Daniel Levy produces Tottenham masterstroke as 87% Destiny Udogie flies high under Ange Postecoglou
Tottenham certainly had a busy summer, with the departure of club legend Harry Kane dominating the headlines.
But the North London outfit have survived without their former talisman thus far, with Ange Postecoglou doing a fine job in the dugout.
The manager has unleashed several Tottenham players in his brief time at the club, one of which is left-back Destiny Udogie.
Daniel Levy certainly adopted a patient approach with the defender, having loaned him back to Udinese for the 2022/23 season after signing the youngster in July 2022.
The Italian was allowed to develop during another campaign in Serie A, with that decision from Tottenham proving to be a masterstroke.
Udogie boasts one goal and two assists from his 14 matches for the club so far, placing him joint-fourth for defender goal involvements in 2023/24 [official Tottenham website, 14 December], but he is hugely impressing with his overall displays in North London.
In his inverted full-back role under Postecoglou, the defender has made 539 passes in 2023/24, with an accuracy of 86.83%, having played 17 passes into the box [official Tottenham website, 14 December].
Moreover, the talented left-back has created 10 chances from open play, with Udogie creating more chances with balls from central areas, again highlighting his inverted role.
Such an attacking approach from the player has helped push the North London outfit right up among the Premier League’s leading clubs in terms of the average positions of the touches made by full-backs/wing-backs, with only four clubs getting on the ball higher up the pitch on average than Tottenham’s 54.8m, with their left side (55.3m) averaging higher than the right (53.9m).
And returning to Udogie, the 21-year-old’s 175 carries place him seventh in the list for the total number of carries of any Premier League full-back, while he is fourth on that list for progressive carries (1,085.8m).
The left-back has also produced 12 turnovers in the final third, making him the only defender in the competition to have at least 12 to his name.
In terms of his Tottenham teammates, only Son Heung-min (14), Pape Matar Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski (both 13) have more.
With Udogie signing a new long-term contract at the club until 2030 earlier this week, fans can expect such impressive defensive and attacking displays from the youngster for many years to come.
In other Tottenham news, Postecoglou has an ideal Kane replacement under his nose, the player could save the club millions.