



10 minutes have passed in Tottenham Hotspur's match against Crystal Palace. Toby Alderweireld receives the ball in his own half, looks up, and sends a long ball towards space in behind the Palace defender Sakho. Son Heung-min, sprinting valiantly as he always does, latches onto it, and proceeds to cut inside and score. 1-0 to Spurs, with the kind of goal created seemingly out of nowhere by the direct passing of the big man Toby. For all the creativity of Eriksen, Dele and (arguably this season) Lamela, Toby Alderweireld remains one of the most underrated creative outlets for Tottenham, and yet one whose contract is fast running down. 10 minutes have passed in Tottenham Hotspur's match against Crystal Palace. Toby Alderweireld receives the ball in his own half, looks up, and sends a long ball towards space in behind the Palace defender Sakho. Son Heung-min, sprinting valiantly as he always does, latches onto it, and proceeds to cut inside and score. 1-0 to Spurs, with the kind of goal created seemingly out of nowhere by the direct passing of the big man Toby. For all the creativity of Eriksen, Dele and (arguably this season) Lamela, Toby Alderweireld remains one of the most underrated creative outlets for Tottenham, and yet one whose contract is fast running down.





Toby loves to ping long balls over the top, and he's been doing it for years. He's also turned out to be really, really good at it. So much so that, for the past three years, he's completed the most long balls in the league from an outfield player by a landslide (players who made more than 10 appearances). In 2018-19, he was the only outfield player to average above 7 long balls per game (7.1), with his nearest competitors Maguire and David Luiz managing almost 1 less (6.2 and 6.0). Yes, even David Luiz, the man whose most outstanding quality is literally raking long passes from defence, completed less long balls than the Spurs defender. In 2017-18 and 2016-17, Toby was at it again, completing 7.9 and 7.1 long passes per game respectively (albeit only in 13 appearances in 2017-18). He's arguably been the best long passer in the league for a few years running now. And this form has carried over into this season, making 6.2 passes per game, second only to Paul Pogba's 7.



