defender for Tanganga, it was an early test that he passed with flying colours. It was that block, though, that quickly bred confidence in what was a fine full debut for the 20-year-old. 

Tanganga came away from the bittersweet debut with a WhoScored rating of 7.38, that better than any other Tottenham player and the fourth best overall in the 1-0 loss in north London. Maximising a proactive approach to defending, only Toby Alderweireld (10) made more clearances than the youngster (8) who often found himself in the right place at the right time to alleviate pressure on the Spurs goal. 

This was all the more important given Mourinho lined up without a midfield shield, opting to instead have Harry Winks partnerthe wantaway Christian Eriksen in the middle of the park in a 4-4-2 setup. What's more, Serge Aurier, a defender renowned for shirking his defensive responsibilites, started ahead of Tanganga on the right wing, which would have made his debut all the more difficult, yet he put in a performance that belied his tender years. 

Even after switching to left-back midway through the second half as Spurs chased an equaliser, one they should have bagged as Giovani Lo Celso somehow missed from close range, Tanganga still excelled, which, for a centre-back by trade, was a commendable feat. With additional returns of two tackles and two interceptions, it was certainly a fine Premier League debut for Tanganga in what was a baptism of fire against the only remaining unbeaten side in Europe's top five leagues this season. 

Unsurprsingly, Mourinho was full of praise for Tanganga at full time, stating: "The last thing I want to do after this performance is to speak about [buying new] players. I think it is a way to show respect to these guys, not to speak about new players. Can we say Tanganga is a new player? He had never played a match for Tottenham in the Premier League. Today he played and today he proved that he can play for us.  

"It’s a pity that he’s not a striker! It’s a pity that he’s not a midfield player, but he is one more player that we have. “I think [Sadio] Mane and [Mohamed] Salah, they know who Tanganga is [now]. They didn’t know before the game." Spurs fans will be hoping they see more of Tanganga in the future and after such a superb showing on Saturday evening, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the youngster feature more frequently in the second half of the Premier League season. 

Yes, it was he who was beaten by Roberto Firmino for, what proved to be, the winning goal, but Firmino's touch to take the ball away from Tanganga was world class. No defender in the game would have been able to stop the Brazilian such was the quality of the touch and if that one second is to be used to sully a fine performance from Tanganga, then it's a huge discredit to the defender's Premier League debut.