Rising Tottenham academy sensation Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny: TTLB Scout Report

The chiefs at Hotspur Way worked hard earlier this year to secure his signing from the Blues, given that his transfer came through in the final hours of the last winter deadline day. When signed, while it was indicated that he would link up with the academy side, knowing his quality, no one ruled out an outing in the first team under then head coach Ange Postecoglou.

Ideally he is someone who profiles in that #8/#6 hybrid role in the middle of the park. Playing as a central midfielder in the Premier League these days is about having that ability to dictate rhythm in tight spaces, and that is what you get with Reiss Denny. He is quite press-resistant and tidy when he takes that first touch. And if you put him in a side that wants a 3-2 build (like Tottenham do on occasions in the first phase these days), then he is good at circulating the possession and trying to access those half-spaces.

Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny has some serious traits

The first thing you notice when you watch Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny is how he uses that bounce or first touch to try and beat his man. He generally combines that with his angles and strong upper-body feints to get away from his marker.

Reiss-Alexander Russell- Denny is a rare two-way midfielder. He is someone that blends intelligent positioning with sharp technical quality. This makes him one of the most complete young midfielders at the Hotspur Way academy.

When you watch him play, you can clearly see the rich technical foundation that he possesses. He is good at receiving the ball and opening his body up while maintaining contact-side protection. This allows him to explore forward spaces quite quickly or bounce out of pressure. Herein he can sustain possession and then advance into playing even in tight spaces.

His passing is quite impressive as well. Especially when it comes to getting in range passes or putting in disguised through balls. He likes to drill the ball into advanced positions, or you see him try to clip switches to isolate wide forwards.

And while he is left-footed, he is also really good on his right foot. You see him regularly putting in passes or shooting off that right foot. This makes it quite a valuable asset, especially in tight spaces or dangerous zones.

He is also considered among the best in his age group for his consistent, high-quality corners and free kicks. This gives him a significant advantage in the final third.

He will trigger quick and vertical combinations in those offensive zones. This has had him disrupt opposition structures quite often in the academy games. This technical intelligence carries over to how he tried to orchestrate sequences between the lines. And how good he is at finding space and manipulating defenders.

He also has that deft movement and varied tempo (very much like Bentancur), and he consistently uses subtle gear changes and body feints to unbalance opponents.

When you look at him off the ball, he has that ability to understand the spaces and where to be as well.

How does he make his way into Thomas Frank’s side?

The way he plays, he needs to build more upper body strength and ability in the air if he wants to get into Thomas Frank’s side. And then he also needs to be quicker with his releases when going around the final third, given that he won’t have as much time and space in the English top tier. And he needs to be more potent at winning duels, especially the scrappy ones (given how the Dane head coach likes to have that upper hand on second balls).

For someone like Thomas Frank, who always wants to put team structure alongside tactical understanding as two pillars that his side stands on, Russell-Denny fits either as the right-sided #8 (who has that ability to drop alongside a 6) or as a deeper controller in a double pivot (a bit kind of like what we are seeing from Tottenham in a few of the games this season with Palhinha and Bentancur).

Russell-Denny has the capacity to become a regular in the team sheet at Hotspur Way, but he just needs to develop in the right way in a few things. There is a possibility that we see him making some cameo appearances this season if injuries strike the second phase at N17.