The 2023/24 Tottenham Hotspur season has come to an end. It was a year of growth for Ange Postecoglou’s side as new faces, new players, and new philosophies dominated the story lines this season. In this four-part piece from White Hart Live, we will hand out our year-end grades for all the players and the gaffer himself.
Let’s dive into part one …
Defenders and Keepers
When looking at our defense and the keepers this season, it is a bit of an enigma. On the whole, some issues need to be addressed. We simply conceded too many goals. That may work itself out to a degree as the squad understands Ange’s system better and better over time, new players are brought in to bolster the club’s depth, and the quality players the club does have are not kept off the pitch due to injury. The crazy thing is, if you look at the individual performances, there is a lot to be excited about in the areas of defense and goalkeepers. So let’s dive into our player grades…
Pedro Porro
There were a lot of questions heading into this season on whether or not Pedro Porro would be able to adjust to Ange’s back-four system. Porro’s pace and attacking abilities made him a solid wingback for Antonio Conte, but playing a true right-back would force him to do a lot more defending than previous regimes had asked him to do. Porro responded by starting in 37 of Spurs 41 matches on the season, winning nearly 80% of his tackles on the season, adding eleven goal contributions, and only committing three defensive errors across nearly 3400 minutes of play this season. It seems as if Spurs have the right-back position secured for the foreseeable future.
Grade: A-
Cristian Romero
How many predicted Spurs would get this kind of goal contribution from Cuti Romero this year? Finding the back of the net five times in the Premier League this year, Romero ended the season tied for fourth place on the club’s goal leader board. Couple that with nearly 2800 minutes played across 34 starts for the club this year and you have a strong performance from the Argentina international. Throw in finishing in the 90th-plus percentile (according to FotMob) among defenders in touches, fouls won, tackles won, duels won percentage, aerial duels won, interceptions, and recoveries, there is a lot to like about the defender’s campaign. 2023/24 also saw Romero play the most Premier League matches and earn his highest player rating for a season in his time at N17 while also posting a career low in yellow cards in England’s top league. All signs point to another pillar in the back end of Ange’s squad.
Grade: A
Destiny Udogie
His last name said it all: DOG! Like Porro, there were some questions on how the Italian would transition to a traditional leftback role, but I think it was safe to say that he shined in his debut season in London. While injuries did cut his season short, there is a lot to love about the 21-year-old sensation. Looking at the stats, there is just a sense of consistency across Udogie’s game. He was solid in attack, solid on defense, and solid in possession. Were there areas where is game can improve? Sure. I would love to see his goal contributions increase next season after he posted 2 goals and 3 assists in his debut season. His crosses and long balls will need to improve moving forward, and I would love to see him win duels and tackles at a higher rate. That being said, there is a lot to like about Udogie’s game, and I think he has the potential to be one of the premier fullbacks across Europe’s top leagues.
Grade: A-
Micky van de Ven
This guy! I mean, what more do we need to say? The pace, the intensity, the brains… what is not to love about the transfer from Wolfsburg. The peculiar thing about vdV is the numbers. If you compared his numbers to Romero’s, you would think Romero carried the defensive pairing. When you watch the game, you will find that the Dutch defender more than carries his weight on the season. As a math teacher, I love the analysis portion of the sport. The data gives us a great snapshot of what players do well and where they struggle. Numbers are a great tool in this game. On the contrary, there are some players you can set aside the numbers and see with your own eyes that there is something special there. Micky van de Ven has that something special. We rave about the glory years of Jan and Toby under Mauricio Pochentino. The Micky-Cuti years have the potential to be just as good if not better under one Ange Postecoglou.
Grade: A+
Emerson Royal
It would appear as if Emerson Royal’s time in North London may have ended. With the emergence of Destiny Udogie, the Brazilian found himself in fewer matches than in his previous two seasons in North London and his play also dipped in form. The year started off with a bang as the defender found the back of the net in Spurs’ season-opening draw against Brentford, but unfortunately, it would be his only goal contribution on the season. While he did excel in the areas of pass accuracy and long ball accuracy, the rest of his season was very average. His season highlight came just prior to Christmas in Spurs’ 2-1 win over Everton where the right back registered an 8.6 match rating (according to FotMob) after his five tackles, eight interceptions, and three shot-creating actions.
Grade: C-
Ben Davies
Much like Emerson Royal, Ben Davies also marked his tenth season with the club by recording his fewest number of appearances since he joined from Swansea (19). Davies would also post strong ratings in the areas of passing accuracy, long accuracy, fouls won, tackles won, and duels won among Premier League leftbacks. While the numbers show that Gentle Ben is strong on the challenge, the numbers also show that this season was not his strongest in a lot of the attacking and ball-progression areas. Was it a particularly bad season for the Welshmen? No. Was it a season to write home about? No. If we know anything about Ben Davies, his best trait is his consistency.
Grade: C+
Radu Dragusin
This one may be the hardest to grade on the season. The Romanian has only featured in ten games for the club (including four starts) since he joined the club from Genoa, and most of his appearances were brief to moderate cameos. On the flip side. His last three starts were a sign of things to come as he put up strong performances against Luton Town, Manchester City, and Sheffield United late in the season. I like this defender, and I get the sense that people want to see him play more frequently. Next year should see him log a lot of minutes in the Europa League as Spurs charge towards European glory after a short hiatus in 2023/24.
Grade: B (could have gone higher with more appearances)
Guglielmo Vicario
If it was not for the emergence of Micky van de Ven, I think this would have been easily the signing of the summer. I remember there was a lot of hesitancy heading into the season about Vicario. Scouts raved about his potential and abilities, but the Premier League is a different animal than Serie A. On top of that, there were a few questionable moments from the Italian on Spurs summer tour, but those questions were soon to be answered. Replacing a player like Hugo Lloris was going to be an extremely tough task, but it appears the club got it right in the form of Guglielmo Vicario. My only criticism of the keeper would be that he struggled on corners, but that is a fair criticism of the entire club as Spurs conceded way too many goals from corners this season. The biggest stat that jumps out to me from Vic’s body of work is his number of errors that led to a goal this season: ZERO. Other stats may be more important for keepers, but I think it shows how competent and steady this man has been stopping shots. I also personally love his passing abilities, which was always a criticism of Hugo Lloris during his time with the club. The future is very bright for the keeper.
Grade: A-
Fraser Forster
In his one appearance for the club this season, the big man actually had some moments of quality making three saves and earning a 7.4 match rating (according to FotMob) at Craven Cottage as the match ended in a one-all draw. The bad news was that Forster did not read the ball well during penalties as Spurs were bounced from the League Cup in their opening match. To make matters worse, Forster would go down with a season-ending injury shortly afterward. After stepping up to the plate at the end of the 2022/23 season, it was unfortunate to see the keeper unable to compete this season.
Grade: Incomplete
That is it for part one of the White Hart Live 2023/24 Player Grades. Be sure to join us soon for our second installment of this breakdown.
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-Dustin Gentile
White Hart Live 
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