How Spurs Replace Alderweireld

This was originally going to be why the leagues top teams should be looking to Joachim Andersen to fill a regular spot in their side for the next 6 or 7 years. While looking into this, it became apparent he is a ready made replacement to take the aging Toby Alderweireld’s spot in the Tottenham Hotspur line up.

From watching them both you can see they are both ball playing centre halves and are very comfortable on the ball with a great range of passing. Before I compare their passing stats it’s worth noting the sides have very similar possession stats. Spurs and Fulham are 10th and 11th respectively for most possession this season with 0.9% between the two sides. Per 90 minutes Andersen has played 49.5 passes this season, 7.4 more than the Belgian. The Dane’s success rate is also higher with 84.0% of his passes being successful compared to 81.9%. This is even more impressive considering his average pass distance is slightly further, 24.8 yards compared to 23.6 yards. In fact, Alderweireld only outperforms Anderson for passes between 5 and 15 yards, the least common passing range for both players. Playing 9.9 short passes per 90 at 91.8% compares to Joachim’s 9.7 at 89.4%.

A quick run through of other passing stats. Andersen plays 26.7 passes per 90 between 15 and 30 yards at a success rate of 92.5% compared to 21.7 at 92.4%. For passes 30 yards or greater, Andersen plays 12.7 per 90 at 69.6% compared to 10.2 at 63.1%. Now, you could argue that maybe Alderweireld plays more important passes that progress the ball and create chances. However, the Fulham man outperforms the Belgium international in passes that lead directly to shots 0.37 per 90 compared to 0.18. He plays 3.96 passes per 90 into the final third compared to 2.90 and 3.50 progressive passes per 90 compared to 1.95. I feel this safely proves he can more than adequately fill the boots of one of the best distributers from the back line in the premier league.

Andersen’s ability to get the ball forward is so impressive, that for centre backs he is in the 93rd percentile for shot creating actions of all centre backs in the top 5 leagues over the last 365 days, with 0.91 shot creating actions per 90. Over the same ranges, Joachim is in the 97th percentile for clearances, 94th percentile for aerials won and 80th percentile for interceptions.

This leads to the big difference between how the two have played this season, shots blocked vs interceptions. Alderweireld completes 1.2 blocks per 90 compared to 0.6 and 0.2 interceptions per 90 compared to 1.5. I noticed this when looking at defensive actions per 90, which I have defined as shots blocked, interceptions, tackles and clearances. Looking at players from Spurs, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and of course Fulham, Fulham and Tottenham’s starting centre half pairings come out as the top four for defensive actions per 90. Andersen has 11.1 defensive actions per 90, 1st in that list, and Alderweireld has 10.3 per 90, 4th in that list. So, both sides are similarly active defending meaning Andersen will be expected to do a similar amount of work.

Stylistically, when defending Andersen appear to be better at reading the ball compared to Alderweireld who appears to be better at reading the player, or is he? Looking at their tackling statistics for the season, Joachim has tackled 26 players compared to Toby’s 31, but has had 15 tackles where his team have taken possession compared to 13. This indicates that Toby’s ability to dispossess his opponent may be lower as is indicated by him winning 52.2% of his tacklers versus dribblers compared to 54.5%. The Belgian also has only completed 1 more pass than the Dane in his defensive third with 5 more in the midfield third showing Andersen’s percentage is focused in a higher risk area of the pitch.

At 24 years old I feel Joachim Andersen would be a great addition to the Spurs side with his only being 12 days older than Davidson Sanchez and trusted as the on-field captain by his manager, Scott Parker, who knows a thing or two about being a club captain from his time at West Ham, despite only being on loan at the club. Tottenham will be looking to the market in the summer and Andersen looks like he could be a great centre half partner for the Columbian over the next 6 or 7 years similarly to how Alderweireld and Vertonghen were during Spurs’ better seasons over the past few years. Also, is Daniel Levy decides Jose isn’t for him, maybe they could go down the route of bringing in a former player in Scott Parker who has proven he knows how to get a team organised and playing well in a difficult situation.

Statistics sourced from fbref.com