Tottenham fans will surely disagree with Thomas Frank assessment on Radu Dragusin
Cristian Romero’s suspension has left Thomas Frank scraping the centre-back barrel.
Tottenham are preparing for a gauntlet of Premier League fixtures over the next few weeks, with Newcastle, Arsenal, Fulham and Liverpool all to come in the next month or so.
Spurs currently sit 15th, and are just six points above the relegation zone, with Championship football next season being an unthinkable possibility in N17.
However, that threat is looming ever larger, and with Romero now out for the next four games, Frank’s decimated centre-back ranks present him with only one obvious place to turn.
Step forward, Radu Dragusin.
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Thomas Frank drops ‘very good’ Radu Dragusin claim
Tottenham now only have two fit, natural and senior centre-backs available for selection: Micky van de Ven and Dragusin, respectively.
It’s the latter of those two that the spotlight is going to be on over the next few games, as he’s sure to be the player Frank drafts into his backline to cope with Romero’s absence.
Dragusin has missed the last 12 months with a serious knee injury, but was brought back into the starting XI in the 2-2 draw with Man City on 1 February, and didn’t put in a good performance.
And, it was he who replaced Romero at Old Trafford on Saturday, and was part of a defence that was unable to prevent United from taking full advantage of their personnel superiority.
It’s been a rough time in North London for Dragusin since he signed from Genoa in January 2024, as injuries and inconsistent performances have seen him fail to carve out a key role in the team.
However, speaking via The Standard ahead of Spurs’ clash with Newcastle on Tuesday night, Frank was full of praise for the 24-year-old, and waxed lyrical over his qualities.
“I think as a defender, he is very good,” said Frank.
“He is alert. His movement, the way he anticipates the different situations, the way he tries to do the principles, I really like that, and he is really competitive in every aspect.
“He is fine, he is strong, and he is ready to go again.”
Do the numbers back Frank’s Dragusin verdict up?
Having only played four times in the Premier League this season, it’s hard to judge Dragusin too harshly on his performances so far this term.
But, he did play 16 times in the top flight for Spurs in 2024-25, which is enough of a sample size to work from when looking into his numbers to see if Frank’s assessment is on point.
Unfortunately, Dragusin’s numbers were largely poor last season, as he posted sub-60 per cent duel-win rates in both the air and on the ground, which simply isn’t good enough to be seen as a top player in his position.
As per Sofascore, he only made 0.6 tackles per game last season and gave the ball away an average of 8.4 times per 90 minutes.
So, with what we’ve seen from Dragusin in a Tottenham shirt so far, it’s hard to make a case for him having proven himself as a top-class Premier League centre-back, and so fans will surely mostly disagree with Frank’s verdict.
But he does now have the perfect opportunity to prove his doubters wrong.