Tottenham Hotspur are making headway under Ange Postecoglou but his expansive, intense and attractive brand of football does present a chink in the armour.
Defensively, Spurs have left plenty to be desired this season and last, and though they looked to suffocate and swamp with slick triangular passages and overloads, it did bear that caveat.
High risk, high reward. That’s the motto. Tottenham are still pushing and have demonstrated through big victories over Manchester United and West Ham United in the past month that they can make it work to title-clinching success.
On paper, the north Londoners have two of the finest defenders in the Premier League, and a little more fine-tuning might bring Postecoglou’s vision right to the fore.
The Premier League’s finest defenders
The Premier League is host to many fine centre-backs, with Tottenham’s dynamic duo of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven among the best.
Tottenham have only conceded nine goals across eight top-flight fixtures this season, joint-fifth in the divisional table, but have also kept just two clean sheets – something to work on.
| Van de Ven & Romero’s PL Partnership | ||
|---|---|---|
| Match Stats (24/25) | Van de Ven | Romero |
| Matches (starts) | 7 (7) | 8 (8) |
| Goals | 0 | 1 |
| Assists | 2 | 0 |
| Touches* | 85.3 | 95.6 |
| Pass completion | 93% | 91% |
| Dribbles completed* | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Ball recoveries* | 5.9 | 5.9 |
| Tackles + interceptions* | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| Clearances* | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Total duels won* | 3.7 (46%) | 5.3 (62%) |
| Stats via Sofascore (* =per game) | ||
As you can see, this is a pair of first-class defenders. At least, bordering on first class. Ahead of them in the Premier League pecking order are Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and William Saliba of Arsenal.
The respective centre-halves have had significant impacts on their sides’ development, with Saliba on the cusp of hitting his prime and Van Dijk at the end of his.
Paolo Maldini has praised the Liverpool sensation as “the best defender in history”, while Saliba has been utterly breathtaking in recent years, with his performances under Mikel Arteta this season largely imperious – as per Sofascore, the France international has won a whopping 70% of his ground duels.
Tottenham’s titans are creeping toward such a standing, but Postecoglou may well rue his side’s failed bid for a defender already operating at the level of English football’s finest.
