Should Tottenham fork out £45m for 10 assist Premier League left back? – Opinion

Tottenham Hotspur have been looking to bring in Fulham fullback Antonee Robinson at Hotspur Way in the ongoing summer transfer window as incoming head coach Thomas Frank looks to add depth in the left-back position at N17. We have seen how Destiny Udogie has been suffering from consistent injury problems, and that has often left the Lilywhites scrambling for cover in the role, and this was one of the problems that Ange Postecoglou had to address time and again in the previous campaigns.

And signing another reliable left-back could be one of those things that the North Londoners could certainly do with, and the 27-year-old American fullback has been among links with a move to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium of late. And given his performances in the past season, he is possibly one of the best full-backs in the English top tier, and that also translates into numbers given that he boasted 10 assists in the Premier League last season, showing that he could be a useful option going forward for the Dane coach at Spurs.

If I am to describe Robinson in what I have seen of him over the years, he is someone who has that dynamism and energy on the flank, and his expertise lies in carrying the ball forward and providing those overlapping runs to give width and attacking threat, and whilst doing all of it, he has that recovery speed which makes him capable of contributing on both sides of the game (offensive and defensive).

How can Antonee Robinson fit at Tottenham under Thomas Frank?

If we peep into his time at Gtech Community Stadium, Thomas Frank played in a structural framework, but then he had these extensively high hybrid systems that were flexible to adapt, and this is where we saw the Bees often shifting between 3-5-2, 4-3-3, and 3-4-3. And in all of those systems, using the wing-backs was crucial, especially in transitional phases of the game and then defending into his renowned mid-blocks.

So if we are speaking about it in a 3-5-2 / 3-4-3 system, then Robinson would most likely need to be placed into the left wing-back role, and I think he would thrive on that left channel where he can display his stamina, speed, and verticality, and then you use his ability to stretch the pitch and recover defensively, which ends up making him ideal for transition-heavy games (something that Thomas Frank generally opted into doing against big teams whilst at Brentford).

And this, in a way, will also relieve Destiny Udogie of those overburdening minutes, which have been taking a toll on him.

And then if we are talking about a flat back four, then Robinson would slot in as a more traditional overlapping left-back, but the American may face limitations in positional discipline and tight space decision-making given how he likes to push forward. He will need a midfielder to cover the left defensive spaces in this system.

Strengths

He is someone who has that pace and engine to run up and down the left channel week in, week out. And then he uses this rapidness, given how he angles himself for defensive recoveries, which we have seen him do. The 27-year-old has this volume of carries, especially when he is going into that final third zone, which helps the North Londoners in vertical transitions.

Weaknesses

At times he puts in crosses for the sake of it, and that erratic approach could turn the supporters frustrated at Tottenham Hotspur stadium. And generally he is also not as composed as you expect him to be on the defensive side of things.

The pricing point is the talk with Antonee Robinson to Tottenham transfer news

The reports claim that the North Londoners would need to fork out £45 million for his signature given his integral role in the roster for Marco Silva’s side. And given that Tottenham have the Champions League returning at N17, Daniel Levy would be looking to bag it and trying to give Frank a roster that he can take the long way.

The Lilywhites do have Pedro Porro in the right fullback role, and then complementing him with someone like Robinson could sort out both fullback slots for the foreseeable future.

But the thing is Levy is building a young team, and then signing someone for that marquee fee who would not give you a qualitative output for the better part of the decade is something that would stand against the transfer strategy that the club has adapted of late.

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Author Opinion

If Daniel Levy can get Fulham to agree on a fee of around £30m, then I think Antonee Robinson would be worth a serious consideration for Tottenham given how his attributes would end up proving invaluable on big European nights. But at the quoted fee, it doesn’t make sense, especially given how the club needs to put money into other positions in the roster.