00:00Roberto De Zerbe is reuniting with a player he once thought would
00:03be the Ballon d'Or in the future.
00:07Really? Wow.
00:10But can Mikhailo Mudrik get back to that level that he showed at Shakhtar Donetsk?
00:15Well, I'm Jacob Oswald, 442's resident tactician,
00:18and this is the real reason Tottenham signed Mudrik.
00:25Mudrik, what a goal!
00:28Mudrik recorded the second most Shakhtar goal contributions in the 21-22 season,
00:32as Roberto De Zerbe used him as a left winger who sat in the inside left channel,
00:37allowing him to get in between the opposition centre-half and full-back,
00:40so he could get on the ball in the pocket and drive inward at the centre-half,
00:44which, as always, been Mudrik's strength.
00:47His first full season at Chelsea saw him average 2.33 successful dribbles per 90.
00:52I mean, in that season, he attempted to take on every 12.3 touches of a football.
00:57Now, he's able to be such an effective dribbler and someone who can get away with trying to take
01:02people on constantly because of his immense shift of direction and ridiculous speed.
01:06I mean, he's arguably the fastest player in the division, or at least one of them.
01:11His medium-distance touches are big enough to commit defenders,
01:15but small enough to allow him to get to the ball first and shift direction,
01:19before bursting into the space beyond the oncoming defender.
01:22Which, for Spurs, ladies and gentlemen,
01:26that could be something that De Zerbe uses off the left wing.
01:28De Zerbe loves that press baiting, as we all know,
01:31and that leaves big spaces inside and beyond the opposition's block.
01:35So, Mudrik staying in the mid-third and getting on the ball
01:38could give Spurs a direct route to the final third.
01:41However, with Spurs recruiting new midfielders
01:44that are more about progressive passing rather than progressing the ball through ball carries,
01:48Mudrik may find himself hanging by touchline.
01:51In which, he can use quick trickery to create separation from his marker
01:55and then still use his speed to attack the wide space.
01:58Which, when Spurs are up against a low block,
02:00using their wingers to try to stretch the opposition's defence,
02:03could be a very useful asset to have.
02:06Equally, we've already seen De Zerbe encourage his wingers to cut on the inside
02:09and shoot to walk goal.
02:10So, can Mudrik give us that if he does come on that inside area?
02:15Well, he's never been a prolific goal scorer in any of his seasons,
02:18scoring two in De Zerbe's last season at Shakhtar Donetsk
02:21and hitting 10 goals in all competitions just once.
02:25And that was in the 22-23 season.
02:27But, there is...
02:29You hear me out?
02:30There's a little bit of potential there.
02:32His ability to decelerate really quickly as he approaches the ball
02:35allows him to set himself
02:36and his technique to wrap the ball across himself
02:39when his body is square
02:40means he can score goals.
02:42Another benefit of Mudrik is
02:44he's a pretty solid ball striker off both feet.
02:46I think he has a great technique off both feet
02:48and he can get so much power on his left or his right foot,
02:50whether that's shooting but also crossing.
02:53However,
02:54as much as this all makes him sound like the next coming of Lionel Messi,
02:57arguably the greatest winger the world's ever seen,
02:59it's not quite as simple as that, is it?
03:03Mudrik going on.
03:04Mikhailo Mudrik into the side.
03:06In the last two seasons, Mudrik has played seven Premier League games,
03:09which will be detrimental to any player's development,
03:11but especially someone who is now 25
03:14and had moved to the country just 18 months prior.
03:17His understanding of patterns of play,
03:18like a centre-forward dropping in
03:19and thus, you know,
03:20potentially him coming on the inside to operate as a striker,
03:22isn't there at the same level as
03:25most other 25-year-old Premier League players.
03:28He's really raw, to be honest,
03:30and I don't think that's necessarily about his football and ability,
03:32but more about his tactical thinking
03:33and his IQ and his understanding
03:35of different rotations and patterns,
03:38which could be a bit of a problem for De Zerbe.
03:40His best option here is to reverse this ball into this player,
03:43but Mudrik has his head down
03:45and decides to square his man up instead.
03:47He then has the option to drop the ball to this man,
03:49playing a one-two in the central space,
03:52but his head is still down
03:53and he takes his man up instead,
03:55which leads to him into a position
03:56where he can only be effective
03:58if he produces a world-class strike,
04:01which isn't entirely a bad thing.
04:03You know, being direct,
04:04wanting to beat your man as much as you can
04:06can be really, really nice to see from a winger,
04:08especially in the modern state of tactical supremacy
04:11in the Premier League,
04:13but sometimes it is just better
04:15to just combine quickly and get into better space,
04:17and that's where the gap in sort of understanding
04:19is for Mikhailo Mudrik.
04:21Now, De Zerbe may well find this pretty frustrating
04:24because in that front line,
04:25connectivity is key to them,
04:27which may take Mikhailo Mudrik
04:29some betting in time to adjust to.
04:30On top of that,
04:31logistics of the deal aren't brilliance.
04:33A 70 million buy option of Spurs
04:35when I make this a long-term thing
04:36is a lot of cash for someone
04:38who's not played in two year,
04:40and then you've also got the fact
04:41that if it's a short-term deal,
04:43is it really someone who moves the needle for Tottenham?
04:46When I look at Spurs' current wingers,
04:48I feel like they are all relatively similar profiles,
04:50and Mikhailo Mudrik isn't a standout away from that.
04:53So, you get a short-term player
04:55who isn't ridiculously higher in quality,
04:58or maybe even of the same quality,
04:59we don't know yet,
05:00and also isn't different to what you've got.
05:03On the other hand,
05:04this Chelsea player goes on loan to Tottenham.
05:06Tottenham view it as only a short-term thing,
05:08but he has a semi-decent season.
05:11You know, he gets some game time again,
05:12developing a little bit under his old manager,
05:14Roberto De Zerbe.
05:16Then he goes back to Chelsea.
05:18Chelsea have said,
05:18well, he has played a full season,
05:19and he was all right, lads.
05:21So, we're going to up that market value.
05:23We're going to ask for more money now.
05:24We're actually going to be able to sell him to someone.
05:27And Tottenham just, you know,
05:28develop the London rivals player.
05:31Not really got out of it.
05:33Which isn't great.
05:34So, what's De Zerbe's plan?
05:36To reunite it with Roberto De De Zerbe.
05:39Well, with Malmouche as the number nine,
05:41we know he's going to try to come to feet
05:42in front of the opposition's defence,
05:44forcing the centre-half to step slightly forward,
05:46often leaving the full-backs as the deepest defenders.
05:49So, those wingers can get 1v1,
05:51and if Spurs move quick,
05:52they have big space to attack before reaching the box.
05:55Now, Matty Stel is in the position here,
05:57and he's just less explosive
05:58and will take small touches
05:59before shifting inside for a shot,
06:02which does have its benefits.
06:03But Mudrik, in the way that he dribbles,
06:05his top speed,
06:06I think can exploit those situations better
06:08than Matty Stel.
06:09When the Ukrainian is by the touchline,
06:11his first intention is to flat-foot the defender
06:13and attack the biggest space,
06:15either on the inside or on the outside.
06:18So, when he guards in Liverman and bursts away,
06:21he targets the touchline
06:22and then delivers it to the box straight away,
06:24which works for Tottenham,
06:26because their midfield looks to arrive into the box
06:28or on the edges of it
06:29after they've exploited those self-made counter-attacks,
06:34like against Brentford.
06:35Even though they got battered,
06:36there were some nice patterns
06:37in which they'd get to the halfway line in 1v1s,
06:40and in this case,
06:41Mikey Moore ends up free to attack the box undetected.
06:44So, good delivery in those scenarios
06:45for the likes of Moore, Marmouche,
06:48Mohamed Kudus, whatever,
06:49is definitely needed.
06:51Now, the Mudrik deal as a whole,
06:53away from even just the player,
06:54is complicated.
06:55I do feel like he's a good player
06:57that has some sort of potential
06:59to get his career back going again.
07:01But when I look at Savio and Mohamed Kudus,
07:03I feel like they are chewing on those wings for Tottenham.
07:07But, ladies and gentlemen,
07:08injuries happen.
07:09You've seen stranger things in the Premier League,
07:12haven't we?
07:13And with him being back with De Zerbe,
07:15potentially we could see something reignited.
07:17I mean, there's a reason
07:17that Chelsea bought him for the money
07:19they did in the first place,
07:20and that Mikel Arteta and Arsenal
07:21went all the way in a bid and war with Chelsea
07:24to try and bring him to the club.
07:26So, if De Zerbe
07:28can reignite that,
07:29can get him back going the way he was,
07:31there's reports saying he wanted Mudrik
07:32over the likes of Malik Fafana.
07:33And it's not like De Zerbe
07:35hasn't got the best out of him in the past.
07:37So, we obviously still see something
07:39with the bloke
07:40who he nurtured and brought through
07:42at Shekhtar Donetsk.
07:44So, it's going to be
07:44an interesting development.
07:46I'm really intrigued to see
07:47how he does at Tottenham
07:48because it'd be great to see him
07:49get his career back on track
07:50after the things that happened,
07:51things he's been through.
07:53So, let me know in the comments down below.
07:55I'm not here to drop my cheaty subscribe.
07:57Will Mikhailo Mudrik to Tottenham
07:59actually work?
07:59I'm not here to drop my cheaty subscribe.
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