Spurs’ new defensive signing will be tasked with helping to improve a poor goals against record next season.
New Tottenham signing Kevin Wimmer may well be in for a shock when he arrives at Spurs for pre-season training, as despite signing for the fifth best club in the Premier League, he will be lining up in a defence that was the fifth leakiest, with it necessary to go all the way down to 14th in the division to find a club with a more porous defence.
Luckily for Spurs, Wimmer was a vital ingredient of Koln’s back four in the Bundesliga, the fifth best in that division.
Considering that he is reasonably quick for a central defender, the Austrian international may well be a better bet to feature in Mauricio Pochettino’s high line defensive system, something that has caught out multiple centre defenders of the London club this season just gone.
Below we take a look at how Wimmer compared to the defenders the Argentine selected throughout his debut season at White Hart Lane:
| Position | Team | Defensive Errors | Blocks | Yellow Cards | Clearances | Accurate Passes per Game | Tackles Lost per Game | Goals Conceded | Appearances | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Dier | DF | Tottenham | 4 | 11 | 4 | 139 | 33.71 | 1.18 | 37 | 28 |
| Kevin Wimmer | DF | Cologne | 0 | 31 | 4 | 210 | 35.03 | 0.75 | 38 | 32 |
| Vlad Chiriches | DF | Tottenham | 1 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 32.2 | 1.8 | 10 | 10 |
| Federico Fazio | DF | Tottenham | 4 | 27 | 2 | 173 | 34.65 | 1.3 | 25 | 20 |
| Jan Vertonghen | DF | Tottenham | 1 | 21 | 6 | 239 | 35.75 | 1.06 | 44 | 32 |
A quick look at the stats Wimmer posted last season shows that he has something to bring Tottenham that they were dearly lacking last year, a tendency to avoid defensive errors that lead to goal attempts.
Mistakes in midfield and defence were a feature of Spurs’ defensive vulnerability last season, and if Wimmer can make sure he doesn’t make unnecessary errors, as he has in the season just gone, he will already be a significant improvement on whoever he replaces, with each of the four Tottenham men making at least one mistake.
Wimmer is also a capable blocker of shots, again, a good thing to have in your locker if the defence is one of the side’s weaknesses, while a tendency to lose few of the tackles that he attempts also puts him on top in this category.
With the same number of appearances as Jan Vertonghen this season (32), Wimmer also posts decent stats when it comes to accumulating yellow cards, clearing the ball, and accurate passes, indicating that he should be a valuable addition to the Tottenham cause.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
