Italian defender Destiny Udogie chose to join Tottenham Hotspur in 2022. The youngster completed a move to the North London club and was loaned back to Udinese to enjoy more time on the field. After a successful loan spell with his former club, the 20-year-old returned to Spurs. He caught the eye of the new manager, Ange Postecoglou, and is now a regular member of the starting 11.
Spurs are sitting second in the league table after the end of the first four rounds. Udogie is always there on the team sheet, and here are some of the stats that show how impressive this young Italian has been for Spurs.
Attacking full-back
Ange Postecoglou is known for his attacking style of football, and the former Australian international is not shy about going at the opposition’s defence. Spurs have scored 11 goals and average more than two goals per match.
Destiny Udogie is a very attacking full-back and already has two assists to his name. The above touch map of the player clearly states that most touches have been taken in the attacking half. The 20-year-old has also managed to take 10 touches inside the opposition penalty box.
The Italian full-back is decent with the ball at his feet. The above pass map shows all the passes completed by the player with a high accuracy rate of 90.2%. These include 25 completed passes to the final third.
Another impressive ability of the player is to recover the ball high up on the field. Udogie has made 37 recoveries, and 46% came in the attacking half. The above graph shows that four recoveries have been labelled as dangerous recoveries. This means that a shot was attempted within the next 20 seconds after recovering the ball. One dangerous recovery has been made by the player inside the penalty box. This shows his awareness of the field and why the manager has entrusted him at such a young age.
Udogie at Udinese in 2022-23
Destiny Udogie’s attacking mindset is an asset for Spurs. He makes progressive runs down the flank and often gets past defenders to deliver a cross or a pass to his teammate. Last season, the full-back averaged three progressive runs per 90 minutes and completed 59.5% of his dribbles. This season, he has already made 11 progressive runs, and the dribble success rate is decent at 53%.
The 20-year-old full-back already has two assists to his name for Tottenham Hotspur. He only provided three assists for Udinese in Serie A last season. The above graph shows 26 assists in the Italian top division in 2022–23. These shot assists have been attempted from the wider zones and are often targeted at the near post.
Spurs have made a decent start after the Harry Kane era. Many thought that Spurs would struggle, but they are comfortably sitting in second place. Players like Udogie have stepped up to the occasion and could turn out to be some of the best fullbacks in the English top division.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
