Tom Huddlestone is set to spend a large amount of the season on the sidelines as Scott Parker, Moussa Dembele and Sandro all continue their rehabilitation processes on following a range of different injuries.
The Englishman has been used by Andre Villas-Boas as a holding midfielder in the past three games in place for the injured Dembele, who is set to return for the game against Arsenal on the 17th of November. However, there may still be concern for Tottenham fans as Huddlestone is likely to play against the Premier League Champions Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
In 253 minutes played for Spurs this season, Huddlestone has won every single tackle, albeit there have been only six of them. On the other hand, Dembele has made over 19 tackles in 399 minutes of play, successfully winning 16 of those tackles.
Not only this, but Huddlestone is much slower than Dembele, or even Sandro. The 25-year-old has won only 47% of his 7 ground duels, in contrast to Dembele winning 68% of his 39 attempted ground duals. This alone shows the defensive prowess of Mousa Demebele in comparison to Tom Huddlestone.
But what about a so-called ‘weaker’ defensive-midfielder such as Sandro?
Even though the Brazilian has played over 768 minutes, over three times the number of Huddlestone, Sandro has made over 80 ground duel tackles this season, over 5 times Huddestone’s figure of 15. Not only that, but Sandro has a ground dual win percentage of 61%, in contrast to Huddlestone’s below-par 47%.
So even though Huddlestone may not be strong defensively, surely his attacking qualities show his worth?
Well unfortunately for Huddlestone, his creativity is as mediocre as his tackling statistics. Even though he has a 100% success rate for his accurate dribbles, this is down to the fact he has only attempted one. This contrasts with Sandro’s 12 total dribbles attempted, with a 58% success rate, and Dembele’s 16 attempts with a 69% success rate.
Not only this, but Sandro has created over 11 chances for Tottenham this season, which compliments Dembele’s eight chances created in only four and a half games of football. Huddlestone, however, has only created four chances despite playing only 140 minutes fewer than the former Fulham player.
Despite his below-par statistics for his creativity and tackling, surely his passing must show a glimmer of hope for the injury-prone midfielder. Unfortunately for him, however, his passing statistics show his lacklustre attacking play as he constantly moves the ball around in the own half and does not help Tottenham press up the pitch.
Below is a table demonstrating the average pass success rate and also where Sandro, Dembele and Huddlestone pass the ball to.
| Passing Zone | Huddlestone | Dembele | Sandro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own-half | 95% | 89% | 93% |
| Attacking half | 71% | 87% | 81% |
| Average | 83% | 88% | 97% |
As a result, it is clear that Huddlestone is the weakest of the three midfielders, but with Scott Parker yet to return and begin his Premier League campaign, only time will tell to see if Huddlestone falls down the Tottenham pecking order and loses his first-team opportunity and game-time in a Spurs shirt.
All of the stats from this article have been taken from the Opta Stats Centre at EPLIndex.com – Subscribe Now (Includes author privileges!) Check out our new Top Stats feature on the Stats Centre which allows you to compare all players in the league & read about new additions to the stats centre.
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Categories: EPL Index Featured Article, EPL Index Player Profiles, Tottenham Hotspur
Tags: AVB, EPL, epl opta stats, EPL Stats, Mousa Dembele, Opta Stats, premier league, Premier League Stats, Sandro, Scott Parker, Spurs THFC Tottenham, Tom Huddlestone
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Naive representation of stats.
Firstly, I don’t know who has ever referred to Sandro as “weaker”. Realistically, the only people who have been aware of him for the most part are Spurs fans and proper experts. And, if you ask Tottenham fans, the term most used to describe Sandro would be “beast”.
Secondly, whilst the percentages of passes don’t lie, the majority of Sandro’s passes are probably of an average of a few yards, wide to Bale or Lennon to start an attack, or a one-two with a near-by midfielder or defender to keep the ball moving. You’d expect any football player to complete such close range passes to a high accuracy. Whilst I am in no way criticising Sandro, Huddlestone whilst not being as quick, and the physical side of his play not being perhaps part of his style despite his obvious size and strength advantage, his passing is far more broad: left foot, right foot, inside or outside of hjs foot, on the volley, half-volley etc. When you offer a much broader passing range, and have the ability to unlock a defence with a clever ball over the top, it’s likely that these wont connect to as high percentage as a simple floor pass a few yards.
Can’t always rely on stats to build a picture, because it just makes it seem like an agenda as opposed to reasoned calculations.
I’ve not mentioned Demebele, because, essentially, he is a mixture of Hudd and Sandro. Strength, hussle, and a broader footballing ability (again, no disrespect to Sandro intended in these comments).
Talk about having an AGENDA. Why not save your time and effort and just write an article that says “I don’t like Huddlestone”. By your logic, John Obi Mikel is a better player than Andrea Pirlo. Hudd’s been out for 17 months, maybe you don’t remember him being almost an ever present in the team that finished 4th, then captaining the team in the CL vs inter etc.. not sure how his stats looked then! Anyway, I’m off to write an article on how Leon Britton is better than Xavi.
Lol – “Anyway, I’m off to write an article on how Leon Britton is better than Xavi”.
Classic response!
Sandro refered to as weaker? lol
The ‘ marks show that I don’t think he is weaker literally, but his position in the starting line-up in comparison to Parker or Dembele is more under threat, therefore his impression and importance to the first team is seen as ‘weaker’.
I completely agree that Sandro is an absolute beast. You saw it on Sunday when he over-powered Yaya Toure. It doesn’t mean physically weaker but his position in the first team.
But the point you’re making compared to the stats you’re using is uneven.
It’s like suggesting, who is more important for England, Terry or Rooney? And then using their goalscoring as the barometer.
It’s never as black and white as, pick a stat, and give a title. Anything can be proven with stats.