After six signings in the regular transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur continued to rebuild Jose Mourinho’s squad and landed defender Joe Rodon from Swansea.
After a late in the calendar start to the transfer window and a lot of early activity from Tottenham Hotspur, the extended end of the FA transfer window was likely to be uneventful. However, besides a couple of loans Spurs continued to pursue cover for the backend and landed Welch target Joe Rodon from Swansea City.
Rodon follows in the footsteps of Ben Davies who came to Spurs from Swansea City a year before Rodon joined Swans. Rodon told the club website it was a “massive honour” to join Spurs “massive club”.
For Rodon, having completed his first two Caps for Wales earlier this week, he noted that “It’s been a great week and to finish it off in this way is a dream come true.” Certainly the kind of sentiment one wants to hear as a player joins your club. Beyond the excitement of joining Tottenham, as well as Wales international stars Davies and Gareth Bale, Joe noted his excitement to play for Jose Mourinho, calling him “one of the biggest managers in world” which may be an understatement given Mourinho’s stardom.
At a soon to be 23-years of age – like next week soon – Rodon does not even make the first hurdle to qualify for the B List in Europa League. And while he would not count as homegrown given his age and time with Spurs in Europe, since he is from a Welch club in the FA, he does count as a homegrown player for Spurs and is part of their Premier League squad. As for Europe, let us see if we reach the knockouts first and we can go from there.
So Rodon is excited about the club, about his mates, and is eligible to play. So now the question is what does Joe Rodon bring and how will he fit in with the group, so let us take a quick look at who is Joe Rodon.
Spurs Signing Rodon by the Numbers
Joe Rodon continues the Jose Mourinho trend of bringing in big, athletic footballers. In fact, of 7 signings for Tottenham only defender Sergio Reguilón is shorter than 1.85 meters. Rodon, like Vinicius, Bale, and Hojbjerg before him is a towering figure in the back at some 1.93 meters, the tallest of all the summer signings. For those in the states, Reguilón is about 5’8” and 1.85 meters is approximately six foot even.
What is important about the size of Rodon, like Vinicius, Bale, or Harry Kane; is that the Welchman knows how to use his size effectively. According to Whoscored.com Rodon has averaged more than 3.5 aerial wins per match for each of the last two seasons. As the young defender has grown in experience his dominance in the air is beginning to emerge.
Rodon has won more than 5 aerial duels per match to start the season for Swansea. While four games is a small sample size, more than 20 aerial duel wins in just four matches is an impressive number. If you watch a little video online of Rodon, you can see those aerial skills on full display as he aggressively attacks balls in the air on both the defensive and offensive ends of the pitch.
The success in the air really contributes to another number that stands out in looking at Rodon’s statistics, which is his more than 5 clearances per match, over the last two seasons. Like his header success, this season that number has increased again, nearly 8 clearances per match this year. When you win five headers a game, which are mostly clearances, it is easy to see why the number is so high.
However, when watching the video online, you do not see a defender just booting the ball away. Rather you see a young player who is willing to bring the ball down, with his feet and chest, and make a smart pass out of the back rather than just blast the ball away.
The willingness to play with the ball at his feet is also important as it compliments the nearly 1.5 interceptions per match Rodon has averaged over the last two seasons. Again, in looking at tape, you see a player who appears to have a real understanding of the game. That understanding leads to good timing which is important for interceptions and tackles as a defender.
With a near 85% pass completion rate, a solid long ball in the bag, and now two national team appearances for Wales, Joe Rodon seems like a good buy who should help Spurs moving forward. However, like any signing, Rodon does not come to Spurs without a couple questions.
Questions About Tottenham Defender
While some think the signing of Joe Rodon was a real coup for Levy and company the results will come over time. According to transfer market, it is quite likely Spurs actually overpaid for the defender, who was only valued at some 7.7 million US dollars as of 10/17/20 – a day after Spurs paid more than over 13.31 million US dollars for him.
Sure, the total figure was less than Swansea was asking for, but was still way higher than https://www.transfermarkt.us/ has the player listed and is more than 10 million higher than his value just 8 months ago in February. So was the price good, we just do not know yet and likely will not for a while.
Besides paying maybe a fraction more than we should have – which happens late in a second window – Rodon is not the most experienced player and does have some injury concerns. Across two seasons with the Swansea senior side Rodon has played 52 games in the Championship. For those unfamiliar that is essentially one season, as with 24 teams, clubs play 46 games in a Championship season.
In 2018-19, Rodon’s breakthrough season with the Swans, he suffered a metatarsal fracture which kept him out of action for almost 3 full months – January to April – and he never played a full 90 again in the season, despite returning with 8 games left in the season. Ultimately, he missed 13 games across all competitions due to injury.
Fit again to start the 19-20 season, Rodon was back in the squad full-time. After going 90 minutes in 13 straight matches to start the season, Rodon was again injured and missed 15 straight games with an ankle injury from October to January. After recovering Rodon was able to get back into the squad going for 90 minutes in four straight games before the Covid-induced stop in the season. Rodon did NOT play following the restart.
This is not to say Rodon cannot stay healthy, but given the injury history, it is something to consider. Finally, the fact that Rodon is yet another right-sided center-half is a bit disappointing. Tottenham have a LOT of players that can play well on the right side of the center half pair. Alternatively, they have a lot of players than can play on the right or in the middle of a back three.
However, what Spurs are lacking and continue to be so following the signing of Rodon is a naturally left-sided center half. Toby Alderweireld is clearly the best of the Spurs defenders in the left-sided center-half position, however, he is also the best on the right too, leaving Spurs in a bit of a quandary.
It is way too soon to say Spurs are short in the back and having the extra cover will certainly help, as there are now five senior center-halves – Alderweireld, Dier, Rodon, Sanchez, and Tanganga – which is enough cover to compete across multiple competitions. So, let us wait and see how Rodon does and if he can provide some of the balance the back was lacking last season.