Proprio adesso: 3 giocatori di talento che devono dare di più al Tottenham in vista della 13a giornata…
Tottenham continue to suffer from bouts of topsy-turvy results. After losing to Crystal Palace,
Tottenham defeated Manchester City in the League Cup and then smacked fellow
top-four competitors Aston Villa 4-1 in a result few some coming.
Spurs then followed that up with shock losses to Galatasaray and Ipswich Town before the
November international fixtures, which they can came roaring back from with a 4-0 win
over Manchester City last weekend to fully send Pep Guardiola into a tailspin.
And yet again, after their finest performance of the season, Tottenham couldn’t help
but blow the game against Roma in Europe, surrendering a last-gasp goal to Mats Hummels to share the spoils at 2-2.
Although Tottenham clearly outplayed Claudio Ranieri’s men, the tie has to be taken
as a negative result for Spurs, because Roma have been squarely in the bottom
half of the Serie A table and are on their third manager this season.
Spurs are sixth in the Premier League and still on the bubble of the Champions
League race, as Chelsea and Brighton have improved significantly since the 2023/24 season.
Tottenham have admirably risen past injuries that would have killed a less
resilient squad’s season already, but that just means they need a few players
with big reputations to do just a little bit more in order to ensure steadier results.
Timo Werner
Timo Werner’s future at Tottenham is pretty much non existent at this point,
barring a sort of shock turnaround in form from him to a level that we,
in truth, haven’t honestly seen since the 2019/20 season.
The German forward rode Christopher Nkunku’s first season in
Leipzig to post his own breakout campaign with 28 goals and 8 assists.
Although he repeated his 8 assists in his first season with Chelsea and won the
Champions League, he’s never actually scored 10 goals since 2019/20.
It’s been five years now, and Werner is no closer to reaching that level.
His return to RB Leipzig from Chelsea failed miserably, and he’s been so
underwhelming in Tottenham that few expect him to remain with the club at the end of the 2024/25 season.
That Werner bought himself another year on loan at Tottenham is, in itself,
surprising, but you can’t fault Ange Postecoglou for wanting to take another
cheap punt on one of the fastest forwards in European football when he’s still in his theoretical prime at 28.
But as Werner continues to put in atrocious performances in both the
Premier League and Europa League when he does start while offering no
spark off the bench, his prime begins to look more and more hypothetical.
All Tottenham need from Werner is hard running, competent pressing,
some semblance of chance creation, and, most of all, a couple of goals.
He’s actually averaging 1.9 key passes per 90 in the Europa League and
1.0 per 90 in the Premier League, so he is helping in some way.
However, Tottenham already have creators. They need goals to supplement the
12 that stating trio Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke, and James Maddison have thus far.
Radu Dragusin
Radu Dragusin has stepped in competently as a starting center back next to Ben Davies since the injuries to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, and as evidenced by the fact that Spurs held Manchester City to a clean sheet in their first game without Guglielmo Vicario, he’s doing pretty well.
But yes, Dragusin could be doing better, especially tabloids and fans alike debate about his future at Tottenham and question his tactical fit with the team, given his opposing skill set to Spurs’ starting center backs.
Although Dragusin isn’t going to start playing the ball with Romero’s panache or snapping into challenges like the starters, Tottenham would not be wrong to ask Dragusin to offer a little more progression on the ball and a whole lot more intervention defensively.
Dragusin didn’t make a single tackle or interception against Roma, and he’s only averaging 0.4 tackles per game for Tottenham. You can fairly argue that Dragusin is more of a “reader” defensively than someone who racks up tackles like, say, Romero, but that argument loses some credence when he’s allowing 0.8 dribbles completed per game.
When he was at Genoa for a brilliant half-season in 2023/24 before Tottenham wisely snapped him up, Dragusin was averaging 0.8 tackles to 0.1 dribbles allowed per contest, which is a much, much better ratio.
Dragusin has to do more for Tottenham, because he honestly struggled to step up against the Roma attackers. In the long run of a season, Dragusin’s performances would be more scrutinized and viewed a lot differently than they are when he is just seen as an emergency backup.
The thing is, Dragusin was on a trajectory to be a top center back in Serie A, and Tottenham paid more than 30 million euros for him, which is starter money. And right now, Dragusin is playing more like a league average Premier League center back rather than a starter for a team in the top four.
Like Werner, if Dragusin doesn’t show more improvement in weaker areas and suit the playing style better, he could find himself playing for a different club in 2025/26.
Yves Bissouma
Rodrigo Bentancur could have just as easily made this list, but I’d rather avoid discussing his situation until he returns from a suspension for making a racist remark about his own teammate, Son Heung-min.
I’m avoiding Bentancur simply because, in the present, he’s not a factor, though he should be playing much better than he is this season. In other words, I’ll have more to say about him after his punishment ends.
Anyway, Yves Bissouma could also stand to play better for Tottenham, because even though he’s made just five starts this season after Dejan Kulusevski’s successful switch to midfield and youngster Pape Sarr’s continued growth, he will surely have his number called on more frequently down the stretch of the grueling season.
Bissouma has been excellent in the Europa League with 2.8 fouls drawn and 1.6 dribbles completed per game, while the No. 8 has been quietly positive in his rotational role in the Premier League with 1.6 tackles per match despite nearly half his appearances coming off the bench.
Tottenham, in a way, merely need more from Bissouma in the sense that they 1) need to see him on the pitch more and 2) need him to step up offensively a bit more in the Premier League.
Spurs are already stacked in that regard in midfield with Kulusevski and Maddison, but some more progression when he comes off the bench could help Tottenham immensely in games where it is down to the wire.
The big criticism with Bissouma is that he undoes a lot of his great work across 89 minutes by having a minute of madness that costs Tottenham the game, If he can cut that out, which isn’t easy at 28, there’s no reason why he couldn’t start a few more games for Postecoglou.
Leave a Reply