Pascal Struijk and Joël Veltman are among the ten defenders with the most active interventions in the Premier League last season. This is shown by research by The Athletic. The two Dutch defenders are respectively fifth and seventh on the list. What is striking is that Virgil van Dijk is not included in the list. The Liverpool centre-back is on the list of defenders with the least active interventions.
By ‘active defensive actions’ means The Athletic ‘real tackles and real interceptions’, such as attempted tackles, fouls, lost duels and intercepted passes. With those calculations, Struijk is in fifth place with his 9.6 defensive actions per thousand ball touches by the opponent. Veltman is in seventh place with 9.3. The list only includes defenders who spent at least 900 minutes in the Premier League last season. Both Struijk (2,049 minutes) for Leeds United and Veltman (2,880 minutes) for Brighton & Hove Albion more than met that condition.
The list is led by Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur, who is lonely at the top with 11.5 defensive actions. Together with Mohammed Salisu (10.7) of Southampton, they are the only ones to go over the opponent’s ten defensive moves per thousand touches. The top three is complemented by Chelsea’s César Azpilicueta (9.8), after which the Leeds trio Liam Cooper (9.7), Struijk (9.6) and Luke Ayling (9.6) take places three to six. The fact that Leeds delivers four players to the top ten (Diego Llorente is tenth with 8.6 interceptions), is not only an indication of the type of player, but also reveals a lot about the club’s tactics. Last season, until the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds played with an aggressive defensive approach. As a result, there was a lot of pressure and direct opponents were often shadowed.
Unlike Leeds, Liverpool often played with two central defenders last season. Players like Virgil van Dijk mainly took the tactical lead, while attackers are willing to do more to avoid the stopper. With 3.4 defensive actions, the the Dutch captain is fifth in the list of defenders with the fewest defensive actions. According to The Athletic Van Dijk mainly uses his dominance to keep defenders away. The former FC Groningen player also rarely leaves his zone. The Liverpool mainstay sees only Eric Dier (Tottenham, 2.6), Lewis Dunk (Brighton, 2.8), Christian Kabasele (Watford, 3.2) and Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa, 3.3) above him.