Liverpool's 3-0 victory at White Hart Lane last week was the third time they have beaten us in a row without conceding. Where exactly do we keep going wrong? And will we get better in time? A debut article by Liam Keyes
Where do we keep going wrong?
When AVB first came to England he spoke about a footballing philosophy. Which involved trying to implement a high line, he failed. A season later, now at Tottenham, he guided them to a point off top four which seemed to suggest that it was more a case of wrong players than necessarily wrong tactics at Chelsea. Really though, it probably just showed that having Gareth Bale in your team not only makes up for the team’s limitations but his penchant for late winning goals validated AVB’s game plan.
AVB had many problems post-Bale, with injuries and an unwanted scattergun transfer policy among them, but if faced with injuries alter your tactics. It’s not like the high line was raking in the goals and Tottenham only enjoyed having the best defence (statistically speaking) for a very brief period. Having a set philosophy is great but you’ve to make sure you’ve got the players to make it work first, otherwise it makes you look naive.
AVB’s tactical inflexibility meant that faced with injuries and a Suarez-Sturridge-Sterling forward line, the ever-present high line remained with Dawson and Capoue at centre back. Just like in the 6-0 defeat to City, defensive errors meant a shaky start turned into one nil, then two and yet the high line continued. The attack minded Holtby replaced the injured Sandro on 31 minutes, Paulinho was sent off and Townsend replaced Dembele. The game ended five nil and perhaps it “only” reached that figure because tiredness meant the high line couldn’t be continued. Just like against Man City, Tottenham only ever seemed set up to score goals when it was already too late.
[linequote]From a manager whose tactics were frustratingly rigid, to a manager who seemed to use no discernible tactics at all[/linequote]
AVB repeatedly failed to learn his lesson regarding Dawson but a sit-down rather than being sacked would have sufficed, especially because of what came next. Daniel Levy in his infinite wisdom, decided to go from a manager whose tactics were frustratingly rigid, to a manager who seemed to use no discernible tactics at all.
Sherwood to his credit, got Adebayor scoring and won five of his first six league games, but the defence was still fragile thanks to the jugular-striking attacking play which was exposed by the usual suspects and then finally by Liverpool.
As a kid, constructing a dream team would consist of shoehorning four attacking players into a midfield which would make the Galácticos post-Makelele laugh. In real life though, it tends to be safer not to. Proving that he understood this and that he’d taken on board his previous mistakes, Sherwood cunningly decided to select a midfield of Sigurdsson, Bentaleb, Lennon, Eriksen and Chadli away to Liverpool.
What’s risky against the likes of WBA (which resulted in going 2-0 in five minutes later on in the season) is an invitation for the big teams. Yes, defensive midfielders don’t prevent crushing defeats but when you’ve got a team hell bent on picking up red cards and/or making defensive errors they tend to help, and while Eriksen out on the left worked offensively, it wasn’t so great for Danny Rose.
Sherwood not only didn’t learn from his own mistakes, but he also didn’t learn from AVB’s mistakes. After his own error-riddled attempt at beating Liverpool resulted in a 4-0 defeat, Sherwood followed it up by admitting that he didn’t re-watch the AVB Liverpool defeat, you know, to try and learn from it.
[linequote]On MOTD that night, Arsenal’s extra time victory at home to a manager-less Crystal Palace was deemed to have shown grit, but Tottenham’s was down to luck[/linequote]
As Tottenham continued in their quest to go from best defence in Europe to the one which made the most individual errors resulting in a goal (21 out of 51 by the way), Sherwood’s now pundit ex-team mates used his win percentage to show that he had righted a sinking ship, completely overlooking the fact that Sherwood was partly responsible for the instability and that there’s a difference between a win and a win which is remotely comfortable.
Mauricio Pochettino took over and his appointment was welcomed by Tottenham fans because (i) he wasn’t Tim Sherwood (ii) his Southampton team played some of the best football in the league and (iii) Sherwood’s role as a glorified interim manager had allowed Levy to take time to actually consider his next appointment.
With assurances of being given time, and with a positive pre-season and a transfer policy which targeted the specific needs of the squad behind him, Pochettino had given fans a quiet optimism. Unfortunately that hope died before half time against a West Ham side that Tottenham hadn’t beaten in three.
Kyle Naughton took charge of fulfilling the giving-away-a-penalty-and-getting-a-controversial-red-card-role which the defence had been fighting over last season and yet, the team broke with tradition and didn’t crumble. They had luck in the form of a missed penalty, a Collins red card and Carlton Cole being upfront for West Ham, but Dier’s extra time winner changed the narrative. On MOTD that night, Arsenal’s extra time victory at home to a manager-less Crystal Palace was deemed to have shown grit, but Tottenham’s was down to luck; harsh but it didn’t matter, a ten-man hiding had been avoided.
Wins against AEL Limossol and QPR followed and then, once again, came Liverpool. With a Suarez-less Liverpool still trying to bed in new players, Pochettino and his players had the opportunity to show that they had learned their lessons from their 9-0 aggregate defeat last season. In the end though, Tottenham were once again comprehensively beaten at home.
[linequote]Had it been a lesser side, they may not have paid for their mistakes the narrative would be a whole lot different[/linequote]
It may have “only” been by three goals this time, but the game was again lost because of individual, unforced errors resulting in early goals and penalties. Liverpool harried and pressed, as they did last season and there were the usual what if moments; it all just felt very familiar. It was better than last year, especially the first half, but as commentator Niall Quinn kept pointing out, the attacking play was frustratingly stale; in fact the 62% possession resulting in only one shot on target would suggest, at times, it was AVB level stale.
Pochettino will hope that the signing of Federico Fazio at Kaboul’s expense will go some way to make up for the culture of mistake-making which continues to plague his defence. But it’s also important to remember that this is a team still getting used to its manager’s brand of football, and as pointed out on MOTD, perhaps Liverpool, rather than being a great chance to right last season’s wrongs, simply came too early.
Had it been a lesser side, they may not have paid for their mistakes and the narrative, just like against West Ham, would be a whole lot different. It was a disappointment but if Pochettino is given time (just like Rodgers needed), then he has every chance of being able to successfully implement his own philosophy with not a Dawson high line in sight.
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.
15 Comments
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04/09/2014 @ 3:56 pm
Spurs will improve ( In time ) I can’t see you getting Champions League football this season,but with time you just might evolve into a good side.The gulf in class between the current top 4 and below will only grow,especially as with the BBC taking over the CL next season ( Each club involved will get an extra £30.000.000 Pounds ) Hence the reason manure our trying too buy their way back into the BIGTIME,and if they don’t manage it they might truely start too fold.City Chelsea Liverpool Arsenal will probably make up the Top 4 again this season,only manure can break into it…
04/09/2014 @ 3:56 pm
For as long as Levy keeps sacking managers within 3-6 months of the summer transfer windows, we will continue to flounder. It’s not rocket science. I’m amazed he continues to keep getting away with it. Poch is going to take a while to get this squad playing his way and to bring in his preferred type of players. We effectively tore up the blue-print and started again this summer, just as we’ve done countless times during the Prem era.
04/09/2014 @ 3:59 pm
As you say, it’s so early in the manager’s tenure it’s difficult to read too much into it and criticise. We will lose some games that’s a fact of life, the key is to just get over it quickly and not let the negativity (I’m talking about fans here) creep in.
04/09/2014 @ 4:16 pm
Pochettino is your best manager in a while, but like you said about Rodgers, he will need time. Spurs have always had a very attacking football philosophy, but to qualify for CL you may just have to concentrate on defence a bit more, and find that elusive 25-goal striker. Realistically, you are not going to finish in front of Chelsea or City any time soon, so you have to overhaul Arsenal and Liverpool as well as contend with Man U and Everton who could challenge you even for 5th or 6th. Spurs fans seem a bit like LFC fans in the last few seasons in terms of overly-high expectations. We (LFC) made it last season and I am confident that we can make it to top-4 this season also, but before that we were a bit delusional. For Spurs it will be next season at the earliest, and maybe not even then. The question is, will Levy sack Pochettino at the end of next season if you ‘only’ make 5th?
04/09/2014 @ 4:52 pm
The prolific striker is the key. Without Suarez and/or Sturridge, you wouldn’t have made top 4. Other than Bale, who was a one-off, I seriously can’t recall the last time we had a goalscoring machine (Lineker, Klinnsman, Allen..??)
04/09/2014 @ 4:29 pm
I think it will take some tweaking in the Jan transfer window and another summer transfer window activity for Poch to put together a team that will fit his philosophy and style. Hopefully, Levy will back him and give him time as the granting of a 5-yr contract (which is a break from prior managerial contract terms at Spurs) would suggest. The best we can hope for is a more solid defense and more attractive/attacking football to be put in place this season with hopefully some cup runs. Expect 5th or 6th again. We will need Lady Luck in a big way to make it all the way in the Europa League but that would be an ideal outcome and back door way to get CL football next season but in my view ok more than a 10% probability.
04/09/2014 @ 4:41 pm
On paper it looked like we were mauled by Liverpool again. Not so. I personally think the scoreline flattered them. Lloris’ bizarre penchant to gift possession caused the first goal; the second was a rookie mistake to gift a penalty; and the third was a combination of Townsend and no full back in sight gifting Moreno a clear run at goal. We were not overrun by them like last year. Despite this loss, I believe there are more reasons to feel optimistic than in recent seasons.
04/09/2014 @ 5:15 pm
Sorry David Patten but it was a comfortable win for Liverpool, they coasted after the second goal , Balotelli should have scored with at least one of his chances and Sterling should have got a second goal.
Dier should have been sent off for 3 bookable offences and one shot on target at home is pretty dire.
04/09/2014 @ 5:30 pm
I don’t know if you were present against Liverpool both times but I was and can tell you that David Patten is right.
Spurs were turned over last season, were very poor and deserved a drubbing. This year was completely different as the stats show. Apart from the first 15-20 mins Liverpool parked the bus.
Apart from one or two that didn’t turn up on the day Spurs performance was a whole lot better than last year.
The club have hopefully added some grit and aggression in the transfer window and I’d predict a much better result against Liverpool at Anfeild later in this years campaign.
04/09/2014 @ 4:45 pm
Spot on. Sums it all up nicely.
04/09/2014 @ 6:36 pm
The only thing we are lacking then is the arrogant omniscience of your certitude.
04/09/2014 @ 6:42 pm
Good article and interesting comments. There is a fair degree of optimism around. I don’t quite see things like that. I suspect this will have been a very poor window that has shut tight till January. As a direct result of that I do not expect Tottenham to get through the league campaign and to finish in the top six. If Pochittino manages to get Tottenham into the top six I feel he will have done very well indeed.
Other teams have strengthened significantly. Tottenham haven’t. Whatever Levy and Pochittino are thinking about for this season with the squad at hand they are in for a rude awakening in my opinion. However, I would be a very happy Tottenham supporter to be proven wrong. That should be obvious because I would love to end up thinking and feeling that the squad did well enough to get back into Europe.
I am inclined to hope with Halabil about the Europa League and am with Deefer and his comment.
I think a lot depends on Dembele staying fit and playing well while the newcomers can make a difference. These are hopes rather than convictions. Eriksen has a reputation of doing disappearing tricks but his best position is where Lamela is being played and never wide. Lamela is a super talent and I like Chadli as an all round footballer too. But it must be stressed as this article states that its a very difficult task for Adebayor being alone up front.
If Tottenham are to score enough goals somehow another player must share that work load up front with Adebayor. That would make a major difference! It would have to be a suitable partner. Bony would have been a serious addition and Welbeck would likely have been as well. As things stand, I would go with either Soldado or Chadli to be played up front for a run of games. It may seem risky but it’s still in my opinion the best chance Tottenham have got? This season maybe it could work?
05/09/2014 @ 6:47 am
Consistency! Lack of a 60k stadium! Prolific goal scoring strikers! A fear of no club, win win win attitude! Bleeding Referees! COYS!
05/09/2014 @ 12:58 pm
The complexity within technical football is evident when a group of players and manager begin their new journey: (if you’re AVB, then it’s probably project still). The most frustrating period for a fan is probably witnessing that some players lack the intelligence to fulfil their duty, some fitness, and perhaps in today’s financial world, even those who glaringly look lost within their own mindset due to the grass might be greener elsewhere syndrome.
For many watching Spurs, the combined frustrations lead to hands upon heads, followed by an upward gaze towards the chairmen, after all, he is there to run the club correctly, right? He’ll look rather dapper and comfortable, peering down from his throne, (well ok, it’s probably row A seat one, but you get the point). With a glint in his eye that says, it’s ok, I’m with you, we are getting it right, we, the fans, will relax. I mean let’s face it, what more can we do.
You’ll probably hear around this time the murmurs of spectators as they cry, “where is the future of the club destined, if the present looks somewhat dishevelled, as Sterling misses a sitter after running around the whole Tottenham team, down Tottenham high street to get a pizza and back again before anyone catches up with him. It’s easy to be told the plans in place are fruitful, adventurous, and will elevate the prospect of success, but it’s hard to take when you’re becoming known as three point lane to all your friends in Liverpool.
So what’s our answer? Well it’s ok guys, I’ll let you into a secret, Levy has a plan…..
05/09/2014 @ 2:50 pm
fair play to Liverpool, they beat us again at the weekend, but these things happen and we move on.. Don’t forget from 2008 – 2012 we beat them at the Lane 5 years on the bounce. Football has gone so insane with money hunger and instant expectations. and now a days, any team is only one defeat from a crisis. Guess at least we won’t have to listen to idiots keep going on about 100m spent and what a waster Lamela is, this season. Liverpool and United will be in the firing line this season with the investments they have made… Hope we can go under the radar this season and build up some proper team spirit. COYS