LukeBB
Well-Known Member
- Aug 4, 2013
- 488
- 1,793
The new one vs Chicago has been written up and published here: http://www.thetottenhamway.com/2014/07/27/pochettino-pre-season-chicago-fire-spurs/
I was just wondering whether you guys want me to post the full piece on here like I have done the previous two or, because I will be doing them regularly over the course of next season, just keep posting the links to them in my own thread? This is because I feel like those at thetottenhamway.com deserve more hits as they reached out to me first and then I'm not constantly creating threads with similar titles which means some people may miss out on reading them. Any suggestions?
Anyway here's the full article:
New dynamic
Spurs kicked off the final game of their US tour with a familiar looking 4-2-3-1 shape. Pochettino tested out a new dynamic in attack, seeing how Lamela would interchange with Townsend, Holtby and Kane. Capoue started his third consecutive game and Mason and Veljkovic were given a chance to shine due to injuries to Carroll and Fryers.
With every match, the evidence is growing that Pochettino is rapidly leaving his mark on the team. Throughout the match, constant communication, including signals, between the players to trigger the high press and to switch the ball from one flank to the other was evident.
Lamela was again handed the central/right-wing forward role ahead of Holtby, while Townsend was given a chance to show what he could do on the left. Holtby seemed to take it upon himself to trigger the high press, chasing down CBs with great tenacity and, for the second game in a row, this led to a goal. Holtby nicked the ball away from an opposition player after a poor first touch and then layed it on a plate for a grateful Harry Kane to put us 1-0 up within 5 minutes.
Defensive set-up
This game saw a slight change in how we took the ball away from defence in the build-up phase of play. In the game against Toronto, the two CBs frequently split to the edges of the 18-yard area with Capoue or Carroll slotting in between them to create a back three. However, this led to us becoming too open at times, especially when Carroll was the central pivot. For this game, the two CBs, Dawson and Veljkovic, largely stayed close together and Mason or Capoue would drop into the area between the CB and the advancing FB. This meant that if possession was conceded cheaply and we found ourselves facing a counter attack, the CBs were already in their natural areas and didn’t have to sprint inwards to close the gap between them. This was especially useful for Dawson, who clearly struggled when he was pushed into the wider areas because he is too slow to recover in an effective manner. Secondly, this gave us a new angle in the build-up play. If the midfield started the build-up in a slightly wider area, this would drag the opposition’s key attacking players away from the dangerous central zones, also providing ample cover for our advancing FBs.
As you can see from the diagram above, the CBs are able to maintain their shape because Mason is picking up the ball in the wider areas; Capoue is providing support for Veljkovic and Mason in the above diagram.
The switch up in build-up, exchanging from a 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3 made it harder for the opposition to create a plan to prevent us building up from the back. This is further evidence of how well Pochettino is communication his ideas to his new squad. He has already taught them various new systems and the players are showing a fantastic willingness to apply what they’ve learnt in training to match situations.
Considering the squad is missing Lloris, Chiriches, Vertonghen, Sandro, Paulinho, Bentaleb, Dembele, Chadli and Adebayor and that this squad has had minimal time to train due to travel commitments, we can be fairly confident that we’ll see a much more organised and creative side by the time the new season rolls around.
Commitment to the high press
Holtby was charged with assisting the build-up by coming deep between Dawson and Walker and therefore creating space for Lamela in the central areas to pick up the ball and run at the opposition defence. Holtby assisting build-up in the wide areas also allowed for Capoue to sit in and marshal the central areas of the pitch, making sure that Dawson and Veljkovic weren’t exposed to a quick counter attack.
For the first half, the boys did very well, showing fantastic commitment to the high press and Lamela was looking bright, picking up the ball in deeper central areas and peppering the Chicago goal with accurate long-range efforts.
The only thing which disappointed me was the attitudes of Walker and Rose; Rose was more concerned with his petty rivalry with the Chicago RB, and Walker seemed to spend a lot of the time on the ground waving his arms in the air or needlessly shielding the ball when he could have moved it on. Townsend was also disappointing, with his passing very poor. Granted it was in very humid conditions but he needs to show a lot of improvement before the new season begins.
Second half
The second half saw a few changes: Lennon, Soldado, Eriksen, Davies and Naughton came on to replace those who needed protecting, such as Lamela and Walker.
In this half we saw a much more interchangeable front three in Eriksen, Holtby and Soldado and the Spaniard’s movement eventually contributing to our second goal. Considering that Davies generally plays a lot more cautiously than Rose, there wasn’t the space for Mason to pick up the ball so a lot of his play was in the advanced central areas, meaning he faded into the second half. Capoue, however, grew in influence in Mason’s absence and on more and more occasions, the Frenchman dropped wide or inside of Dawson to create a back three and we built up in a 3-4-3 shape with Eriksen or Holtby dropping in alongside Mason.
The change to a 3-4-3 build-up allowed Naughton and Fredericks, who are neither the strongest nor most technically gifted FBs, to advance into a lot of space in the wide areas as Lennon and Falque drew the opposition FBs inwards to the central zones. This protected Davies who had to fill in at CB later on in the second half; this is because Capoue is more experienced playing in the central areas of a back line and Capoue moving in between Dawson and Davies allowed Davies to play in a more natural wide area.
We still defended in a 4-4-2/ 4-2-3-1 shape with emphasis being placed on crowding out the central areas of the pitch and for Capoue and Mason to occupy and close down the areas in between the Chicago midfield and attack.
A thing of beauty
The one touch passing and manipulation of space between Soldado and Lennon for the second goal was a thing of beauty.
This move featured quick balls out from the back into the forward men who interchanged with precision and speed in order to create and exploit space and had the markings of a Pochettino team growing in confidence.
The match finished 2-0 to a young Tottenham side, with academy lads McGee, Fredericks & Mason all gaining some invaluable minutes and the likes of Capoue and Dawson completing a solid 90, which will work wonders for their fitness for the season ahead.
This tour was a real ask for the players who’ve had to fit in hours of travelling, commercial activities, training and matches into a hectic one week period but it hasn’t stopped players like Mason, Lamela, Holtby and Soldado shining and youngsters such as Veljkovic, Fredericks and Kane putting in solid performances which will ultimately leave Pochettino with an abundance of options when competing in the long and hard cup competitions next season.
I was just wondering whether you guys want me to post the full piece on here like I have done the previous two or, because I will be doing them regularly over the course of next season, just keep posting the links to them in my own thread? This is because I feel like those at thetottenhamway.com deserve more hits as they reached out to me first and then I'm not constantly creating threads with similar titles which means some people may miss out on reading them. Any suggestions?
Anyway here's the full article:
New dynamic
Spurs kicked off the final game of their US tour with a familiar looking 4-2-3-1 shape. Pochettino tested out a new dynamic in attack, seeing how Lamela would interchange with Townsend, Holtby and Kane. Capoue started his third consecutive game and Mason and Veljkovic were given a chance to shine due to injuries to Carroll and Fryers.
With every match, the evidence is growing that Pochettino is rapidly leaving his mark on the team. Throughout the match, constant communication, including signals, between the players to trigger the high press and to switch the ball from one flank to the other was evident.
Lamela was again handed the central/right-wing forward role ahead of Holtby, while Townsend was given a chance to show what he could do on the left. Holtby seemed to take it upon himself to trigger the high press, chasing down CBs with great tenacity and, for the second game in a row, this led to a goal. Holtby nicked the ball away from an opposition player after a poor first touch and then layed it on a plate for a grateful Harry Kane to put us 1-0 up within 5 minutes.
Defensive set-up
This game saw a slight change in how we took the ball away from defence in the build-up phase of play. In the game against Toronto, the two CBs frequently split to the edges of the 18-yard area with Capoue or Carroll slotting in between them to create a back three. However, this led to us becoming too open at times, especially when Carroll was the central pivot. For this game, the two CBs, Dawson and Veljkovic, largely stayed close together and Mason or Capoue would drop into the area between the CB and the advancing FB. This meant that if possession was conceded cheaply and we found ourselves facing a counter attack, the CBs were already in their natural areas and didn’t have to sprint inwards to close the gap between them. This was especially useful for Dawson, who clearly struggled when he was pushed into the wider areas because he is too slow to recover in an effective manner. Secondly, this gave us a new angle in the build-up play. If the midfield started the build-up in a slightly wider area, this would drag the opposition’s key attacking players away from the dangerous central zones, also providing ample cover for our advancing FBs.
As you can see from the diagram above, the CBs are able to maintain their shape because Mason is picking up the ball in the wider areas; Capoue is providing support for Veljkovic and Mason in the above diagram.
The switch up in build-up, exchanging from a 3-4-3 to a 4-3-3 made it harder for the opposition to create a plan to prevent us building up from the back. This is further evidence of how well Pochettino is communication his ideas to his new squad. He has already taught them various new systems and the players are showing a fantastic willingness to apply what they’ve learnt in training to match situations.
Considering the squad is missing Lloris, Chiriches, Vertonghen, Sandro, Paulinho, Bentaleb, Dembele, Chadli and Adebayor and that this squad has had minimal time to train due to travel commitments, we can be fairly confident that we’ll see a much more organised and creative side by the time the new season rolls around.
Commitment to the high press
Holtby was charged with assisting the build-up by coming deep between Dawson and Walker and therefore creating space for Lamela in the central areas to pick up the ball and run at the opposition defence. Holtby assisting build-up in the wide areas also allowed for Capoue to sit in and marshal the central areas of the pitch, making sure that Dawson and Veljkovic weren’t exposed to a quick counter attack.
For the first half, the boys did very well, showing fantastic commitment to the high press and Lamela was looking bright, picking up the ball in deeper central areas and peppering the Chicago goal with accurate long-range efforts.
The only thing which disappointed me was the attitudes of Walker and Rose; Rose was more concerned with his petty rivalry with the Chicago RB, and Walker seemed to spend a lot of the time on the ground waving his arms in the air or needlessly shielding the ball when he could have moved it on. Townsend was also disappointing, with his passing very poor. Granted it was in very humid conditions but he needs to show a lot of improvement before the new season begins.
Second half
The second half saw a few changes: Lennon, Soldado, Eriksen, Davies and Naughton came on to replace those who needed protecting, such as Lamela and Walker.
In this half we saw a much more interchangeable front three in Eriksen, Holtby and Soldado and the Spaniard’s movement eventually contributing to our second goal. Considering that Davies generally plays a lot more cautiously than Rose, there wasn’t the space for Mason to pick up the ball so a lot of his play was in the advanced central areas, meaning he faded into the second half. Capoue, however, grew in influence in Mason’s absence and on more and more occasions, the Frenchman dropped wide or inside of Dawson to create a back three and we built up in a 3-4-3 shape with Eriksen or Holtby dropping in alongside Mason.
The change to a 3-4-3 build-up allowed Naughton and Fredericks, who are neither the strongest nor most technically gifted FBs, to advance into a lot of space in the wide areas as Lennon and Falque drew the opposition FBs inwards to the central zones. This protected Davies who had to fill in at CB later on in the second half; this is because Capoue is more experienced playing in the central areas of a back line and Capoue moving in between Dawson and Davies allowed Davies to play in a more natural wide area.
We still defended in a 4-4-2/ 4-2-3-1 shape with emphasis being placed on crowding out the central areas of the pitch and for Capoue and Mason to occupy and close down the areas in between the Chicago midfield and attack.
A thing of beauty
The one touch passing and manipulation of space between Soldado and Lennon for the second goal was a thing of beauty.
This move featured quick balls out from the back into the forward men who interchanged with precision and speed in order to create and exploit space and had the markings of a Pochettino team growing in confidence.
The match finished 2-0 to a young Tottenham side, with academy lads McGee, Fredericks & Mason all gaining some invaluable minutes and the likes of Capoue and Dawson completing a solid 90, which will work wonders for their fitness for the season ahead.
This tour was a real ask for the players who’ve had to fit in hours of travelling, commercial activities, training and matches into a hectic one week period but it hasn’t stopped players like Mason, Lamela, Holtby and Soldado shining and youngsters such as Veljkovic, Fredericks and Kane putting in solid performances which will ultimately leave Pochettino with an abundance of options when competing in the long and hard cup competitions next season.
