The Argentinean is currently playing at the World Cup and has everything in his game to become the perfect centre-back for Roberto De Zerbi
Roberto De Zerbi might have signed a player he knows well in Jan Paul van Hecke but in Marcos Senesi he has another centre-back tailor-made for him and Tottenham.
Spurs moved quickly to tie up the free transfer for the Argentina international and ensure he will become their player this Wednesday after his Bournemouth contract comes to an end tomorrow night. The 29-year-old arrives in N17 with plenty of ready-made experience thanks to his 116 matches in the Premier League and now his World Cup exploits with Lionel Messi & Co.
Senesi will walk through the doors at Hotspur Way as the Bournemouth Players’ Player of the Year after a season in which he played nearly every minute of the Premier League campaign and was a huge part in the Cherries’ sixth-placed finish in the table.
The centre-back made his World Cup debut on Saturday night in the 3-1 victory against Jordan and he showed some of the football that will fit right into De Zerbi’s style of defenders baiting the opposition press and playing passes between the lines.
On the night in Dallas, Senesi was a calm presence with 94.4 per cent of his 72 passes finding their mark, including two of his three long passes. Defensively he completed two interceptions and blocked one shot, while also sending an effort off target himself at the other end of the pitch as he got the full 90-plus minutes under his belt after being a late call-up to the squad by Lionel Scaloni.
It is Senesi’s Premier League stats though which really show just important he will become for De Zerbi next season and what a battle he could end up having with Micky van de Ven for that spot on the left side of defence. The Spurs boss is trying to overhaul a defence that has conceded 183 goals in the league alone in the past three seasons.
The Argentine reads the game so well and made the most interceptions in the Premier League last season, his 56 being six more than the next player, Leeds’ Ethan Ampadu. He finished second behind only James Tarkowski at Everton for blocks during the campaign with 47 of them while Van de Ven made the most blocks at Tottenham with just 22. Senesi’s 253 clearances were fewer than only Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk.
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De Zerbi centre-backs need to be able to pass the ball proactively along with their defensive attributes and it’s also there where the left-footer Senesi fits the bill. He topped the Premier League stats for passes into the final third with 516 – the next defender Van Dijk had 425 – and also successful long passes with 182, which should bode well for Spurs’ attackers as they get another creator behind them.
Senesi created 24 goalscoring opportunities for others with only two of those coming from set pieces and his 144 line-breaking passes into the final third were up there with the Premier League’s most creative midfielders. Just one player in the league completed more line-breaking passes during the campaign, and that was another defender and not coincidently Senesi’s new Tottenham team-mate Jan Paul van Hecke.
Spurs fans might remember one of Senesi’s 14 through balls last season as it was the pass to Evanilson to score the winner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In terms of most passes attempted over the entire season, only Lewis Dunk and Van Hecke – both former De Zerbi players – and Van Dijk managed more than the Argentina international.
Senesi and Van Hecke are ultra-confident in carrying the ball forward with the duo doing so more than any other Premier League defenders last season, the latter more than anyone in any position in the competition with 920 ball carries, while the former was fifth with 591.
One thing is for certain, Tottenham have brought in one defender that De Zerbi has already moulded and another one who looks like needing very little adaptation to answer everything the Italian will ask of him.
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