Spurs’ Yedlin Improving on Loan with Sunderland
Spurs’ loanee, DeAndre Yedlin, has seen his defense and overall game improve after joining Sunderland on a season-long loan. And the American right-back has praised Black Cats’ manager, Sam Allyardyce, for his help this year.
The outlook for DeAndre Yedlin, with regards to cracking into Spurs’ 25-man squad for next season, doesn’t look good. Even when factoring in his improvement during his season-long loan spell with Sunderland, it might not be enough. And it’s because Kyle Walker has greatly improved this term compared to years past, while Kieran Trippier who signed last summer is just as good as Walker.
Then there’s Kyle Walker-Peters, an 18-year-old academy product who is highly-rated by Mauricio Pochettino and recently got promoted to the first-team. This gives Spurs four right-backs and plenty of options. Whether Yedlin is given a chance still remains to be seen but his season with Sunderland can only help him for next year.
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After signing in January 2015 from MLS side, Seattle Sounders, and getting his first taste of Premier League football on April 11, 2015 in a 1-0 loss against Aston Villa, the U.S. international would be sent out on a season-long loan just before the summer transfer window closed this past August.
With Kieran Trippier coming in and Yedlin going out, it gave the 22-year-old valuable first-team football that he wouldn’t be able to get while Kyle Walker continued to get a majority of the starts this year with Trippier filling in here and there.
It’s too early to cut ties with the American right-back but it will interesting to see how Mauricio Pochettino will handle a position that will essentially have three good defenders who can all attack defenses when they push up the pitch.
While on international duty, U.S. men’s national team coach, Jürgen Klinsmann, typically plays DeAndre Yedlin as a right winger, but playing as a defender has always been his calling since he first started playing football. For Spurs and especially with Sunderland, the right-back position is the only one that he continues to make starts.
Yedlin has gone on to make 18 appearances in all competitions, with 14 league starts for the Black Cats this season. A good amount after his loan spell started off very slowly with not much playing time given to him.
“It’s something that I wanted to work on, especially coming into the Premier League,” Yedlin told The Sunderland Echo. “I felt that was the area of my game that needed the most improvement and the gaffer has really helped me with that, as have the players alongside me.”
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“He’s [Sam Allardyce] just made me more aware positionally. Positional awareness comes with experience, so getting game time helps, but we also work a lot in training as a back line and also on defensive shape.”
“Before, sometimes if the ball was played over my head I wouldn’t know where I was. Like against Arsenal [December’s 3-1 defeat] when [Joel] Campbell got in behind me, but now I feel a lot more comfortable.”
“Before, sometimes I would be going forward when it really wasn’t the right time to go too. Now I’m picking my times better, and that’s helping me defensively.”
It’s just a matter of time before DeAndre Yedlin can become a complete player in the same form as Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker; both from an offensive and defensive standpoint. And while there’s still a ways to go before that can actually happen, there’s no reason why Yedlin can’t get better with Sunderland.
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Once this season ends and DeAndre Yedlin returns from his loan, the depth chart at the right-back position will remain unchanged with Kyle Walker the starter, Kieran Trippier the backup and Yedlin the third-choice option.
However, it’s entirely possible that the U.S. international could get a run out in the League Cup (plus the FA Cup) while Walker and Trippier alternates in the Premier League as Mauricio Pochettino will have to select his strongest lineup against Champions League opponents next season.
Should the 22-year-old defender get sold, which is highly unlikely but it wouldn’t be surprising if it happens, it’s good to know that Kieran Trippier has stepped up this season when called upon. Not to mention that Kyle Walker-Peters is waiting in the wings. So there isn’t a loss at this position in the grand scheme of things.
It would just be a waste of time and effort to sign DeAndre Yedlin and fail to use him after a brief substitution appearance.