Player Spotlight: James Tomkins
I’ve heard and read a lot about Phil Jones in the past couple of weeks, and how his versatility is hurting him. The consensus among journalists, supports and ex-players is that the England international needs to settle into one position for club and country before we see the best of him.
This got me thinking.
The general opinion on James Tomkins amongst the opinions I read is that he has the ability to be a top class (world class?) defender one day, but he suffers from inconsistency and concentration errors. This kind of fits with what I have always felt about the academy graduate and his performances.
But after reading about Jones recently, I wondered to myself how much Tomkins’ versatility has hindered his progress. In our Championship season, Tomkins was a regular at centre back, playing to the right of either Winston Reid or Abdoulaye Faye. However, since we regained our Premier League status in 2012, Tomkins has been a bit more of a utility player.
In the past season and a half, Tomkins has made 41 league appearances. 30 of these have been at centre back, 6 at rightback, and 5 (inexplicably) in midfield. On paper, it seems that he has made the vast majority (73%) of his appearances in his preferred position.
However, we all know that centre backs prefer one side or the other. Reid always plays on the left, James Collins always plays on the right. This isn’t just confined to West Ham though. John Terry and Nemanja Vidic have been formidable defenders on the left hand side of the central pairing, while Rio Ferdinand and Per Mertesacker always appear on the right hand side.
Tomkins preference appears to be on the right. When he plays with Reid, he plays there. However, when James Collins (or more recently Roger Johnson) is playing alongside the former England under-21 defender, Tomkins moves across to the left. The logic behind this is seemingly that Tomkins is recognised as a better footballer than the other two (technically speaking), and is seen as being more adaptable to an unfamiliar position.
In the past, Tomkins has been in the side alongside Reid and performing admirably, until Reid is sidelined for a period of time. This tends to result in Collins stepping back into the side alongside Tomkins, and Tomkins moving to the left hand side of the two. Tomkins performance levels then appear to tail off, and when Reid returns from absence, Collins keeps his place in the side.
My belief is that the regular switch in position, however minor on paper, lead to Tomkins struggling to maintain his form.
Head to West Ham United Stats for my full focus on James Tomkins.
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