Tottenham: Could David Moyes Help Yedlin on Loan?
The Tottenham right-back still has an uphill battle to climb in order to crack into Mauricio Pochettino’s 25-man squad this season.
DeAndre Yedlin has been selected on Mauricio Pochettino’s 24-man squad that will travel to Australia for two high-profile pre-season matches against Juventus and Atlético Madrid.
It’s a chance for the 23-year-old to show what he has learned from Sam Allardyce (the former Sunderland boss) following a slow start under Dick Advocaat’s tenure.
When “Big Sam” took over on October 9th as the Black Cats’ new coach, Yedlin would go on to make 23 appearances in all competitions under the 61-year-old’s watch. A span from February 2nd to the end of the season, Yedlin appeared in 14 straight Premier League games, starting 13 of them.
Though Yedlin’s year-long loan spell didn’t look promising under Advocaat, it got a bit better under Allardyce. But now that David Moyes has taken over as Sunderland manager, with Allardyce the new coach for the England national team, can the Scottish boss help DeAndre Yedlin further his game if he returns to Wearside on another loan?
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After the International Champions Cup, and an August 6th friendly in Norway against Inter Milan, the U.S. international will become the third-choice right-back once again in Tottenham’s current set-up.
With Kyle Walker being the starter and Kieran Trippier the backup, there’s no spot for Spurs to carry a third right-back, especially one that is still learning how to play the game properly from a defensive-first mindset, rather than an attacking point of view.
The possibility of Yedlin playing as a winger would be fine, except the arrival of Georges-Kévin N’Koudou (if it happens) will complicate things regardless. In the end, Yedlin has played his entire career as a defender and upon joining Tottenham, Pochettino kept him as a right-back and not transition into a right winger.
A year spent learning the trades of a right-back under Allardyce, showed quite well in this summer’s Copa América. Some kinks need to be ironed out because DeAndre Yedlin is still learning, but with David Moyes teaching, there’s a chance that in another year, Yedlin could make the grade in Tottenham’s set-up.
Everton’s Leighton Baines became one of the Premier League’s best left-backs after he joined the Toffees from Wigan Athletic back in 2007 while being coached by Moyes. And right now, there’s no way Yedlin will reach that sort of status, in terms of being one of the best in his current position, but there’s no reason why he can’t at least be good enough to challenge Trippier as Walker’s backup, should he join Sunderland for another season-long loan.
One of the things that Yedlin praised Sam Allardyce for, was his teaching methods. The English coach was very hands-on with the American defender and how to read the game, where to be at positionally on defense, and then how to attack the opposition.
It helped that Allardyce played as a center-back too in his playing days.
Now that Moyes is the new manager for Sunderland, although the Scotsman didn’t do well with Manchester United, it’s his Everton days, where he had a lot of success. And it’s his 11-year tenure with The People’s Club, where he could draw his inspiration from again.
With Yedlin transitioning to a defender-first and attacker-second, when it comes to going on the offense the 23-year-old right-back excels in pushing up the pitch and taking on his defender in a one-on-one situation.
The pace of the U.S. international is second to none and generally he can just outrun his opponents to the endline before sending in a cross into the penalty box.
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Because one of David Moyes’ tactical strengths is playing a wide game, DeAndre Yedlin could thrive.
During the 2012-13 season Everton had one of the best wide combinations in the Premiership that year, with Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar on the left side. Baines’ crossing was a huge part of this duo’s success that caused havoc for opposing defenses.
For Moyes, he liked the idea of creating overloads in wide areas: a two-versus-one or three-versus-one situation. For example, with Baines and Pienaar attacking from the left, Leon Osman coming from a central position would dart towards the middle often leaving defenders confused on where the attack might be coming from.
Most times, it would be a cross but the added presence of Osman meant Everton had a major advantage in these situations because players were reluctant to peel away and take-on an on-rushing Leon Osman.
David Moyes goes further into detail of this attacking style when his team had possession of the ball: “We like our attackers to retain width whilst ensuring team-mates still occupy space in the middle of the field,” Moyes told the Elite Soccer magazine in 2013 (via The Guardian).
Tottenham does this too with their wingers and full-backs overlapping one another. Though most times it’s typically the full-backs who do all the wide work. Still, because Yedlin loves to get forward when in possession, Moyes could take advantage of the American’s pace. That is, assuming Yedlin will be in Wearside this year.
For the time being, DeAndre Yedlin will have three friendlies at most, to make a statement and claim one of the spots available on Pochettino’s 25-man squad. But right now, it’s a long shot to see him stick around.
Yes, Tottenham will be competing in the Champions League, so depth is a must, but this is why Kieran Trippier was brought in last summer. In order for Yedlin to continue progressing, he needs playing time away from Spurs, and because he was open to returning to Sunderland — even though Sam Allardyce isn’t there — David Moyes wouldn’t be a bad manager to learn from.
After all, he is just as hands-on as Allardyce was, according to his former Everton academy coach and assistant, Alan Irvine. Being a former central defender as a player helps as well.
"“David is hands-on, very much a manager who likes to coach,” Irvine said (via BBC Sport).“The coaching staff will take various sessions through the week but, when it comes to the real crunch in terms of preparing the team for a game, then he will do those.”“By the time his players walk out for a match they will be in no doubt about exactly what is expected of each one of them. The instructions they have been given will be very precise and there will be no room for misinterpretation.”"
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It is now up to Sunderland and Tottenham to strike another year-long loan for the U.S. international. If nothing happens, then perhaps Mauricio Pochettino has plans to keep Yedlin on his team for this season because he needs depth throughout the squad.
Or, David Moyes doesn’t seeing anything in the American defender. Either way, what cannot happen, is selling the 23-year-old and giving up on him without ever actually seeing what Yedlin can do with Tottenham, as opposed to what he did on loan with a different club, manager and playing style.