After several years of turbulence, Tottenham Hotspur have steadied the ship under the management of Ange Postecoglou, who has instilled his attractive philosophy and is seeking to take the London club to new heights.
Rome was not built in a day but Tottenham erected an exciting new foundation right from the get-go that saw a blistering start to the campaign fire the club into the ascendancy, topping the Premier League table after ten matches.
But, as was always the fear, a certain lack of depth in the squad ravaged hopes of an unexpected title challenge, namely, months-long injuries to James Maddison and Micky van de Ven compounded setbacks and suspensions that picked at the squad.
Eric Dier was clearly unfavoured by Postecoglou but he got pulled into the first-team throughout November and December, with full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal often chucked into a makeshift backline that fought valiantly but was unable to stem the outpour of that excellent early-season form.
Heading into the January transfer window, Postecoglou had been transparent about his side’s need for defensive reinforcements and chairman Daniel Levy indeed pounced quickly to bolster the backline, settling on Genoa star Radu Dragusin after prodding and probing in the market.
Why Spurs signed Radu Dragusin
Last season, a leaky defence and absence of organisation was the crux of Tottenham’s struggle, with the 63 goals conceded in the Premier League higher than all but the bottom three and newly-promoted outfits Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
Van de Ven was purchased from German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for £43m in August to combat this issue and reshape the defence, moulding in line with Postecoglou’s vision, and the Dutch defender has certainly lived up to the hype thus far, described as an “elite baller” by journalist Mitch Fretton.
However, with Van de Ven and his partner Cristian Romero both in and out of the starting line-up (the latter due to a mingling of injury and suspension), securing Dragusin’s services seemed to be the prudent move to make, and so a transfer approaching £27m was wrapped up halfway through the January transfer window.
Dubbed a “complete & dominant” player by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Dragusin – who is just 22 years old – has arrived as the perfect understudy to Tottenham’s preferred defensive axis, having impressed in Italy across 19 Serie A fixtures this term, scoring twice, averaging 3.3 ball recoveries and 4.6 clearances per game while winning a noteworthy 67% of his duels, as per Sofascore.
Tottenham might have signed a titan of genuine promise but the 6 foot 3 Dragusin is yet to do more than dip his toes into the Premier League pool, with his three competitive outings all coming late into the second half; he has spent the past three matches languishing on the bench, unused.
Is Postecoglou right to unleash Van de Ven and Romero every time? Probably. In fairness, Tottenham are fighting hard to secure Champions League football next season and any slip-up could prove detrimental.
Dragusin has ample time to grow into his skin and he will surely receive a starting berth at some point in the coming weeks, but he was signed for a pretty penny, and given that the Lilywhites have a player on the books who’s currently plying their trade elsewhere in Joe Rodon, perhaps forking out such a sum wasn’t the move to have made.
How Joe Rodon is faring out on loan
Sure, Tottenham needed a centre-back in January, but Rodon has been immense for Leeds United as they push for promotion back to the Premier League after being relegated last season, currently third in the Championship table, two points behind Ipswich Town.
As per FBref, the Wales international ranks among the top 4% of centre-halfs across divisions similar to the Championship for pass completion, the top 5% for passes attempted, and the top 18% for progressive passes per 90.
This highlights the crispness and enterprising nature of his game, always eager to progress the play, and shows that he is a forward-thinking central defender.
At 26, the forgotten loanee understandably eager to continue to play regular football and this was something that never materialised at Tottenham after moving to the outfit from Swansea City for a fee rising to £15m in 2020, with just eight Premier League starts to his name.
Tottenham reportedly want £20m to grant his permanent sale, with his excellent displays for Leeds reviving his career and potential as a top-flight star.
Hailed as a “warrior” by his Whites manager, Daniel Farke, for his performances at Elland Road, Rodon has been the full package this year, keeping 14 clean sheets from 33 matches, completing 92% of his passes in the second tier, averaging 4.4 ball recoveries and 4.5 clearances per game while coming out on top in 67% of his duels.
With this in mind, Rodon might actually be worthy of emulating Van de Ven across several metrics, boasting athleticism and recovery powers not too dissimilar to the Netherlands machine, who ranks among the top 3% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion and the top 2% for successful take-ons per 90.
Dragusin is a quality player and has the trappings of a real star in the Premier League down the line, but make no mistake, he is not a ball-playing centre-back.
To evidence this, Dragusin ranks among the bottom 26% of central defenders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the bottom 10% for passes attempted and the bottom 3% for progressive passes per 90. His strengths lie in other areas, but this does pose a problem for a fluid, progression-centre coach such as Postecoglou.
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This ace has been described as “world-class” for his exploits at Tottenham.
The Romanian ace completed just 83% of his passes in the Italian top-flight before making the move to England and instead displays his finest qualities through his combative, aggressive approach, echoing certain attributes of Romero, in that regard.
With Dier sold and Dragusin not offering the total skill set that might be perfect within Postecoglou’s system, it might be worth convincing Rodon to return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, given that he is better than the former Serie A titan at progressing play out from the back.
