Benjamin Stambouli was considered an odd signing by pretty much everyone that wasn’t Mauricio Pochettino or Daniel Levy. Tottenham Hotspur began the season with an already packed central midfield, with Etienne Capoue, Paulinho, Nabil Bentaleb and Mousa Dembele all candidates for the position. Furthermore, lurking in the depths of Tottenham’s own training grounds were a number of youth players who had the potential to break into the first team, Ryan Mason being the perfect example, as his late goal against Nottingham Forest had him do exactly that.

Signing a relatively unknown French defensive midfielder from Ligue 1 didn’t seem like a priority for the club. Yet being one of the first players which Mauricio Pochettino took the responsibility to integrate into the squad himself, some could argue that he is one of the squad’s most suited to Mauricio’s long term plan for Tottenham Hotspur

It is not difficult to see why either. As much as Benjamin may opt to be the care free prankster on the training pitch, on a real one he turns into one of the most aggressive defensive midfielder Tottenham fans have seen in recent history. His tendency to press consistently and aggressively is undoubtedly popular with Mauricio Pochettino, of the entire central midfield Benjamin Stambouli has put in the most successful tackles at 67, despite having played a vastly lower number of minutes than all but Etienne Capoue. His passing accuracy is also joint highest with Mousa Dembele, unsurprising as his ball control when under pressure has proven to be exceptional. His passes aren’t always simple either, has shown glimpses of incredible quality in delivering long balls, one to Roberto Soladado which resulted in Danny Rose’s Burnley goal was certainly one of the highlights of the season.

There has only been one negative, though a costly one. A penalty which was given away against Crystal Palace was dramatically unfortunate, as all were unified against the decision. Stambouli has also picked up criticism for pace, but whether this was his own slowness or the nature of the opposition on particular occasions remains to be seen.

Overall Benjamin’s impact at Spurs has been positive for the squad, as things stand he looks to be one of the most reliable to play in the position from a defensive standpoint. Were he to further work on building the confidence to consistently recreate those quality long balls which we’ve seen in him, as well as maintaining his rock solid defensive presence. He certainly has to the potential to go down as one of the Tottenham Hotspur greats.

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