Matthew Chadder

Fri 21 July 2023 9:00, UK

The Tottenham midfield is set to operate very differently under Ange Postecoglou this season.

Under Antonio Conte, there was little to no creativity in Spurs’ engine room. Any source of danger was designed to come from out wide in the Italian’s 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 systems.

At times fans were left yawning in the stands as Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg played the same sideways passes, very rarely bursting forward.

However, with Postecoglou now at the helm, fans can expect quite the opposite. The Australian is expected to implement a midfield three within a 4-3-3 system.

The former Celtic boss prefers his midfielders to get forward, press high and join the attack where possible. While Conte would prefer to operate off the ball and sit deep, Postecoglou would rather his team controls play and dominates possession.

Demands of the midfielders are therefore going to be very different this season and while some might be up for the task, including new recruit James Maddison who is a perfect fit for the 57-year-old’s advanced number eight role, others might not be able to make the changes necessary and adapt.

A new midfielder might be needed and Spurs have been linked with the perfect one. The Daily Mail reported on Thursday (20 July) that Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz is a target with Hojbjerg potentially on his way out of North London.

Luiz was a regular for the Villians last season, making 40 appearances, and therefore Unai Emery might not be keen to let the Brazil international go. However, the arrival of Youri Tielemans might make the 25-year-old’s exit possible.

And stats suggest the Villa man could flourish in Postecoglou’s midfield as a deep-lying midfielder.

As per FBREF, throughout the Premier League season last year, Luiz showed he was more than capable of impacting play in the final third as he scored six goals and provided six assists in Villa’s march to European football. His 0.37 goals plus assists per 90 put him in the top 17 per cent of the league’s midfielders.

By putting in 3.26 crosses per 90 and placing in the top 14 per cent of Premier League midfielders for this particular stat, it showed that he can impact the game in other ways going forward also.

He was also completing 20.45 passes per 90 over a medium distance and 4.86 passes per 90 over a long distance, ranking him in the top 14 per cent compared to his positional peers in regard to both of these statistics. This demonstrates his comfort in a possession-based system.

At the heart of midfield, he was confident breaking up play, blocking 0.49 passes per 90 which placed him in the top six per cent of midfielders playing in England’s top flight.

The Spurs target is also clearly comfortable with the ball at his feet, which is an important feature of a midfielder playing in a Postecoglou side. His 65.12 touches per 90 left him in the top 30 per cent of his peers in the division and this is something that would only improve if he was to make the move to North London.

If Hojbjerg is to leave, then Spurs will certainly need to replace him, with the Dane having been an integral part of the club’s first-team picture since he arrived. However, it is uncertain if he will fit stylistically into the set-up of his new boss, who might be excited at the opportunity to bring in someone new.

Luiz’s Premier League experience will certainly make him an attractive prospect for central midfield and if they do bring him in this summer, it could certainly prove to be a smart signing.

In other Tottenham news, the club are close to announcing another smart summer signing.