The Evolution of AVB's midfield

Evening all. Hope you're enjoying the new look Hotspur Way blog. Fits in perfectly with the new look Tottenham we're seeing. Anyway, onto more pressing matters. I've taken the time to mull over our new playing style and, in particular, the change in our central midfielders. Enjoy.

Our win over Swansea yesterday demonstrated a subtle shift in terms of the effectiveness of our midfield. A central trio of Capoue, Paulinho and Dembele (as well as late substitute Sandro) all have one mutual ability in their ranks; they all possess remarkable physical strength. Let's not forget last season was AVB's first in charge, and therefore we can assess this side as, finally, his own.



Yesterday's midfield.

Etienne Capoue was arguably the most effective of our midfield trio. Sitting the deepest of our three midfielders, one might have been forgiven for thinking Capoue was nothing but a bruiser. However, he actually completed a remarkable amount of passes (mostly forward) which no doubt contributed towards the side's success. Take a look at the graphic below which demonstrates Capoue's technical prowess.

Impressive from the new boy.

Capoue was also incredibly strong in the tackle and made a nuisance of his physical presence by constantly jockeying Swansea's midfielders. The sheer size of the player earned him the nickname "Tank" in his native France, a tag you could hardly deny him of based on this showing. 



Comparisons have been drawn with Patrick Vieira. High praise indeed.

It is no secret that Mousa Dembele is a bit of a beast. His gracious dribbling style often overshadows the fact that opposition players can rarely ever knock Dembele off of the ball. This strength offers so much to the team as a whole, particularly in away games; Manchester United was a stand-out example of what overpowering an opposition midfield can do to a result. Dembele's power will again be a key feature of our season, and here's hoping he can add a few more goals like the one Lyon away. He's certainly capable.



Mousa Dembele: combining skill and power since 1987.

New boy Paulinho is another tough midfielder, albeit in a slightly different manner. His power is channeled essentially through his style of play as a box-to-box midfielder. The perfect example of this is when he broke powerfully through on goal only to be denied by the excellent Vorm. Such stamina will only prove an asset through the season. He also displayed incredible strength in possession, easing opponents out of the way.



Paulinho shoots. Expect to see a lot more of this.

The return of Paulinho's highly rated fellow countryman Sandro was also a massive bonus to this evolving midfield. His strength in tackling needs no real introduction, and only a serious knee injury prevented him from being a virtual ever-present in the 2012/13 season. As the season goes on I predict Sandro will yet again be a key player.



Thank God he's back.

An important point to consider is that Paulinho and Capoue have only been in the country for around a month. It would be a fair assessment to suggest that neither are completely up to the pace of the Premier League so far and therefore will only improve as the season goes on.

As previously mentioned, the real asset of having a plethora of strong central midfielders will be even more noticeable in tough away games. I predict that our visit to the Emirates this season will lead a wider range of journalists and fans to take note of the raw power our midfield now possesses. Victories do not necessarily appear more for a side with more technical prowess in the centre of the park; as much as I hate to use this comparison, look at Arsenal's invincibles. Vieira and Gilberto (Emmanuel Petit from previous seasons also falls into this category) were absolute beasts in the midfield, their physical strength adding to their side's success as a whole. Comparisons can also be drawn to Chelsea's double winning side of 2009/10. Michaels Essien and Ballack were both powerful midfielders that essentially bullied sides into submission. Of course it is early days but ideally our own powerful midfielders will enjoy some trophies of their own.



Apologies in advance if this reference is too obscure.

The only thing now missing from this midfield is a truly creative number 10 to play behind Soldado and add a level of craft to our tricky home encounters. Should we sign this player, along with any of the rumoured superstars AVB is after, then I predict great things for this side even without the mercurial Gareth Bale.

Oh, and one last thing... Drop @OneHotspurWay a follow on Twitter, please & thank you x x