Tottenham News Scout: Tottenham need new defenders, but Tosin Adarabioyo is not the answer
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome Matthew Chadder as our exclusive columnist for our ‘Spurs Scout’ features. Each week, he’ll be providing his expertise on researching players to give insight on the biggest talking points at Spurs…
Tottenham drew their opening game of the Premier League season 2-2 with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium and Ange Postecoglou would have learnt plenty about his squad during his first competitive game in charge.
They say that pre-season never offers an accurate representation of the state of a team heading into a brand new campaign. Plenty of teams in the past have either struggled or flown through their summer preparations, only to end up having the complete opposite season.
Take Manchester City. They have lost their past three Community Shield matches, yet won the league in two of those seasons and are favourites to win it again this year. Essentially, while it is a good chance to get back up to speed, that is about as far as you can read into it. Unfortunately for Postecoglou, that is all he had to work with.
The Australian arrived at Hotspur Way in early June to a club in disarray and in need of a culture shift. Harry Kane has now left and some signings have been made that go against the mould of the 57-year-old’s predecessor’s style.
The defence was always the biggest question mark surrounding this Spurs squad heading into the new season, after a year in which they conceded the sixth-most goals in the Premier League, and those questions haven’t truly been answered.
And this became very apparent during the club’s first game of the new season. Mick van de Ven looked brilliant on his debut and could prove to be a quality bit of business. It was elsewhere where the issue remained, in the form of the depth of the squad.
After scoring early in the match, Cristian Romero was forced off injured, and the drop-off in quality between himself and Davinson Sanchez was noticeable. It is not that Sanchez played particularly poorly, he just wasn’t at the level of his Argentine teammate.
Daniel Levy still needs to get the chequebook out and bring in new players to compete for spaces in Postecoglou’s backline, and one link won’t seem to go away.
The Atheltic have reported (16 August) that Tottenham are still monitoring the situation of Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo.
Here, Spurs Scout has had a look at Adarabioyo and determined whether or not he would be a good fit for Tottenham.
Superpower – Progressive passing
When analysing the 25-year-old defender’s stats, one thing is very clear, he tends to get the ball forward and play his passes into dangerous areas.
As per fbref, the former Manchester City player attempted almost as many passes over a long distance as he did over a short distance in the Premier League last season. Adarabioyo made 9.63 passes over a long distance per match, compared to his 13.25 passes over a short distance.
He was in the 77th percentile for the number of passes he made over a long distance and the 85th percentile for the number of those passes that he completed (5.87 per 90), which gave him a pass completion rate of 61 per cent over this particular distance.
The above image is a perfect example of the player putting this long pass into action. Despite having options to his left and one in midfield, he chooses to play it further forward.
The pass ends up being a good one, as shown above, as it lands right into the path of his attacking teammate who is able to get a shot away, although he was not successful and Adarabioyo was not therefore credited with an assist.
A further dive into the stats supports the idea that the majority of his passes are direct. He was ranked in the top 19 per cent compared to his positional peers in the Premier League last season for the number of progressive passes he made (4.10 per 90), as well as the 80th percentile for the number of passes he made into the penalty area (0.30 per 90) and the 73rd percentile for the number of passes he made into the final third (4.14 per 90).
Weakness – Precise passing
While Adarabioyo’s progressive passing numbers make for positive reading, the same cannot be said for his accuracy and precision when it comes to finding a teammate.
As per fbref, he was in the bottom 20 per cent compared to other centre-backs in England’s top flight last season for a range of statistics in relation to his short passing. These include the number of passes he attempted over this distance (13.25 per 90), the amount he completed (11.44 per 90) and therefore his passing accuracy over said distance (86.3 per cent).
In addition, his passing numbers over a medium distance didn’t make for much better reading either. While he was in higher percentiles in regard to these statistics, it was still nothing to write home about.
He was in the 67th percentile for the number of passes he attempted over a medium distance (31.73 per 90) while sitting in the 62nd percentile for the number he completed (28.19 per 90) and the 35th for his completion rate over this distance (88.8 per cent).
Where would Adarabioyo fit in at Tottenham?
It goes without saying that the Fulham man wouldn’t arrive as a replacement for either Van de Ven or Romero, but rather as a squad player who can offer Postecoglou the opportunity to rotate his two central defenders.
The problem for Adarabioyo is that his strengths and weaknesses are the exact opposite of what Spurs’ charismatic manager demands from his players.
A defender in the former Celtic boss’ system needs to be able to make short precise passes in a team that looks to build up play from the back and dominate possession, all things that were Adarabioyo’s weaknesses. Meanwhile, his ability to play the ball long is not something that Postecoglou looks for.
How much would Adarabioyo cost?
The defender has just one year left on his contract at Craven Cottage and a fee to take him away from the London-based club therefore wouldn’t be extortionate.
As mentioned in The Athletic’s report (16 August), AS Monaco have seen a proposal of £8.5million turned down by Fulham, which would indicate to Levy and the Tottenham board that a fee of £10million plus would be required.
Although, the figure is unlikely to reach much more than that, due to the player’s contractual situation not offering his current club much bargaining power in any negotiations.
Should Tottenham sign Adarabioyo?
For the fee that would be required, it doesn’t seem like a risky signing to make and plenty of supporters would suggest that he should be brought in as someone who Postecoglou could develop into a player who fits his mould.
However, Spurs have so often gambled by signing players for the future who don’t fit the current manager’s way of playing, and they must now look to break this cycle. It is that exact policy that sees them in the mess they are in and it is time for the club to get out the chequebook and sign ready-made players for Postecoglou to utilise.
This money could therefore be better saved and used elsewhere, on someone who Spurs’ manager can put to use now so that the next time Romero comes off inured, as he did against Brentford, they haven’t conceded twice 30 minutes later.
In other Tottenham news, the club have announced the signing of a new player for the women’s team.