This article is part of Football FanCast's The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Giovani Lo Celso retained his place in the Tottenham Hotspur starting line-up on Saturday but endured a quiet performance as Spurs drew 1-1 with Sheffield United.

On the chalkboard

The Argentine enjoyed an excellent performance as Spurs thumped Red Star Belgrade 4-0 in Serbia on Wednesday.

But, on Saturday, the midfielder was withdrawn in a poor performance from the hosts against Chris Wilder’s well-organised Blades.

Played on the right-hand side of the trio behind Harry Kane, along with Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min, Lo Celso had a total of 84 touches, per WhoScored, the third-highest on the pitch.

He had two shots on goal, though neither were on target and attempted 63 passes, with an accuracy of 83%.

Two of those were key passes, while Lo Celso also completed two dribbles, though he was dispossessed twice too.

Against Red Star, the Argentine won five of his five attempted tackles but against the Blades, he was dribbled past on four occasions and had a tackle success rate of just 33%.

Asked to do too much

One has to wonder if Lo Celso was merely being asked to do too much.

The former Real Betis star is a tricky dribbler, a flair player, but he can also muck in when needed.

The problem, however, comes when the latter is prioritised over the former.

Of course, Mauricio Pochettino wants his players to be multifunctional and to help the team in every phase.

However, Lo Celso’s performance against the Blades could be a worry.

He cannot allow his attacking influence – he scored 16 goals in all competitions last season while registering six assists – to be muzzled by his defensive contributions.

The key, then, is for manager Pochettino to find a way to pair Lo Celso’s brilliant attacking ability with his defensive diligence. Something he failed to do at the weekend.