The Express report that Tottenham Hotspur will rival Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace for the signature of Morgan Schneiderlin, who has been nothing more than an outcast under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United this season.
The French midfielder has seen himself fall down the pecking order at United, and has seen just five minutes of Premier League football this term. Schneiderlin was also taken off at half-time in United’s away defeat in the Europa League to Fenerbahce. With the Frenchman struggling for first team minutes, he could see his Manchester United career come to an end as soon as January.
The Express claim that both Crystal Palace and Tottenham are keen on signing the 27-year-old, and are both willing to pay around £12.5m for his services. Mauricio Pochettino of course worked with Schneiderlin in his time at Southampton.
The question is, would he fit in at Spurs?
We saw Mauricio Pochettino revert to a back three in an attempt to change Tottenham’s recent fortunes on Sunday, and he saw his side come away from the Emirates Stadium with a point in a 1-1 draw. A point was more than many expected given Tottenham’s recent form. The fact that Spurs put in a very good performance in the North London derby, and could have gone onto win the game makes you wonder if Pochettino will use a back three in the future.
This season, Spurs have played in a 3-5-2, as we saw on Sunday, a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-1-4-1. Two of these formations require two defensive midfielders. In terms of these defensive minded midfielders, Spurs have Mousa Dembele, Victor Wanyama, Eric Dier, Harry Winks and Tom Carroll. This seems like more than enough cover.
However, if Pochettino is to continue with his 3-5-2 system, we could see Eric Dier moved into centre-back ahead of, or alongside Kevin Wimmer. The addition of Schneiderlin over the January transfer window would restore that strong depth in the defensive midfield.
But how does Schneiderlin compare to other members of the Spurs squad?
Stat: Schneiderlin- Dembele- Wanyama- Dier
Tackles won: 2.04- 3.34- 2.56- 1.77
Tackles lost: 3.47- 2.23- 2.56- 2.10
Successful take ons: 64.29%- 92.22%- 67.65%- 57.14%
Aerial duels won: 38%- 51.72%- 48.48%- 55.26%
Total duels won: 34.96%- 62.23%- 45.70%- 47.12%
Interceptions: 2.98- 2.23- 2.45- 2.21
All stats are recorded on average per 90 minutes of football
Using the stats from last season, these do not suggest that Schneiderlin would be able to challenge any of the Spurs regulars for a starting first team spot. In terms of tackles won, Eric Dier on the least with 1.77 per 90 minutes. Next in the rankings was Schneiderlin with 2.04 per game. In his Southampton days last season, Victor Wanyama won on average 2.56 per 90 minutes. Mousa Dembele won the most tackles per 90 minutes out of the quartet with 3.34.
Eric Dier in fact lost the least tackles, despite winning the least, he lost 2.10 on average per 90 minutes, whereas Manchester United man Schneiderlin lost the most, with 3.47. Unsurprsingly, Dembele leads the way on successful take ons, Schneiderlin coming in third out of the four.
Schneiderlin won the least aerial duels and the least total duels. This does look good at all. The only area he stands out in is in the interceptions category, intercepting just under three passes per ninety minutes.
Would the signing of Schneiderlin bring anything different to the Spurs side? By the looks of the stats last season, it would appear not. Despite this, do you think he would be a good signing for Spurs at £12.5m?
