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Play With Your Heart Not a Heat Map

6 min read
by The Fighting Cock
Heat maps, arrows and stats, overreaction, followed by under reaction. Inverted wingers, congestion and ball retention. Moving it quick, switching play, deep lying playmaker, sweeper keepers, false nines, false tens, false fans and phony wars. The why on the Y-word, the smoke bombs, the attempted murder of Hugo, the lack of atmosphere, a social media […]

Heat maps, arrows and stats, overreaction, followed by under reaction. Inverted wingers, congestion and ball retention. Moving it quick, switching play, deep lying playmaker, sweeper keepers, false nines, false tens, false fans and phony wars.

sistine-chapel-michelangelo-paintings-6The why on the Y-word, the smoke bombs, the attempted murder of Hugo, the lack of atmosphere, a social media war, 1882 vs stewards, season ticket holders v 1882, the list goes on. We are only in November, my head is going to explode.

This week as I drove home from work I spotted a young boy covered head to toe in mud, socks around his ankles with his laces trailing along the floor after him telling his mum about the game he had just played. I envied his enthusiasm in the way in which he saw the match and his performance. His mum, coach and other players’ parents would have seen a similar picture, a game devoid of numbers, charts and arrows.

Football in its purest form.

Why can’t we just have a game of football these days? Why do we need heat maps arrows and percentages? Why cant we judge Christian Eriksen for how he played and not by what the numbers tell us?

This may find me ostracised to the Harry Redknapp camp of football, but occasionally its quite nice to have a little sojourn there. It’s a world where you can get back to what made you fall in love with football.

[linequote]His mum, coach and other players parents would have seen a similar picture, a game devoid of numbers, charts and arrows[/linequote]

As a youngster I wasn’t obsessing over Chris Waddle’s or Gazza’s pass completion rate, I wasn’t concerned with Gary Lineker’s link-up play or whether or not Erik “The Viking” played a sweeper keeper role. I was fundamentally a fan of their talent, of their ability to express themselves and their flashes of genius. I wanted to see the white shirt ripple as they ran, the net bulge and Erik make a save.

I understand football has evolved and technology allows us analyse each individual player, but surely there is space within football for the human eye to tell exactly how a player performed?

At White Hart Lane on Sunday Eriksen was poor, you can throw as many stats as you want at me, but it wont hide the fact that he along with many others underperformed.

Clichés have become something of a joke in modern football, but there is a reason why they have transcended generations, they serve a purpose. At the end of the day, when those boys cross the white line, its a funny old game of two halves and it’s what the lads have in their locker and happens on the pitch that counts.

This was true on Sunday, will be true tomorrow and in 2098 when FIFA take the World Cup to Saturn. Stats have become a means by which we can defend or create a narrative, what they cant defend though is the fact that Spurs lost. We have stripped down football so far that we now can only see it through a microscope, the sweat, mud, meat and bones have gone. All that is left are numbers and numbers will never win you a game.

We were defeated by Newcastle not because we played inverted wingers, or played two defensive midfielders, but simply because they scored more than us. We had chances but failed to take them. The players underperformed, they failed to shine, why? Because they did. As depressing as it is, we lost because we weren’t good enough.

[linequote]At the end of the day, when those boys cross the white line, its a funny old game and it’s what the lads have in their locker and happens on the pitch that counts[/linequote]

A lot has been written over the past few days about Erik Lamela and why he should start, what he would offer the team and the difference him and Andros Townsend. An excellent article was submitted to the Fighting Cock which came with stats, heat maps and images explaining why he should start against Man City, and I totally agree, but that isn’t why I would start him.

Lamela has to start because he has that God given gift that one in billions are born with, the ability to do something incredibly glorious with a football. That one gift that separates the few from the many, the gift that I know if I have a son I hope he will have. It’s an art, it can’t be taught, you can’t through osmosis gain it, you have it or you don’t.

I was too young for Pele, Michel Platini and Maradona in his pomp, but I saw Roberto Baggio, Gazza, Zinedine Zidane and now Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi. Try showing them a heat map, it’s like giving Michelangelo PhotoShop, you cant categorise, compartmentalise or define brilliance. It’s unquantifiable, it can’t be explained, it just exists.

At Spurs we are in desperate need of someone who can thrill, who can drop a shoulder, roll the ball and have us holding our breath. A player with an aura about them, it’s what we grew to love, it’s in part what makes us Spurs fans. Gareth Bale for all his brilliance was power, strength, pace and directness, he was a T-800, an extremely effective Terminator but limited in his ability to captivate, create or express football artistry.

[linequote]It’s like giving Michelangelo PhotoShop, you cant categorise, compartmentalise or define brilliance. It’s unquantifiable, it can’t be explained, it just exists[/linequote]

Glenn Hoddle, a player I regret daily being too young to fully appreciate is the antithesis of what Bale was. He was all about instinct and vision, he is the Obi-Wan to Bale the Cyberdyne System. Hoddle is the same DNA strand as Lamela, I see it in the Argentine, I feel it in him. Watch him move gracefully through players, go through his YouTube catalogue, think back to the Sheriff game where he started to show himself. His time is now and I don’t need a stat or heat map to tell me that, you feel it.

To often we duck behind a graphic or number to prove a point or we blame a formation or AVB’s rigidity. What Spurs need to get back to is the simple romanticism of football. Push and run, go down the outside, try something unexpected, play with the heart and the gut. Leave the stats, the heat maps and arrows aside for a minute and express yourself.

As Spurs fans this also applies to us as well. The next time you are at the Lane, in front of a TV, laptop or radio support from your heart, not your head. Forget about what the stats say, forget about how tactical tweaks can make a difference and just support. It’s football and it is time we got back to appreciating it’s simplistic nature, its not rocket science after all.

[author name=”ARLombardi” avatar=”https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000190788876/b1d0a1120760e39338a815ea5827d7f8.jpeg” twitter=”ARLombardi” website=”arlombardi.com” tag=”ARLombardi[/linequote]

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

5 Comments

  1. OFFICERdribble
    15/11/2013 @ 10:14 am

    What a beautifully written article.

    I will state from the outset that I have made a decision. I have given him time but I am now not a fan of All Very Boring. He has rebuilt the team from last season but we continue to play the most conservative and ponderous of football – a repetition of what we saw last year. The question for spurs fans is thus: do you want success at the expense of being entertained? By success we might still only be talking about 4th or 5th place in the league.

    Watching us play this season hurts – I just keep going back in my mind to the way we played during our Champions League run – I will never forget it – simply breathtaking.

    So here’s the rub …. Harry v A.V.B – the motivator v the thinker. I know it’s not as simple as that – or is it?

    My opinion – A.V.B has the players on the tightest of tactical leashes – particularly in midfield – that they have forgotten to play in the moment – to express themselves – it’s all in their heads – they are playing with fear – fear that if they don’t do what they are supposed to then next game they will be on the bench. Even if they are good little boys they will probably be still on the bench due to over-rotation.

    A.V.B sees himself as the most important person at the club – it’s his tinkering and foresight that will make the difference – the players are just pawns in his game.

    ‘Give him time’ I hear you say – ‘he’s young and he’s learning’. In business would you employ someone with little experience and bung them 100 million – I think not. And anyway I’m not a football manager and it’s obvious to me that you can’t play a high line defense with and slow center back – you can’t identify a problem at left back the previous season, sign no one and let said left back out on loan. I could go on and on but that’s not the point of why I am writing this.

    For all his tactical shortcomings the one thing that Harry was good at was making players feel special – to get them to play for him – for the club – for the fans.

    FCUK the tactical ‘genius’ – F.R.R.A.B………………….

    Sure I want to win – but I also want to be excited about my team. Southampton can do it, Swansea can do it!

    Remember – we are Spurs – ‘To Dare Is To Do’.

  2. Spurgatso
    15/11/2013 @ 11:43 am

    Totally agree with the article and the above comment,I have been saying this for a long time now,Stats can mean what you want them to mean,we had I believe 70% of possesion on Sunday,but lost !With avb, to me, what you get in the can is inferior to whats on the can.I never have been a fan of watching chess,but we are getting at the moment is akin to it.Lets have some attacking intent,like you said it aint rocket science its just skill and desire.

  3. IgotRAVBeees
    15/11/2013 @ 6:01 pm

    I can’t believe Im saying this but we are shit to watch. Absolute SHITE. Depressing. I actually speak to my mates like AVB nowadays when the mere mention of Spurs comes up. Monotonous, defensive, depressing, 1,000 yard stare. Think Im gonna kill myself.

  4. Gareth
    17/11/2013 @ 2:48 pm

    It’s tough, isn’t it? Despite the slightly turgid football, we’ve had for all intents and purposes a great start to the season. However, does this “paper over the cracks” or signify that AVB’s trying to make us tough to beat? It could well be that soon, once we get used to playing his system, we’ll start expressing ourselves a little. Results like Sunday hurt, but let us also consider the Chelsea game; in seasons past that would have been a foregone Chelsea victory. Although we faded, we were fantastic in the first half. Now teams have worked out how to play us, AVB *should* be able to combat this. If he hasn’t managed this by Christmas I will also lose my faith in the man.

    We are in dire need of Lamela, because we don’t seem to have anyone who can read the game. Or even look around for a pass. Townsend is Mr Spurs, but he needs to stop blazing it over from distance. I get that he’s played out of position though, so I’ll not be overly critical of someone who gives everything he has when the shirt is on.

    Loaning out Benny was madness, proven by how a stubbed toe has crippled us. Not jettisoning Ade is biting us in the arse, because JD is no plan B (sorry Andre, but he isn’t). Play him or get rid in January.

    Thank goodness there’s this international break. After two consecutive international defeats (spare a thought for me – I’m living in Germany and will have to watch it with my buddies over here, and we will be well beaten), we’ll be clamouring for some Spurs! The next two matches could change the opinions of many of the negative posters. Then again, if we sit on the halfway line passing it side to side then maybe waiting for Christmas isn’t the answer.

  5. Message to ARL
    17/11/2013 @ 5:29 pm

    You are simply wrong in your statement that we didn’t lose because we played inverted wingers and two defensive midfielders. We 100% did lose because of this. The folly of playing two defensive midfielders was corrected at half time and with Sandro we don’t concede so Newcastle would have not have scored had we started with him (and if you don’t concede you can’t lose so what you say is utter nonsense). Also, when we play inverted wingers (boring) we become one-trick ponies as they always go sideways into the centre and most of the chances created are very similar and therefore easy to defend against, Krul just stood in the centre of his goal and waited for the shots to come towards him. Now, imagine if our wide players had attacked down the flanks and crossed using their stronger foot? Balls being whipped in are extremely difficult to defend against. Soldado would have scored if we hadn’t played with inverted wingers. In summary, with one defensive midfielder and no inverted wingers we would have scored and not conceded so we lost for exactly the reasons you said we didn’t. Keep up Mr Lombardi, your writing style is always beautiful but content is always poor.

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