Spurs Tactics
Article by John CoppinFollow e-Spurs on Twitter here!
There has been a lot of speculation of late regarding the opinion of our coach Tim Sherwood concerning the defensive midfielder. Apparently he shares the view that midfielders must adapt and cover as necessary and there is no need to have a midfield player sit just in front of the back four.
Monday night we witnessed a master class of counter attacking football that blunted the most feared attacking force in the EPL. Jose Mourinho showed that to tackle formidable opponents there must be a master plan which has to be executed and players set up with a designated role and pattern.
We faced the same team with two different managers and two different philosophies and it is fair to say we were taken apart. There is no doubt that the sending off of Rose was at a crucial time; however, Lloris did pull off some amazing saves to keep the score line to 1-0 at that point.
It is admirable that TS has blooded an exceptional youngster in Bentaleb but a manager has to be flexible. He must be meticulous in his planning and know the limitations of his players. Quite simply, that was not the game to throw in this youngster, he was simply over run and there can be no doubt that Capoue or Sandro must be better options when we face teams as formidable as City.
When we played Arsenal in the cup we were over run in midfield and it was hard to witness TS allowing the same thing to happen against a team that scores for fun. They will simply run all over you if you give them the opportunity.
Tim Sherwood is on a steep learning curve and he has been thrown in at the deep end with huge expectations from our fans. Champion’s league football is being demanded and there are 4 teams fighting for that one elusive place. Something has got to give and every time points are dropped there will be a reaction from the fans.
I hope the penny has finally dropped and TS realises that he cannot go gung ho against certain teams. Jose Mourinho showed the importance of changing tactics to gain valuable points by nullifying opponents. He was also able to do this without parking the bus as was expected.
We have midfield players that can press and do the exact same thing. There will be many games where we will be outnumbered in midfield with TS and his preferred 4 4 2 system. I really like the way we were set up against Swansea and thought that was the way to set up against City, simply to deny space to Silva and not let us be outnumbered in the middle of the park.
We have some crunch games coming up and again we must be careful not to be over run in midfield. We cannot repeat this mistake against Everton. It is true that City have more weapons than Everton but if set up correctly and not the 4 4 2 system, I am very confident of winning that game.
Soldado at the moment is off the pace, and his work rate and ball retention in that system does not help the team. This is not a call to return to a boring, methodical brand of football but it was emphasised again last night that an extra man is needed in midfield in the modern game.
Also, how important it is to have people who will protect and win back the ball. The so called holding or defensive midfielder will not go away, and results have to be gained sometimes rather than being romantic and expecting results to be obtained without a plan that is rigidly followed.
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I wouldn't use City v Chelsea as an example. City were forced through injury to play a completely inadequate line up considering the quality of their opposition and did well to lose only 0-1. With Aguerro and a decent midfield it would have been a much closer game. Spurs played City in completely different circumstances and City were 100% better. DeMichelis not only slowed their attack right down but he was hopeless as a defensive midfielder too. How many defensive midfielders did Spurs play against Liverpool at home? Perhaps that should be included. No, it's the players, not the formation.
ReplyDeletePlaying the City match with Bentaleb and Dembele was absolutely CRAZY and exposed the back 4. Mourinho was clever in his set up and used Ruis as the spare CB and with Matic as the main holding midfielder to blunt Toure's dominance in the mid field. In modern football, you cant have passengers like Spurs parade with Dawson and Benteleb against top teams. TS needs to learn fast and from Mourinho strategy against a team he described as "out of this planet"
ReplyDeleteTim should understand that now is not the time to adapt rookies into the 1st team; its crazy playing Bentaleb whilst Capoue warms the bench, he must also realize that Dembele with all his skills cant hold, his role is further up the pitch where he can do damage with his runs. A good coach must always play his strongest team.
ReplyDeleteHope to see a similar approach to the Swansea game. Erickson playing off Adebayor and dropping back into central midfield when Spurs lose the ball. Everton are a good side and Spurs will need Bentaleb or Capoue sitting deep.
ReplyDeletedawson has been a passenger a few years now, about 10. won't get anywhere with him
ReplyDelete