We are currently a couple of months into the 2016/2017 season, we’ve had multiple games in each competition so far and with Spurs making 4 big signings during the summer, every player has had a chance to show their worth.
Today, I’ve taken a look at why Victor Wanyama has easily been the pick of the bunch.
The Kenyan powerhouse was signed by Poch and co from former club Southampton in the summer for a relatively cheap fee, believed to be around £11m.
Spurs desperately needed a midfield anchor after Dembele got suspended towards the end of last season, so this was a shrewd move to replace the mistake-prone and later Hull City-bound, Ryan Mason.
Out of all the players signed, Janssen, N’Koudou, Sissoko and Wanyama, the former Saints man has been a revelation, displacing, even if only temporarily, Eric Dier from the Spurs starting line-up.
He has completed 90 minutes in all but 1 of his 9 Premier League starts so far, even scoring the late winner on his home debut against Crystal Palace.
Pochettino was quoted in The Sun last week saying “Maybe last season there was only him, this season we want to improve our squad. It’s not a problem. Now the players need to feel the competition.”
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Wanyama’s stats this season make for interested reading and compare to a similar type of player who was instrumental in Leicester’s Premier League title run.
N’Golo Kante and Victor Wanyama’s stats make for almost identical reading, when it comes to an aerial duel, forget about it. The Kenyan’s stats show he has won all 18 of the aerial duels attempted, more tackles won.
Whilst the margin between the two men is finite, Kante just about edges him out for successful take-ons, minutes played and interceptions won, which makes a lot of sense giving Kante’s diminutive speed and outrageously good ball-hawking skills.
It’s a fear now that with Dembele’s return from suspension and injury respectively that the Belgian and the Kenyan could make one hell of a defensive midfield, leaving Dier on the outside looking in a bit.
Although, that said, for Spurs fans everywhere, beefing up that midfield would sure be great when we go to visit Arsenal in a couple of weeks.
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