It wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that Tottenham’s defense is due for an overhaul, and in fact has been for quite some time. Over the past three Premier League seasons Tottenham have conceded an average of 50 goals per term. The top four teams over those same three years have, on average, given up only 38. That twelve goal gap feels massive, and it’s a significant reason why Tottenham perennially fails to find itself in the promised land of the Champions League.
The other reason, of course, is how lacking they’ve been on offense. Even with goal scoring runs from Gareth Bale and Harry Kane, it’s often the case that Spurs just barely break even on goal differential. That stat alone makes them stand out among the top six or so teams in the table year over year.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has tried plenty of fixes to these issues in recent years. It’d be generous to refer to the results of these ‘fixes’ as mixed. Two defensive midfielders – Etienne Capoue and Benjamin Stambouli – have been brought in only to have mostly warmed the bench. Two fullbacks, one for each flank, were brought in last summer. Ben Davies and DeAndre Yedlin are young and could prove useful in the future, but have thus far failed to settle into starting roles.
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That latter, offensive concern was of course the subject of the now-infamous spending spree following the departure of Gareth Bale in 2013. To date only one or two of those dozen-odd new signings have come good, and indeed Bale’s industry and production have only really just been replaced by youth product Harry Kane.
The next, hopefully more successful, step in Tottenham’s upgrades began this spring with the signing of FC Köln centre-back Kevin Wimmer. The signing of a relatively obscure centre-back wouldn’t be unprecedented – Spurs did it recently with the signings of Vlad Chiricheș and Eric Dier – but this seems to be notably different. There’s a plan here, but it really only comes into focus with the next two players due to be brought in.
Rightback Kieran Trippier’s move from Burnley has already been confirmed, and Atlético Madrid centre-back Toby Alderweireld seems next in line. Let’s take a look at this new crop alongside the current Spurs players they’ll be joining and/or replacing.
First, the centre-backs, with the newer additions italicized. All numbers are courtesy of WhoScored and are on a per-game basis unless otherwise noted. This list also presupposes that Younes Kaboul and Chiricheș will be sold or otherwise not with the squad by the beginning of the 2015/16 season.
| Dier | Fazio | Vertonghen | Alderweireld | Wimmer | |
| Minutes Total | 2291 | 1777 | 2810 | 2263 | 2880 |
| Tackles | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.1 |
| Interceptions | 1.7 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| Fouls | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| Offside | 0.8 | 1.6 | 1 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Clear | 4 | 8.3 | 7 | 5.5 | 6.4 |
| Dribbles | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| Blocks | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Aerial | 2.4 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 2.9 |
| Assists Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Key Passes | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Avg Passes | 43.9 | 44.7 | 43.7 | 42.6 | 49.4 |
| PS% | 79.1 | 80.9 | 85.1 | 80.2 | 75.2 |
| Crosses | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Long Ball | 2.5 | 2 | 2.6 | 5.2 | 5.4 |
| Through Ball | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Next the rightback position. Trippier’s only competition with meaningful numbers from last season is Kyle Walker. Again, all numbers from WhoScored.
| Walker | Trippier | |
| Minutes | 1307 | 3416 |
| Tackles | 2.4 | 1.9 |
| Interceptions | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| Fouls | 1 | 0.4 |
| Offside | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Clear | 2.8 | 4 |
| Dribbles | 0.5 | 1.2 |
| Blocks | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Aerial | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| Assists | 0 | 4 |
| Key Passes | 0.7 | 1.7 |
| Avg Passes | 50.3 | 44.3 |
| PS% | 80 | 60.7 |
| Crosses | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Long Ball | 2.4 | 5.7 |
| Through Ball | 0 | 0 |
First off, forgive the numbers dump. Don’t worry: we’re not talking about all of the numbers here, just the bolded figures. The rest of the details were only included for those that might want a more thorough comparison.
Secondly, let’s look at the most superficial stat among these: minutes played in the league. Both Wimmer and Trippier played more minutes than their counterparts at Spurs. Wimmer is especially remarkable due to having racked up those minutes despite the Bundesliga’s shorter season. That figure speaks to two very crucial qualities for Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs: consistency and durability. A press-heavy, high-energy squad like Pochettino’s needs players who can last the full 90 minutes week in and week out.
There’s a much more important similarity here though: each of these three new – or prospective – arrivals has a penchant for the long ball.
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WhoScored classifies any pass exceeding 25 yards as a long ball. All three players best their counterparts in long balls and clearances, the latter of which is simply a long ball that couldn’t find its target. In its simplest form, the long ball is the quickest way to get the ball farther away from your own net and closer to the opposition’s.
The frequency of their use has declined in recent decades as play as become more sophisticated and teams have been more inclined to build from the back in pass-happy, possession-based approaches. It’s making a comeback now precisely in reaction to this latter development, and it’s working. Manchester United and Southampton embraced the long ball last term to a surprising amount of success.
The long ball’s defensive qualities are evident, but what’s often lost is that if properly wielded their use can also be a potent component of a successful offense. Teams like Spurs who rely on retrieving the ball as quickly as possible consequently also rely on quick transitions from one phase of play to the other. The long ball fits that latter need perfectly: there is no faster route to a winger’s boot than a punt from the back line.
Naturally, the longball’s offensive qualities are rooted in the technical ability of the player’s delivering them. A blindly punted ball won’t do. These balls need to reliably distributed to an offensive trio or quartet that is primed to run down and retrieve them on their way to goal.
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Both Wimmer and Alderweireld come from teams last season – Köln and Southampton respectively – that built their defenses around this new generation of long balls much more than Spurs did prior to this summer. It’s no coincidence that Spurs’ head of recruitment, Paul Mitchell, was formerly of Southampton. His recruitment there largely influenced Southampton coach Ronald Koeman’s surprisingly competitive team last season.
In addition to his talents with long balls, Trippier seems also to be much more involved in offense than Walker was last term. It wasn’t a typical season for Walker, and it was shortened considerably by injury, but everything about last season’s numbers suggest that Trippier deserves a start in this new-look Tottenham defense.
Oddly enough, this would not be the first time Spurs have dabbled in the dark arts of the long ball. Indeed, Spurs’ struggles began not when they sold Gareth Bale, but when they sold Luka Modrić the summer before. The Croatian midfielder was the crucial fulcrum around which Harry Redknapp’s counterattacking side thrived. It was in no small part through his accurately fired long balls from deep midfield that Spurs earned their first Champions League spot in 2010. Levy evidently failed to realize how crucial Modrić was and thus never attempted to adequately replace his primarily product. Until now.
Spurs’ new project, with Pochettino and Mitchell at the helm, is now aggressively making up for lost time. It’s unlikely that all three of these players will take the field together. They’ll either be paired with one of the four existing Spurs players included in the above tables, and/or be understudies for a time. If Pochettino can find a way to integrate them into the first squad though, he can expect to find new dimensions to Spurs’ play on both sides of the ball.