To Be or Naughton to Be?

Article by Brent Weber

Kyle Naughton has recently been a topic of discussion and criticism among Spurs faithful. As a result, I took some time to evaluate whether the criticism is justified and whether or not he is a long term option for the club.

I started by looking at his role on club. He is not a starter. His role is to provide cover at RB. He is a back-up and as a back-up he has three responsibilities. First, he should be able to provide opportunities for the starter to rest and maintain fitness. Second, he should also be able to fill the starting job for short durations when the starter is injured and not hurt the team. Finally, back-ups should provide competition during practice to prevent the starter from becoming complacent.

He easily has enough quality to start Europa and Cup matches at right back. Starting these matches gives Walker sufficient opportunities to rest and maintain fitness through the season. In addition, Naughton can also provide cover at LB against lesser competition which gives Rose a chance to rest.

Naughton is a good enough to fill the starting role in league matches for short stretches at RB. He does not provide equal quality in attack or possess the natural pace as Walker, but he is an average attacker on the right. Defensively, he is as good as Walker. Essentially, he doesn’t hurt our chances of winning when playing RB. The issue is that he is being forced to play LB against top competition.

He is not a natural LB and to make matters worse, AVB has him playing on the left with an inverted winger. This is a bad combination which results in absolutely no attack or width on the left side. Naughton is being forced to play LB but he is being a team player and giving his best effort to fill a glaring need for the club. Naughton is not responsible for the lack of LB cover. This responsibility falls on management. AVB, Baldini, and Levy knew we were questionable at LB. Danny Rose was unproven against top competition heading into the season. Instead of signing another LB, they loaned out BAE who was our only experienced LB on the roster.

A key job for any manager is to put players in the right position to succeed and make plays. AVB has failed to do this with Naughton by continuing to play at LB. There are other options on the roster like Vertonghen and Fryers. If AVB is not comfortable using Vertonghen or Fryers, then LB must be a top priority in the January transfer window so Naughton can fill his more natural role of RB cover. The other option at RB cover is Chiriches. However, with Kaboul battling injury again, Chiriches must cover at CB so Vertonghen and Dawson also maintain fitness.

I personally believe Naughton is worthy a roster spot for at least a few more seasons. He fills his role sufficiently. He is good cover at RB and does have versatility to provide some cover at LB. The club has higher priorities right now than adding cover at RB and Naughton gives management the flexibility to pursue more integral needs. In closing, Spur’s faithful need to have realistic expectations and support Naughton rather than constantly criticise his play. As long as he wears the crest, I will support him.

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