Tottenham Hotspur Beginning to See Real Sergio Reguilón

After an up and down start to life at Tottenham Hotspur, Spurs fans are starting to see the real and complete Sergio Reguilón and they should like it. Regardless of any potential buy-back clause, Tottenham Hotspur signing Sergio Reguilón for about £24 million was a shrewd bargain for Spurs. A willing defender who is aggressive on both sides of the ball, what Spurs should get from Reguilón should only improve -based on what was demonstrated at Sevilla – as his opportunities on the ball grow.

Defense First at Tottenham

Coming in new to Tottenham Hotspur and more significantly new to the Premier League, Sergio Reguilón has been focused primarily on defense first since arriving at Tottenham. Known for his mazy runs and aggressive forward play at Sevilla, it is only of late Tottenham Hotspur faithful have started to see these attributes from the Spaniard.

One thing we have seen from Sergio since day one with Spurs is a willingness to play defense and defend hard. Based on statistics from fbref.com, Reguilón is on pace to equal or top many of his defensive numbers from Sevilla. Given Reguilón has played 49.4% of the minutes he did last season (1464 to 2965) we are simply doubling his numbers thus far this season for a projected comparison.

Sergio is on pace to in about 40 tackles this season after winning 38 last season at Sevilla. He is likely going to be dribbled past less times as well, after being past 38 time last season and only 17 times thus far this season, for a pace of 34.

Further, Reguilón is playing with better anticipation defensively now than he was in Spain. Last season with Sevilla, he had 100 clearances, whereas with 38 this season he is on pace for only 76 clearances, 24 less. However, this is because Sergio is more often intercepting the ball rather than simply clearing it. Sergio is on pace for 40 interceptions this season with 20 already after having 28 all of last season in Spain.

Reguilón is an adequate passer with a keen eye

Sergio Reguilón is not harry Winks out at left back completing 90% plus of his passes. He completed 80% at Sevilla and is at 77% for Spurs, so this is to be expected. And while his total number of passes is well under the pace he had last season at Sevilla, Reguilón is doing more with those opportunities this season.

In all competitions across 37 matches and 2965 minutes Reguilón had 5 assists for Sevilla. In 1464 minutes and 19 matches for Spurs, Reguilón has 5 assists. Despite playing a third as many crosses as he did at Sevilla, Reguilón is creating chances. According to whoscored.com Reguilón averages nearly 1 key pass per match at .9. For a guy that mostly plays fullback and then does not just lob a bunch of crosses in, those are excellent numbers.

Further, with his percentage, it is not that Sergio is a bad passer, he is just a very aggressive passer. While he completed over 85% of his short passes, he has only completed 37.5% of his long passes according to fbref.com. Ultimately, it is this natural aggressiveness as a player that Reguilón possesses that we will start to see more and more, particularly the more he plays at outside midfield.

Spurs have not yet seen the best of Sergio Reguilón on the ball

One of the things that really stood out during the Tottenham Hotspur win over Sheffield United, was just how much offensive drive Sergio Reguilón provided with the ball. Whether it was an interception and then dribbling forward, or a tackle and dribbling forward, or getting the ball and launching a forward pass, Sergio looks to attack.

It is this ability to attack that particularly set Reguilón apart at Sevilla last season. Reguilón was outstanding with the ball and turning touches into forward carries. Reguilón has 2478 touches and turned those in 1620 carries, meaning over 65% of the time when he received the ball he controlled it and moved forward. Currently for Tottenham his percentage is 61% on 549 carries from 897 touches.

Further 14.4% of those 1620 carries (234) were progressive carries according to fbref.com. What this means he Reguilón moved the ball forward at least five yards or took the ball into the box. Note, any activity in the defensive third does not count in this statistic. For Tottenham, Reguilón currently has 55 progressive carries or only 10% of his total carries. This lack of forward thrust overall is seen in the progressive distance covered last season by Reguilón and projected for this season.

Last season Reguilón racked up over 5600 yards of progressive distance whereas he is only on pace for about 3000 this season. That 2600 yards of offensive attacking football is something Spurs have missed this season, but are starting to see more of. If Reguilón can continue to see more opportunities to push forward rather than run back, we will start to see these numbers increase at a substantive rate. This is yet another reason to see more of the 3-4-3 moving forward.

Overall, Sergio Reguilón has been excellent for Tottenham Hotspur and has helped to get the most out of Ben Davies too. The prospect of having them both AND a seasoned Ryan Sessegnon for next season is one that should excite fans and the club. Without a doubt, Sergio Reguilón has been one wise investment.