Given Tottenham’s defensive shortcomings last season, the club’s inability to sign a new centerback so far this summer is perplexing at best
Tottenham Hotspur’s refusal to buy a centre-back this summer is “ridiculous,” according to journalist Alasdair Gold, even if the signings made so far have been good in their own right.
Tottenham Hotspur are looking to add a center-back this summer.
Spurs have had a mixed transfer window so far this summer. The north Londoners got off to a great start with the signings of Leicester City star James Maddison and Empoli shot-stopper Guglielmo Vicario, who are both set to slot immediately into the starting eleven and enhance the standard of the club.
Those two were followed by the astute purchase of Israeli international Manor Solomon on a free transfer, a winger who, while unlikely to make an immediate impact on the first eleven, unquestionably increases the team’s quality.
Having said that, the absence of a single defensive signing has been an obvious failure in the Lilywhites’ transactions thus far.
Spurs had one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League last season, conceding a stunning 63 goals, a statistic bettered only by five other teams.
With an Achilles heel like this, fresh centre-backs are required if new manager Ange Postecoglou is to be successful in his attempt to return the team to the top.
Since the transfer market began, the club has been particularly interested in two players: Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen and Micky van de Ven of Wolfsburg. Spurs were’still intrigued’ in both players, according to the Evening Standard midway through last month.
Nonetheless, as of August 1, it appears that little headway has been done in bringing either of them to Hotspur Way. This is made even more odd by journalist Alasdair Gold’s revelation that Postecoglou informed him in an interview that new centrebacks were one of his “priorities.”
On his podcast, Gold and Guest Talk Tottenham, Gold expressed his thoughts on the matter, saying:
“It’s ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous.” I understand that the other three players brought in were opportunistic additions, and I believe they will all do well. On the tour, I was impressed with pretty much all of them in different ways, although Ange stated in one of the interviews that centre-back and goalkeeper were the two priority that he mentioned.
“It’s insane for both of them not to be in and among the first three signings.” It truly is.”
Who is the superior player, Micky van de Ven or Edmond Tapsoba?
While many Spurs fans – and Postecoglou himself – would love the club to spend the money on both of them, which defender should the club buy if they can only afford one?
In terms of last season’s performances, there is little to distinguish them. According to WhoScored, Wofsburg’s Dutchman started 33 league games, scored one goal, assisted one, had a passing accuracy of 88.3%, and averaged a match rating of 6.66.
According to WhoScored, Leverkusen’s Burkinabe star started 32 games, scored one goal, averaged a somewhat lower passing accuracy of 85.8%, and a match rating of 6.64.
The only difference we perceive is in their underlying numbers. According to FBref, the “monster” Tapsoba has a minor advantage in defensive actions, averaging 2.73 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes compared to the 22-year-olds’ 2.15.
It’s also an edge for the Leverkusen man in terms of touches per 90 minutes, as he averages 79.1 to 61.9, which is a crucial figure in a Postecoglou system.
Finally, when it comes to aerial duals, the former Vitoria de Guimaraes prospect wins 1.72 duals per 90 minutes, compared to 1.06 for the Netherlands Under 21 star.
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