Scouting Report: Should Tottenham Hotspur Sign Freiburg's Jonathan Schmid?

Tottenham Hotspur need to strengthen the right wing and one suggested transfer target is Freiburg's Jonathan Schmid, so here is a scouting report on the 23-year-old Frenchman. 

Spurs' Powerless Right Wing

When Spurs manager Tim Sherwood meets with chairman Daniel Levy, per Sky Sports, aside from asking if Frank de Boer is the new manager of Spurs, the club have to address the right wing slot.

Aaron Lennon has had a disappointing season defined by long stretches of nothingness: a combined four goals (one goal, three assists) in 26 Premier League games is inefficient. 

Meanwhile, Andros Townsend's future is unclear.

Will he lose his top-end speed after surgery, per the Guardian? Even before his ankle injury, he scored one Premier League goal from 56 shots and failed to create a goal from 509 pass attempts. 

Schmid Positives

Schmid is a 5'10", 170-pound utility player who has played at right-back, left-back, right midfield and left midfield throughout his Freiburg career. 

Source: Kicker.de.

Source: Kicker.de.

This season, Schmid has started 65.5 percent of his combined Bundesliga/UEFA Europa League games on the right side. 

He is an uptempo player who can cover an entire flank.

Source: Squawka.com.

Schmid's high fitness levels are evidenced with him starting 81 of 82 of the Bundesliga games he has been involved in since the 2011-12 season. 

He crosses with velocity, has a quick release and can deliver under pressure. 

League Only	Assists	Key Passes Per Game	Cross Completion %
Lennon	3	1.3	24.6
Schmid	8	2.5	38.3
Townsend	0	1.0	19.2

Source: Squawka.com.

Against Eintracht Frankfurt, Schmid took advantage of Frankfurt left-back Constant Djakpa being out of position, proceeded to curl a ball beyond centre-back Anderson and into the path of Freiburg left winger Francis Coquelin, who blasted over. 

Source: Bundesliga.com.

Schmid has created more shots in league play for his teammates (68) than Lennon (33) and Townsend (26) combined (59). 

Schmid averages 0.1 fewer key passes per game (2.5; pass leading to a goal scoring chance) than Spurs left attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen (2.6). 

This is impressive when one considers Schmid does not play on a team that spent £110 million in summer transfer reinforcements, per John Cross at the Mirror. 

Schmid is not a limited set-and-cross winger. 

He can act as a quasi-playmaker when he cuts inside.

This was the case when he placed an Eriksen-like through-ball to Freiburg centre-forward Sebastian Freis against Frankfurt. 

Source: Bundesliga.com.

Another facet of Schmid's game is his set-piece expertise from corners and free-kicks which rivals that of Eriksen. 

Source: Bundesliga.com.

Source: Bundesliga.com.

Source: Bundesliga.com.

Schmid Concerns

Yes, Schmid averages more key passes per game (2.5) than Julian Draxler (Schalke; 2.0), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich; 1.3) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund; 0.8), however you need to understand that Schmid is a gunslinging passer. 

Schmid has a 28 percent chance of giving away the ball whenever he passes. 

His 72 pass completion percentage would be the lowest for an outfielder at Spurs (centre-back Younes Kaboul is the worst passing outfielder completing 73 percent of his passes in league play). 

Schmid's shooting has drastically declined.

League Only	2013-14	2012-13
Goals	3	11
Goals Per Game	0.11	0.33
Shots Per Goal	12	5.3

Furthermore, it is the same case with his defensive productivity. 

0.8 tackles per game (2013-14) ; 1.2 tackles per game (2012-13) ; 2.8 tackles per game (2011-12)

1.0 interceptions per game (2013-14) ; 1.6 interceptions per game (2012-13) ; 2.3 interceptions per game (2011-12)

Bottom Line

How do Spurs handle £30 million signing Erik Lamela going forward? 

He was one of the best right forwards in Serie A last season for Roma, but he has only started three Premier League games in an injury-affected season for Spurs. 

Lamela "damaged his back, as a result of overcompensating to protect a thigh injury," per David Hytner at the Guardian, so would he be angry with Spurs' medical department? 

In the January transfer window, Lamela wanted to quit and "go back to Italy," according to his father, Jose, per ESPN FC. 

Spurs management pressured Sherwood to give Lamela additional playing time, per Matt Law at the Telegraph, which did not happen.

Lamela's brother, Brian, re-tweeted anti-Sherwood tweets implying there is a distrust of Spurs management in the Lamela household. 

Source: @brianlamela.

You can always hope Lamela makes a Gareth Bale-esque comeback, but signing Schmid from Freiburg would be a precautionary measure.

It not only safeguards the club in the event Lamela forces a move away in the summer transfer window, but it also improves the Spurs' right wing. 

@allanjianga

+allanjiang

Statistics via WhoScored.com