In recent seasons it's been a cause of real concern and vunerability, but now...

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Destiny Udogie (above) and new signing Andy Robertson give Spurs rare depth at left-back

Selection headaches have been par for the course for Tottenham Hotspur managers in recent years, but Roberto De Zerbi’s current dilemmas are uniquely positive.

Despite a slow start to the Premier League season, the squad has not been stronger since Tottenham finished fifth under Ange Postecoglou in his 2023-24 debut campaign. De Zerbi’s squad is deeper than Postecoglou’s was then, but the Australian had Son Heung-min, the difference-maker in the final third that the Italian currently lacks.

Elsewhere, Spurs have at least two Premier League-quality options for every position.
The midfield is stacked with quality, with Lucas Bergvall impressing ahead of Rodrigo Bentancur, who will now miss three matches for headbutting Luke Shaw in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Saturday, and Mateus Fernandes, who was recruited for £85million this summer from West Ham United.

In defence, July’s free-agent signing Marcos Senesi, in for club captain Micky van de Ven, impressed hugely in that match as the left-sided centre-back alongside fellow newcomer Jan Paul van Hecke. The Argentina international, who was not called up to represent his nation over the break, completed 17 line-breaking passes, 13 passes into the final third, and created two chances — a statistical illustration of the former Feyenoord and Bournemouth man’s quality as a distributor from the heart of defence.

But it’s at left-back where Tottenham are arguably now at their strongest.

For the weekend’s draw at Old Trafford, Destiny Udogie got the nod over Andy Robertson, who was left out of the matchday squad altogether after starting all four of Scotland’s games in the three-week international break, and playing the full 90 minutes in three of them, at age 32 —and the 23-year-old was outstanding.

Before being replaced in the 74th minute by Van de Ven — who, like Ben Davies, can also deputise as a full-back — Udogie had his most complete performance under De Zerbi, and perhaps his best since he starred as Spurs won the Europa League in 2025.

The numbers tell part of the story: 24 completed passes out of 26 attempts, three recoveries, two interceptions and 10 line-breaking passes signal a good day at the office for the 12-time Italy international, but it’s the potential of his burgeoning relationship with winger Savio that was perhaps the most encouraging element, and that does not show up on the stat sheet.
Remarkably, it was the first time they had started together on the same side of the pitch — De Zerbi typically prefers to play a right-footer on the left, such as Mathys Tel or Omar Marmoush — but they demonstrated a natural understanding as a partnership that appeared to elevate both their games.

Savio was working intelligently with Udogie’s, allowing him to use his pace to burst past Youri Tielemans in the United midfield. In two passes and about 15 seconds, Spurs have turned defence into attack through Udogie’s awareness and physicality, as well as the technical security and bravery of Senesi and Savio in taking a risk in possession — a fundamental tenet of De Zerbi-ball.

They did this again and again.

Thi sort of stuff comes naturally to Robertson, too, having played behind Sadio Mane for five years at Liverpool, where they became one of the best single-side pairings the Premier League has ever seen.

Robertson may not be the athlete that he was at his best for Liverpool — he was voted into the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Premier League team of the season twice and was chosen in the UEFA team of the year for 2019, effectively recognising him as the best left-back in Europe at that time — but his attacking movement off the ball from multiple positions has helped Spurs create goalscoring opportunities since his summer arrival as a free agent.
Like here against Everton, for instance, where the Scotland captain occupies the half-space while Savio is positioned near the touchline.
The former Manchester City winger then fires in a pass to Robertson, who deals with it well on the half-turn, before setting up Tonali for a shot from the edge of the box that gets blocked.

Robertson also offers a unique threat from set pieces.
He has already been the architect of multiple goalscoring opportunities, thanks to his expert delivery from corners and free-kicks — an area Spurs relied on last season but have not been able to make count yet in this one. His wide delivery is also an upgrade on Udogie’s, though the Italian created two excellent opportunities against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup with cutback crosses, first for Bergvall:

And then for Kudus:

Defensively, both have generally been solid under De Zerbi.
Udogie excels as a front-foot defender and was crucial in helping maintain the press against United on Saturday. Aside from his ill-judged attempt to keep the ball in play for Aston Villa’s first goal in the 3-2 defeat just before the international break,
Robertson has largely defended well, too, despite often needing to occupy the left flank by himself due to Marmoush’s desire to drift infield. His recovery challenge on Dango Ouattara in the 3-0 opening-weekend defeat to Brentford, preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity, reflects well on his athleticism at this stage of his career and his understanding of the position.
Given their generally high level of performance, De Zerbi may be inclined to continue switching between his left-backs until one or the other makes himself undroppable.
It’s a small sample size, but Udogie currently has the edge over the Scot statistically, with Tottenham conceding twice in his 161 minutes of Premier League football this season, while they have allowed seven goals in the 367 minutes Robertson has played.
Udogie has not started five league games in a row since December 2024, indicating Robertson may still have a significant role to play, even if the younger man nudged ahead of him with last weekend’s performance.
Either way, even without Van de Ven, who plays left-back for the Netherlands, De Zerbi is spoilt for choice. What has been a problem position at Spurs for multiple years has now become an area of real strength.