[Player Profile] Now Dat’s What I Call A Signing

Long before curated playlists on Spotify were a thing – I grew up in the 90s listening to compilation albums which packed 20 of the greatest songs of the year into one jam-packed CD full of hits. These were lifesavers because I had no money to buy individual albums. These compilation albums were called the “Now: That’s What I Call Music” albums.

Ok thanks for indulging this old man in my random rambles – this was just me trying to explain one of the reasons why of all the music-related punny headlines I could’ve gone for, I went for “Now Dat’s What I Call a Signing“. I did also contemplate “I Want It Dat Way“, “Dat Thing You Do“, and the more current “How You Like Dat“, which was a reader’s suggestion.

The other more important reason for why this headline is relevant is because of the profile of the player, and his big league experience. Let’s start right there and then discuss what we know about our new man, Toni Datković.

100 appearances in La Liga 2

Toni has made a century of appearances in La Liga 2, a league that is just one rung below La Liga, Spain’s top division. Although I found footage and detailed video analysis of Toni hard to come by, I think we can safely assume that someone who made 100 appearances in La Liga 2 will be expected to be heads and shoulders above the competition he will face in the SPL. This is a league where the strikers are of the calibre of Martin Braithwaite, Borja Baston, Balde Keita, Javi Puado, etc.

The signing also brings to mind last year’s signing of Bailey Wright, another player who had come from the 2nd-tier league of a top footballing nation. However, just based on pure stats alone, I might argue that this signing looks to be even more impressive. When Bailey came to us, he had many appearances in the Championship, but they were mostly from a few years ago. His more recent experience right before coming to us consisted of 2 seasons where he was a regular for Sunderland in League 1, but then he was in and out for them once they got promoted. He was then loaned out to Rotheram, where he was also in and out of the team.

Toni comes to us off the back of a 2022/2023 season where he featured 39 times for FC Cartagena, a mid-table team in La Liga 2, which suggests that’s where his level is currently at. Of course his most recent half-season spell was at Albacete, which came about after he left Cartagena in a pretty messy way. Toni’s side of the story is that he was forced out by the club because of their financial situation, while the Cartagena president’s version of the story was that Toni had interest from a Saudi club and the uncertainty brought about by the Saudi league’s transfer window closing later than the Spanish league’s meant that they had to let him go so that they had certainty over whether to replace him or not. I trust Toni because he is our guy now (not biased at all lol), and also because the Cartagena fans seem to love the guy.

Another notable mention in his CV is the one time he got called up for the Croatia senior team, even if it was for a B team somewhat in a friendly played in China. The more illustrious names that played on the pitch with him that day include Borna Barisic (Glasgow Rangers), Luka Ivanusec (Feyenoord), and Josip Juranovic (Union Berlin).

On paper, this signing is precisely the profile of player we need if we are to wrest the title back and aim for a deep run in ACL2. Tons of experience in a much stronger league than ours, still the right age (30), and making regular appearances.

Earlier this year, there were very strong rumours that the Sailors were in for Ryoya Taniguchi – but it always felt a little off to me. Players like Diego Lopes and Pedro Henrique being allowed to depart, to be replaced by players of the quality of Ryoya? It just seemed unlikely. And that’s not a knock on Ryoya, who is a decent player – it is more of a testament to the scouting and financial ability of the Sailors. Given what we’re capable of, it would have been a downer if we signed someone from within our shores to bolster our defence.

El Sicario – The Hitman

With a nickname like that, we’re expecting Toni to play like Nemanja Vidic or Sergio Ramos. A take-no-prisoners approach to defending, destroying strikers who get near his goal.

So it was pretty funny when he revealed in an interview the origins of his nickname –

“When people first hear the term ‘Sicario’, they often think I’m a dangerous guy,” Toni elaborated “But after getting to know me, everybody says I should have nothing to do with the nickname. 

…

He explained: “When you arrive in Spain and you say that you come from Croatia, everyone’s first thought is that of war. And when I take my clothes off, I have a few scars on my body, so I look a bit like someone who’s always fighting. That’s why my teammates started calling me ‘Sicario’.

– Toni Datković in an interview with the club

It is an excellent interview that delves into Toni’s life, family, and motivations, not just his career, and I’d strongly suggest taking some time out of your day to read it.

So yeah, glad that that’s debunked then, he isn’t a terror on the pitch, it’s just a silly nickname given to him by his teammates, yes?

14 cards in 39 league games. While this does not seem to be characteristic of him if you take his whole career into account, if you keep really quiet, you can already hear Jansen Foo shaking his head, reaching into his pocket, and sending Toni off. In fact, after reading this article, he’s probably already on his way down to Mattar Road now to send him off.

If you’re wondering how that stacks up against our defenders, here you go.

We’ll certainly be hoping he doesn’t carry this card-collecting form into the SPL, and may his debut be less inauspicious than Bailey’s!

To the Left, to the Left

More and more in recent times, clubs all around the world are realising the value of having a left-footed centreback play on the left side of defence. From Gabriel at Arsenal, Lisandro Martinez for Manchester United, to Milos Zlatkovic at Tampines and of course, our own Pedro Henrique last season, we’ve seen plenty of examples of clubs insisting on having a left-footer on the left side of their central defensive duo.

This is of course, a relatively new phenomenon. Cast your mind back to the many iconic defensive duos in the past, and you will see that this wasn’t always the norm. Terry-Carvalho, Pepe-Ramos, Adams-Keown, Campbell-Toure, Ferdinand-Vidic, the list goes on. For the benefit of the unacquainted, let’s see what Erik Ten Hag and Mikel Arteta have to say about why they want a leftie in their defence.

Manchester United recruited Lisandro Martinez from Erik ten Hag’s former club Ajax for £48.5million upfront, with Ten Hag saying left-footed centre-backs have “an advantage in possession… because the left-footed are better orientated on the left side, in possession, you then have better angles for playing out”. Mikel Arteta said left-footed centre-backs give him “more options, more solutions”.

– How tactics impact transfers: Left-footed centre-backs, inverted wingers and ball-playing goalkeepers (Liam Tharme for The Athletic, Jul 4, 2023)

Our Sporting Director, Badri, seemed to confirm this when he said it is “no secret that a left-footed centre-back gives the team the balance and a different dimension in terms of building up play from the back“.

I’d add further that given that having a left-footer also allows the manager an option to field 3 centrebacks in defence, which we did in continental competition last year.

Playing Style

If you’re interested in finding out more about his style as a player, I tried my best to do some research but only managed to find some stats that are inconclusive. Take a look at these stats from his 2022/2023 season with FC Cartegana.

Stats taken from footystats.org

From stats alone, it is impossible to tell for sure what kind of player he is because a defender’s stats are also largely dependent on the style of play his team adopts, and the overall quality around him too. Just as a goalkeeper with a high number of saves might just mean his defence is leaky, Toni’s high number of blocks, clearances, and interceptions may reflect the fact that his team soaks up a lot of pressure.

What is encouraging though is his high pass completion rate relative to the rest of the league, because at the Sailors, he will be required to do more than just defend. He will need to pass the ball out reliably and quickly to help us build from the back. Once again, take these stats with a pinch of salt because they do not tell us what kind of passes he is playing. He may be playing super-safe passes all the time back to the goalkeeper which may not help the team advance, or he may be someone who likes to try long diagonals to the wingers, and given the lower success rate of those passes usually, these may make his numbers seem lower than normal too.

Conclusion

There is not much to go on, but on paper, Toni looks to be a great addition to the squad. The fact that the Cartagena fans almost treat him as a legend also fills me with enthusiasm. Usually such reverence is only given to players who either score a truckload of goals, or bleed their club’s colours. Considering that Toni rarely scores, it is likely that the latter is true, and it is his whole-hearted performances that won the fans over.

Describing himself as a family-oriented guy, I hope the club and Toni are already making plans to bring his family over, so that he can settle better and focus on his football.

Speaking to people in the local football industry, this is an edge that the Sailors usually has over our rivals in the league. Given our bigger budget, we are able to allow our foreign players to have their own apartment, which allows for their family to come over. Other clubs do not have that luxury, and prefer hiring foreigners who are willing to share an apartment with a fellow foreign signing.

Hopefully pre-season allows us a glimpse or two of our exciting new signing in defence.

WELCOME TONI!

Written by Eddy Hirono

Cover Picture courtesy of Lion City Sailors

If you’d like to support the work we do here at SailorFanTalk, you may want to visit https://ko-fi.com/sailorfantalk and leave us a tip!