Krafty
Well-Known Member
- May 26, 2004
- 4,781
- 2,108
What is our biggest flaw at the moment? Average players? Lack of real squad depth? Emmanuel Adebayor?
Like most things in life, there is no one reason why Tottenham are not playing as well as they can and should. Some players are performing well individually but great performance comes when the collective works together, when the team is better than the sum of its parts.
A 4-2-3-1 can work very well, like any formation given the right circumstances. However what strikes me about Pochettino's current set up is that there is not enough individual responsibility, and not enough fluidity to establish collective responsibility. Basically, while the players seem to get on well with each other, they are not operating as a team.
Full backs get exposed, the defence gets over run, the central midfielders are isolated, attackers are not supported, and Kane can be on his own. In both attack and defence we can look a man short (even before Vlad or Fazio get sent off), and while I totally believe Poch needs time and to get his own players, that he has not been able to get some semblance of cohesion with his preferred starting XI nor shown willingness to try a different formation and tactics.
The key area
Midfield starts and supports the attack, and helps the defence stop the opposition. Too often we have two players in this key area, often outnumbered at least 3 vs 2, sometimes more when the opponent's wide or forward players drop deep.
Not an issue as Poch wants us to press from the front, but the team is too rigid in this respect. Eriksen, Chadli and Lamela do not push right up with Kane to press the opposition back to their keeper. Nor do they drop back and help the two central midfielders or the defence. Because we aren't pressing properly, Mason and Bentaleb are afraid to leave the defence, but neither takes responsibility for being THE shield for the defence while the other pushes up to help the pressing.
Once our four forward players, neither being balls out attackers nor midfielders who try to support a loan striker, are bypassed/don't bother to track back, its the opposition versus our back 4 and two central midfielders.
The full backs get pulled wider than they should because they are the only person who is in the vicinity of the oppo's winger/wide forward, the central midfielders get pulled here and there trying to close down those in possession before its too late while also trying to fill in the now gaping holes around our centre backs, while the centre backs panic because they can't drop back - what's the point, they will be the only two players who are dropping back - and they can't play offside because there is so much space for the opposition to run and pass into.
End result
Going forward, we've been alright - we can be better, especially against very defensive sides. More players need to commit themselves forward, while one of the central midfielders (probably Bentaleb unless we get a true deep lying playmaker) has to be the pivot from which the other midfielders and attackers work from.
Defensively, we are increasingly a shambles, liable to a collective and individual cock up and I believe this is because there is not enough confidence or plain understanding of how we are meant to defend, as a team, in pairs/sectors/individually. Panic sets in, we are not playing intuitively but having to react, and when you have little time to think against high quality opposition you will get exposed before you know it.
Each player needs to know their role, each group (defence, midfield, attack) needs to know their role, and the team as a whole has to know their role. That requires time, and I'm willing to give Poch time, but its something I need to see progressing when we kick off the next season. A squad that is....better, to put it simply, should help, but I hope Poch also grows into the role and his methods are both the right ones, and work.
COYS!
Like most things in life, there is no one reason why Tottenham are not playing as well as they can and should. Some players are performing well individually but great performance comes when the collective works together, when the team is better than the sum of its parts.
A 4-2-3-1 can work very well, like any formation given the right circumstances. However what strikes me about Pochettino's current set up is that there is not enough individual responsibility, and not enough fluidity to establish collective responsibility. Basically, while the players seem to get on well with each other, they are not operating as a team.
Full backs get exposed, the defence gets over run, the central midfielders are isolated, attackers are not supported, and Kane can be on his own. In both attack and defence we can look a man short (even before Vlad or Fazio get sent off), and while I totally believe Poch needs time and to get his own players, that he has not been able to get some semblance of cohesion with his preferred starting XI nor shown willingness to try a different formation and tactics.
The key area
Midfield starts and supports the attack, and helps the defence stop the opposition. Too often we have two players in this key area, often outnumbered at least 3 vs 2, sometimes more when the opponent's wide or forward players drop deep.
Not an issue as Poch wants us to press from the front, but the team is too rigid in this respect. Eriksen, Chadli and Lamela do not push right up with Kane to press the opposition back to their keeper. Nor do they drop back and help the two central midfielders or the defence. Because we aren't pressing properly, Mason and Bentaleb are afraid to leave the defence, but neither takes responsibility for being THE shield for the defence while the other pushes up to help the pressing.
Once our four forward players, neither being balls out attackers nor midfielders who try to support a loan striker, are bypassed/don't bother to track back, its the opposition versus our back 4 and two central midfielders.
The full backs get pulled wider than they should because they are the only person who is in the vicinity of the oppo's winger/wide forward, the central midfielders get pulled here and there trying to close down those in possession before its too late while also trying to fill in the now gaping holes around our centre backs, while the centre backs panic because they can't drop back - what's the point, they will be the only two players who are dropping back - and they can't play offside because there is so much space for the opposition to run and pass into.
End result
Going forward, we've been alright - we can be better, especially against very defensive sides. More players need to commit themselves forward, while one of the central midfielders (probably Bentaleb unless we get a true deep lying playmaker) has to be the pivot from which the other midfielders and attackers work from.
Defensively, we are increasingly a shambles, liable to a collective and individual cock up and I believe this is because there is not enough confidence or plain understanding of how we are meant to defend, as a team, in pairs/sectors/individually. Panic sets in, we are not playing intuitively but having to react, and when you have little time to think against high quality opposition you will get exposed before you know it.
Each player needs to know their role, each group (defence, midfield, attack) needs to know their role, and the team as a whole has to know their role. That requires time, and I'm willing to give Poch time, but its something I need to see progressing when we kick off the next season. A squad that is....better, to put it simply, should help, but I hope Poch also grows into the role and his methods are both the right ones, and work.
COYS!
