Tottenham: Kevin Wimmer Unhappy with Lack of Playing Time
Kevin Wimmer signed a long-term deal with Tottenham but his second season with Spurs hasn’t gone as he would have hoped after impressing last term.
After a solid debut season with Tottenham last year, most notably by filling in for an injured Jan Vertonghen in 10 Premier League games, Kevin Wimmer looked primed to get more playing time this term.
Instead, injuries to begin Spurs’ pre-season following a contract extension and Cameron Carter-Vickers impressing against Juventus, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan saw the 18-year-old academy graduate become Mauricio Pochettino’s third-choice center-back immediately.
Expectations for Wimmer were going to be a bit high since the Austrian international played very well alongside Toby Alderweireld from late January through the first week of April.
It wouldn’t have been unexpected to see Wimmer supersede Vertonghen as Spurs’ starting left center-back to begin this season. But after the first two months of the 2016-17 campaign, this seems unlikely to happen now.
It’s understandable to want more playing time than Mauricio Pochettino has offered the 23-year-old, which was one game wherein Kevin Wimmer started against Gillingham in the League Cup’s third round with Cameron Carter-Vickers.
But despite few opportunities to start games, the former Köln defender knows that his time will come if he’s patient enough.
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“After last season, where I played towards the end quite frequently, I’m already down on other expectations for this season,” he told Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung (via Evening Standard).
“That [my injury] has taken me back a bit. It is difficult at the moment but I am patiently waiting for my chance. I try to always stay positive.”
“The feedback from the club is always that they are very happy; that they see the future with me. This is very positive, but it is about the here and now.”
Indeed, as mentioned above, Kevin Wimmer and Tottenham agreed on a contract extension, but not getting any playing time right now is a tough pill to swallow after doing well at the end of last season.
That being said, with Spurs having a difficult schedule ahead of them when the international break is over with six games in 23 days, Wimmer will be keen on starting a couple of midweek fixtures.
Though he’ll be keeping his expectations low as to not be overly disappointed if he isn’t picked ahead of the other center-backs who are above him on the depth chart.
“We will see what happens in the next few weeks; how much I start. We have a few midweek matches,” Kevin Wimmer added.
It’s unfortunate that the 23-year-old Austrian international hasn’t gotten much playing time, but at the same time trying to crack the starting lineup was always going to be difficult.
Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs came into this season looking for more depth as opposed to starters and that’s what they did this past summer.
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Kevin Wimmer won’t be sold just because Cameron Carter-Vickers is ahead of him on Mauricio Pochettino’s depth chart. But hypothetically speaking, if the Austrian defender does leave this winter or next summer Tottenham would lose their fourth-choice center-back.
Again, selling Wimmer is unlikely to happen and he won’t leave after knowing that Spurs see him as a future player. But Wimmer knows that a lack of playing time will ultimately determine whether he stays or not.