As is to be expected by now, this season has been another one full of ups and downs for Tottenham Hotspur.
Ange Postecoglou’s side looked like one primed for a crisis following their loss to Ipswich Town earlier this month but then quashed any such talk with an emphatic 4-0 win away to Manchester City on Sunday.
Based on their last performance, the Lilywhites are a side that not many teams would want to play at the moment, and they should be taking that confidence into their Europa League clash with Roma tonight.
That said, the Italian giants should not be underestimated as they have some serious talents of their own, including the incredibly exciting Paulo Dybala, but Ange might already have his own version of the Argentine in his squad that must start.
Dybala's links to Spurs
As many Spurs fans will be well aware, Roma’s Dybala is a player who has been touted for a move to N17 on several occasions over the years, starting back in 2019.
One of the biggest transfer sagas that summer was the Argentine’s supposed move to the Lilywhites, and according to a report from Sky Sports News, the North Londoners had actually agreed on a £64.4m fee with Juventus.
However, just a day later, once the fans were excited about the supremely gifted star’s potential arrival, the Serie A side stopped the transfer over an inability to get an adequate replacement.
Then, a few years later, when the former Palermo ace was finally set to leave the Old Lady, Tottenham were once again said to be interested in signing him, only for Roma, who were managed by former Spurs boss José Mourinho at the time, to swoop in and secure the talented attacker’s signature themselves.
Now the Laguna Larga-born star is 31 years old and settled in Rome; it seems like the Lilywhites will never get their man, although there’s a dynamic attacker in Postecoglou’s squad who could be their answer to him.
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Spurs' own Dybala
Okay, so there are a few candidates for this tag in the current Spurs squad, from Dejan Kulusevski to possibly even Lucas Bergvall, should he continue to develop in the way he is.
However, the player we are talking about is James Maddison, and there are two reasons for this.
The first is that, like the Roma ace, the Englishman is adept at scoring goals and setting up his teammates with exquisite passes.
For example, in his 46 appearances for Spurs thus far, the “incredible” attacker, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored nine goals and provided 13 assists, equating to a goal involvement every 2.09 games.
Likewise, during his time with the capital club, the former Juve ace has scored 36 goals and provided 18 assists in 90 appearances, which equates to a goal involvement on average every 1.66 games.
Appearances
90
46
Goals
36
9
Assists
18
13
Goal Involvements per Match
0.60
0.47
The second similarity is where the pair plays.
When we look at the former Leicester City star’s heatmap, we see that he spends most of his time on the left-hand side, between the halfway line and the penalty area.
Interestingly, the five-time Serie A winner occupies the same space, just on the right-hand side, showing that the pair are about as attacking as a midfielder can get without occupying the same areas as their strikers do.
Lastly, while it’s not possible to quantify, both players are sensationally entertaining to watch, and while they may make a mistake here and there, you know that they will also try and make something happen at some point.
Ultimately, we’ll never know just how good Spurs could have been with Dybala in the team, but they have someone similar in Maddison.
Therefore, Postecoglou must make sure he starts the game tonight.
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