View: Oliver Skipp shows Tottenham boss what he can do during clash with Barcelona
Tottenham rounded off their pre-season preparations with a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in Spain on Tuesday 8 August.
The match represented Ange Postecoglou’s most difficult test as Tottenham boss to date and things won’t get any easier for the Australian with his side’s Premier League opener with Brentford now less than a week away.
Despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives for the North London outfit to take from their trip abroad. At times they dominated proceedings and only came undone by two sloppy goals close to full-time.
It was an 11 that was made up mostly of Spurs’ so-called ‘fringe players’, with many of those on display making their case to Postecoglou ahead of the new season getting underway.
Robert Lewandoski put the hosts ahead in the third minute of the contest before a first-half brace for Oliver Skipp saw the visitors take control. A flurry of late goals denied Tottenham victory as Fernan Torres levelled proceedings with 10 minutes to go before two goals in stoppage time from Ansu Fati and Abdessamad Ezzalzouli handed the Catalan side the win.
Nonetheless, it was a good run-out for some of the club’s B and arguably C teams, with stars like Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min and Dejan Kulusevski left out, and Skipp, in particular, would have left his new boss with something to think about.
Skipp is not someone who many supporters will expect to have much of a starring role during the upcoming campaign. Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur – upon his return from injury – will all likely start ahead of the 22-year-old with the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Pape Matar Sarr also competing for spots.
Having more of an impact in the final third is a key reason why these players will probably feature ahead of Skipp, but against Barcelona, the England Under-21 international suggested he could change his ways.
By half-time the academy graduate was on a hattrick, scoring twice in the first half. Considering the midfielder has only ever scored one goal in his senior Spurs career, it is fair to say this would have come as a surprise to many.
His first goal would have delighted his manager. After Giovani Lo Celso’s shot had struck the post and bounced back out, the midfielder was first to react, making a late run into the box off the shoulder of the defender and striking home.
His second goal was even better. Ivan Perisic played a delightful cross into the box and Skipp made a powerful run from his midfield position, bursting between two Barcelona defenders.
He got to the ball first and headed home to put his side in front.
The Tottenham academy graduate’s attacking statistics last season left plenty to be desired. As per fbref, in comparison to his positional peers in the Premier League, he was in the bottom 10 per cent for the number of shots he took (0.37 per 90) and the 24th percentile for the number of shots he had on target (0.16 per 90).
In addition to this, he was in the bottom 30 per cent of the division’s midfielders for the number of carries he made (29.82 per 90), his total carrying distance (133.47 yards per 90) and his progressive carrying distance (61.39 yards per 90).
He was in the 27th percentile for the number of carries he made into the final third (0.90 per 90) and the 38th percentile for the total amount of carries he made into the penalty area (0.11 per 90). Finally, he was in the 14th percentile for both his touches in the attacking third (7.88 per 90) and opposition penalty area (0.42 per 90).
These are numbers that would have made for concerning reading for Postecoglou and suggested to him that Skipp is not someone who can operate in his attacking high-energy and intense-pressing midfield.
Although the performance in Spain might have given him second thoughts, and while Skipp won’t necessarily have earned himself a spot in the starting line-up, he might have increased his chances of sticking around in the squad.
In other Tottenham news, the club have reportedly identified a new transfer target for Postecoglou’s backline.