Is this Belgium international the key man for Pochettino’s Spurs?

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There is nothing textbook about this Spurs season. For a start, there have been shows of character, a steely backbone to the team, and a captain chosen who is (injury permitting) guaranteed a start every week. There’s been a shedding of the ‘Spursy’ skin, and at the heart of it all is our centre-back, signed from Atlético Madrid over the summer, Toby Alderweireld.

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An air of calmness that surrounds the man. On the field, he personifies the new Spurs, a well-drilled machine capable of the odd moment of magic, whether that’s a 40-yard through ball that Andrea Pirlo would be proud of, or a well-struck volley into the back of Ospina’s net as seen in the North London derby. It’s very much been a case of right man, right place, right time for the Belgian this season, with memorable goals against Manchester City and West Ham to add to the goal that sparked a comeback of sorts against our biggest rivals. This calmness is infectious; it’s spread along the Spurs back four and all of a sudden we find ourselves with the best goal difference in the league. Toby has consistently been the North Londoner’s best performer this season. He’s yet to have a bad game since Stoke came to White Hart Lane in mid-August, and he’s a large part of the best defence in the league.

However, what’s even better about him is that he is a top quality defender with experience at the top level of the game. He and Jan Vertonghen form half of the best defence in international football if world rankings are anything to go by, he’s won La Liga, reached and featured in the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid, as well as winning the Eredivisie with Ajax on three separate occasions. He’s snuck under the radar, and at a time when Manchester City are spending a staggering six times his transfer fee on a centre back pairing of Eliaquim Mangala and Nicholas Otamendi, the recruitment staff must be given great credit. Our centre-back pairing has cost us around £20 million, while if you include the core of the Spurs team – Lloris, Dier, Alli, Kane – the sum is around £45 million. What a return we have got for that money.

Sunday 14th February, the Etihad Stadium. The game turned out to be a real testament to our side’s defensive abilities; City only managed 4 shots on target in the entire game. In recent seasons, we’d have been lucky to concede four goals, let alone four shots that required saving. As it was, Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer did a real job on Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling and David Silva – £135 million pounds worth of international footballers. What’s so fantastic about Alderweireld is not just that he fits in alongside just about anybody, but that he himself is a defender of immense quality. He averages 0.3 fouls per game – having committed 9 in 30 league games. Comparatively, Kompany – during City’s best season where they won the league with ease in 2013/14 – averaged 1.1 fouls per game over 28 league games. For Alderweireld to be so successful by committing so few fouls is not only miraculous, it’s ridiculous. It’s brilliant.

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Naturally, he is not solely responsible for changing us from one of the worst defences in the league to the best. The vast improvements of Danny Rose; whose long term future at the club was doubted by just about everyone the season before last, and Kyle Walker; who has become a solid defender and a good attacking outlet, albeit in the Aaron Lennon mould in that he occasionally lacks a final ball. The centre-back partnership; whether that’s alongside Vertonghen or Wimmer, has improved from last season, where either Younes Kaboul or Federico Fazio partnered Vertonghen in central defence. As a unit, he’s given Spurs a backbone which has been lacking in recent seasons, but the backbone doesn’t make a person the same way one good centre-half doesn’t make a title winning team. Is it genuinely realistic to assume that if Vincent Kompany had been fit, City would be five, ten, fifteen points clear of Leicester?

The only concern with Spurs’ top quality Belgian is that he has played so frequently, and there is also a lack of experienced cover for him. However, he doesn’t have a history of injuries, nor have his performances tailed off in recent weeks. He’s a fantastic football player above all, and the type of character we haven’t had since the departure of our last King – Ledley, that is. If Toby’s backbone is mixed with Alli’s flair, Lloris’ leadership, Kane’s goalscoring and Pochettino’s mindset, then absolutely anything is possible.

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