Spurs have found their very own Odegaard in £63m “magician”

Tottenham Hotspur would possibly simply be essentially the most inconsistent workforce within the Premier League.

Within the final month or so, Ange Postecoglou’s aspect have handed Crystal Palace and Ipswich City their first wins of the season whereas then demolishing Aston Villa 4-1 and, most impressively, embarrassing Manchester Metropolis 4-0 on the Etihad.

Followers might be hoping that the surprising end result towards Pep Guardiola’s juggernaut will see the North Londoners embark on a run of fine type, and primarily based on the performances of their gamers in that recreation, we would not be shocked if that occurs.

From prime to backside, Postecoglou’s beginning lineup reminded the remainder of the league simply how good they’re, and there is one participant within the Australian’s squad who’s starting to seem like Tottenham’s reply to Martin Odegaard.

Spurs’ artistic midfield expertise

Earlier than we get onto the participant in query, let’s study a couple of of the opposite artistic midfielders exceeding expectations for Spurs this season, beginning with somebody who loves enjoying on the Etihad, Dejan Kulusevski.

Now, the Swedish maestro did begin off the fitting of Dominic Solanke for the sport on Sunday however has primarily performed in midfield this season, and to say he is tailored to life in the midst of the park nicely can be a colossal understatement.

Of his eight aim involvements this season, six of them have come in central or attacking midfield roles, and according to FBref, which compares gamers in Europe’s prime 5 leagues, the previous Juventus ace sits within the prime 1% of midfielders for anticipated assists, touches within the opposition’s penalty space and the highest 4% for shot-creating actions, per 90.

One other of the membership’s midfield gems who hasn’t been fairly as spectacular as Kulusevski however has nonetheless proven glimpses of promise is fellow Swede Lucas Bergvall.

The 18-year-old has solely played 325 minutes of first-team motion up to now, however in that, the “uber-complete” expertise, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, has offered two assists and proven greater than sufficient for followers to get enthusiastic about simply how good he’ll be a couple of years down the road.

That stated, neither he nor his older compatriot are trying just like the membership’s reply to Odegaard. That accolade goes to a different artistic midfielder.

Spurs’ personal Odegaard

So, it is most likely pretty apparent at this level that the Spurs ace who’s Ange’s personal Odegaard is, in fact, James Maddison, whom FOTmob now value at €75m, which is £63m.

The Englishman was as soon as closely in comparison with the Norwegian in 2021 when it looked as if Arsenal have been attempting to determine which one to signal, and whereas issues have not been all plain crusing for the previous Foxes star in North London, he is beginning to present that he might be simply pretty much as good.

For instance, like the previous Actual Madrid wonderkid, he is simply as adept at scoring objectives as he’s creating them, as evidenced by his Lilywhites tally of nine goals and 13 assists in 46 appearances, in comparison with 11 goals and 14 assists in 55 appearances for the Norwegian in the identical interval.

Furthermore, whereas the Drammen-born dynamo is the Gunners’ captain, Postecoglou made the 27-year-old “magician,” as dubbed by analyst Statman Dave, one of many membership’s co-vice-captains last summer, which is about essentially the most he may do with Son Heung-min nonetheless within the aspect.

Moreover, Maddison’s management qualities have been on present within the match towards Metropolis, as he maintained his composure, scored two objectives and continued to steer by instance as the sport progressed.

Lastly, once we take a look at their underlying artistic numbers from the whole lot of final season, because the Arsenal man has missed a lot of this season, we see that, as soon as once more, the pair are extremely comparable.

For instance, according to FBref, they rank very intently in a number of essential metrics, together with non-penalty objectives plus assists, progressive passes and carries, key and stay passes, shot and goal-creating actions and passing accuracy, all per 90.

Maddison vs Odegaard 23/24
Statistics per 90	Maddison	Odegaard
Non-Penalty Targets + Assists	0.47	0.55
Progressive Carries	2.65	2.45
Progressive Passes	10.0	9.45
Passing Accuracy	84.3%	80.7%
Key Passes	2.97	2.83
Reside Passes	55.0	55.8
Shot-Creating Actions	6.41	6.79
Purpose-Creating Actions	0.67	0.80
All Stats by way of FBref for the 23/24 PL Season

In the end, whereas there are occasions Maddison fades out of video games, his unreal innate expertise is plain, and as he continues to enhance this season, it should turn into extra obvious that he’s Postecoglou and Spurs’ reply to Odegaard.