Tyler Adams: USA international is the ideal replacement for Kalvin Phillips
The link between Leeds and the network of Red Bull-owned clubs is strong.
Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen have already pitched up at Elland Road from Red Bull Salzburg this summer just four months after Jesse Marsch, a former RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls coach, was appointed.
And Leeds have now picked up another Red Bull player.
Tyler Adams has completed his move to the West Yorkshire club from RB Leipzig in a transfer reported to be around the £20million mark.
Adams was a long-term target for Leeds who highlighted the midfielder even before Marsch’s appointment.
There is plenty to justify Leeds’ interest in Adams.
The 23-year-old could be the perfect replacement for Kalvin Phillips who completed a £45m switch to Manchester City on Monday and Marsch, who worked with Adams at RB Leipzig and the New York Red Bulls, is the ideal man to get the best out of him.
Positionally, parallels can be drawn between Adams and Phillips, both of whom are most comfortable at the base of the midfield. There are also similarities in the way the pair play the game.
Their profiles are comparable in that Adams and Phillips are both charged with stopping opposition attacks before they amount to anything.
Adams averages 2.25 passes blocked per 90 minutes while Phillips averages 1.8. The former averages 2.5 blocks in total per 90 minutes with the latter charting 2.37.
Phillips has the edge in successful pressures and dribblers tackled per 90 minutes, but this could be down to Leeds averaging a lower share of possession than RB Leipzig - Phillips has more pressures to make and more dribblers to tackle.
As a counter-presser, Adams is among the best. He can cover a lot of ground quickly and frequently surprises opponents who don’t expect him to arrive on the scene to make a tackle or intervention.
This is something Adams shares with Phillips and another Premier League midfielder who he bases his game on.
“Growing up, when N'Golo Kante hit the scene, he was the player who changed the mould of how a number six should play the game,” Adams once explained about his approach and style of play in an interview.
“It was no longer only the style of Sergio Busquets. Everyone wanted to be like him and why wouldn't they, but I'm more like Kante than I am Busquets.”
Kante is widely renowned for the way he breaks up play as a midfield anchor, but has also been recognised more recently for the way he can drive the ball forward, and this is where the biggest difference can be found between Adams and Phillips.
This is where the signing of the American could change Leeds most notably.
Over the last 12 months, Adams has averaged 4.81 progressive carries per 90 minutes. In stark contrast, Phillips has averaged just 1.52 per 90 minutes.
Phillips is good enough on the ball, as proven by Pep Guardiola’s fandom of him, but he has rarely shown a willingness to carry the Leeds United attack. Adams sees his role in a different way.
Despite his deep position and defensive duties, Adams is generally progressive with his passing, averaging 5.01 passes into the final third per 90 minutes - this places the American in the 75th percentile for this statistic among players in his position.
This is a higher average than Phillips’ of 4.4 per 90 minutes.
At 23, Adams is at the right stage of his career for this move. It wasn’t so long ago that he was linked with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United.
Adams, who is a lynchpin for the USA team that will face England at this winter’s World Cup, is a player with a high ceiling who needs a new challenge after stagnating somewhat in the Bundesliga.
Marcelo Bielsa left a good ideological foundation for Marsch to build upon, but the American clearly wants Leeds to become better, more commanding on the ball and the addition of Adams would underline this.
It would represent the next stage of the subtle evolution that is taking place at Elland Road.
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