This article is part of Football FanCast's Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC's microscope.

Tottenham's sorry week culminated in a shocking 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Saturday, but maybe it could have been a bit different had Lucas Moura started the match.

Off the Bench

Spurs hadn't lost to Brighton since their promotion to the Premier League in 2017 but were blown away by the Seagulls, and had no response to their fast start after going 2-0 down inside 32 minutes.

They managed just three shots on target in the entire match and even struggled to keep possession as well as they usually do, with Mauricio Pochettino also leaving it too late to change things.

Lucas Moura got the nod when his side were already three goals down but showed an attitude and desire that had otherwise been missing from his teammates.

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The Brazilian also added a spark of quality which was absent, and if he had started - as some Spurs fans wish he was - then the outcome of the match may have been different.

Adding something different

Not for the first time this season, Spurs looked tiresome and lacked ideas on the ball, and crucially lacked pace when going forward with only Son providing an outlet to run in behind.

That aspect of Moura's play makes him important to Spurs when he features, and he proved against Brighton with two successful dribbles in 17 minutes that he can also run at opponents and take the ball past them.

Had he been able to do that from the off he would likely have moved his side into Brighton's final third more frequently and with that more chances would probably have arisen.

According to WhoScored, the £23m man also managed a pass success rate of 89% and had two shots, which showed that he worked well with teammates to create chances for himself and was heavily involved despite not being on the pitch for long, which could persuade his manager that he deserves a start.