I’m continuing with my preview of the new Spurs season with a numerical twist by counting down the days from 5 to 1 giving my thoughts on each number, each day.
3 Days
My three is for the number of first team right backs we have at Spurs at the time of writing going into the season: Kyle Walker, Keiran Trippier and DeAndre Yedlin. Although Walker has been considered our first choice right back in recent years, injuries and poor form meant this was a bit of a problem position for Pochettino last season. Dier, Naughton and Chiriches all played at right back and actually collectively played more Premier League games last year than Walker.
So what can we expect from our two new boys in both a defensive and attacking sense? In terms of attack a quality right back needs to be able to keep moves flowing with forward passes, provide key passes and ultimately help out the winger/ attack midfielder by creating chances and getting assists. As you can see from the Squawka comparison matrix below, last season Burnley’s Trippier outperformed both Walker and Yedlin per 90 minutes, although Walker had more Total Forward Passes. This suggests that Trippier could be the preferred player to help Spurs create chances and score goals.
Data from Squawka.com
One of the criticisms of Walker in recent years is that his pace and decision making have meant he is often out of position for opposition counter attacks (to be fair this is a criticism of most modern day full backs). Defensively a right back really needs to contribute towards the team’s stubbornness by anticipating counter attacks and getting in blocks, interceptions and well-timed tackles.
Data from Squawka.com
As you can see from the Squawka comparison matrix above it’s actually Yedlin that offered the most defensively albeit from the much weaker American MLS. There’s not a huge difference between the other two, with Walker edging the Interceptions and Tackles and Trippier getting in more Blocks per 90 minutes. Based on these statistics I would be happy with Trippier as our first choice Right Back as more often than not we’ll have control of the ball and so he should be able to contribute to attack more.
Whether or not we can learn anything from the team that played Real Madrid last night, it was interesting that Walker started and Trippier didn’t even make an appearance. With Yedlin not travelling with the first team at all it might be that he is about to be loaned out. So perhaps Pochettino has already made his choice for Saturday.
What do you think Spurs fans? Would you expect Trippier to be first choice or Walker?
Psychobob
Latest posts by Psychobob (see all)
- Countdown to the Spurs 2015/16 Season…. 1 Day - August 7, 2015
- Countdown to the Spurs 2015/16 Season… 2 Days - August 6, 2015
- Countdown to the Spurs 2015/16 Season… 3 Days - August 5, 2015