Tottenham Hotspur have assembled a brand new backline this season underneath Roberto De Zerbi, nevertheless it’s been the identical previous issues afflicting the Lilywhites.
The north London facet have already shipped eight objectives in simply 5 Premier League video games to this point, having additionally conceded three away at Anfield within the Carabao Cup.
It isn’t been a easy begin to the marketing campaign in that division, with a possible harm to Jan Paul van Hecke solely set to intensify the deal with the pool of defenders who Spurs have let go of late.
Why did Van Hecke withdraw from the Netherlands squad?
The worldwide break, and the halt to membership motion, is commonly a dreaded interval for supporters, however so too for managers.
De Zerbi and co will likely be sat nervously, counting down the times till their key males return, crossing their fingers within the hope of avoiding any severe harm setbacks.
It isn’t but identified fairly how severe this problem is, but the information of Van Hecke’s withdrawal from the Netherlands squad can have supplied an undesirable headache for the Italian coach.
The 26-year-old sustained a foot harm within the Nations League conflict with Serbia, and regardless of taking part in the total 90 minutes in that 2-1 win for Holland, he was subsequently unable to characteristic in coaching.
Dutch head coach, Xavi Hernandez, confirmed that the centre-back was in an excessive amount of ache to proceed in his facet’s gentle restoration, having since pulled out of the squad altogether to return to north London.
It is a scenario De Zerbi may properly have accomplished with out, and one that may convey the exit of the likes of Luka Vuskovic into even sharper focus.
Why Spurs had been mistaken to commerce Vuskovic for Van Hecke
With Cristian Romero’s departure lengthy within the pipeline, it appeared that Spurs already had a chief alternative within the constructing, having snapped up Vuskovic as early as 2023.
The Croatian had formally arrived in the summertime of 2025, earlier than signing for Hamburg on mortgage, subsequently having fun with a stellar Bundesliga season by which he scored six occasions from centre-back.
At simply 19, the 6 foot 4 sensation seems to have every thing in place to be one of many recreation’s main figures in his place throughout the subsequent decade or so, having courted curiosity from a raft of elite golf equipment over the summer time.
Having not been promised common recreation time underneath De Zerbi, Vuskovic in the end determined to fly the nest to hitch Brighton for a price pushing £50m, with Van Hecke heading in the other way on a £52m deal.
It is early days, but that call already seems like a weird one, {the teenager} a part of a Seagulls facet that at present sits within the high 4, having additionally turfed Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup.
|
Van Hecke vs Vuskovic – 26/27 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Van Hecke |
Stat (*per recreation) |
Vuskovic |
|
5 |
Video games |
5 |
|
1 |
Objectives |
1 |
|
0 |
Assists |
0 |
|
94% |
Move accuracy* |
91% |
|
6.4 |
Ball misplaced* |
8.4 |
|
52% |
Whole duels gained* |
57% |
|
46% |
Aerial duels gained* |
59% |
|
0.6 |
Dribbled previous* |
0.4 |
|
2 |
Clear sheets |
2 |
Van Hecke, in the meantime, was a part of the Spurs facet that wilted in opposition to Brentford, whereas he was notably hapless up in opposition to Nicolas Jackson final day trip, an outing that may actually not quiet the speak round Vuskovic.
No less than Spurs did rake in a sizeable price for the Croatian, with that not true of everybody.
Why Spurs bought Van Dijk-esque centre-back
The backline, as already famous, has undergone exceptional change of late at N17, De Zerbi having introduced in Van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Tosin Adarabioyo at centre-back alone.
Out went Romero, Vuskovic and Kevin Danso, the latter becoming a member of Sunderland on mortgage for the season, whereas Radu Dragusin was additionally shipped off to Fiorentina on an preliminary momentary foundation.
Loads of departures, then, though one which maybe went underneath the radar was the sale of 21-year-old expertise, Ashley Phillips, the previous Blackburn Rovers starlet becoming a member of Middlesbrough on an preliminary £7m deal.
Linking up with fellow ex-Spurs man, Will Lankshear, Phillips has began three of Boro’s final 4 Championship video games, having entered the fray at half-time within the 4-3 thriller in opposition to Norwich Metropolis.
Once more, it’s early days for the teenager, however he has made an impression already, scoring as soon as throughout his 5 whole outings, whereas profitable 73% of his whole duels and 76% of his aerial duels. Van Hecke, against this, has averaged simply 52% and 46% for those self same two metrics, respectively, albeit whereas working at a stage above.
Throughout the entire of final season too, whereas on mortgage at Stoke Metropolis for the second time, Phillips performed 40 video games within the second tier, boasting a 62% and 67% common throughout these two metrics.
Standing at 6 foot 5, it is easy to see why expertise scout Jacek Kulig has even likened him to Virgil van Dijk within the current previous, whereas author and Stoke fan Neil James even famous final season that he’d been in “full Van Dijk-mode” in a conflict with Wrexham.
At a time when Spurs proceed to ship objectives for enjoyable, it does beg the query as to why the membership did not hand Phillips a path to recreation time at first-team stage, not least after a fruitful spell within the Championship.
Having arrived from Blackburn in 2023, like Vuskovic he by no means truly made a aggressive senior look for the Lilywhites, spending a lot of his day trip on mortgage as an alternative.
No matter whether or not Van Hecke’s harm is severe or not, the choice to promote Phillips on a budget will proceed to chunk if De Zerbi’s defensive woes proceed.
