How to Fix "Broken" Spurs

Let’s play a little game – forget this weekend’s emphatic result and assume for the sake of this exercise that Tottenham Hotspur, a team who once again have the stingiest defense in the league, have been defeated only once in the league, and sit in fifth place in the league, only three points below fourth, are not OK. Let’s accept the case that the team’s underlying numbers are just “meh” and that they trail the top tier clubs in terms of creating good goal scoring chances. For the sake of argument let’s also throw out the team’s injuries as the key source of the “problems” they’ve faced in the first 13 games of the season. The biggest clubs in England have re-loaded after Leicester City’s fairy-tale title win a season ago and poor, cash strapped Tottenham are once again lagging behind. So, what can they do? How do they go up a gear from a decent, well-drilled battering ram into a truly elite big-chance creating title/top 4 contender again? How do they “solve” Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembélé, two ridiculously talented players who, according to some Spurs fans, are playing badly enough to warrant losing their spots in the lineup? How do they mature tactically despite Mauricio Pochettino, a manager who excels at creating team spirit but struggles with tactics and in-game adjustments? Here are three simple fixes that might help kick-start things:

Ditch the usual double-pivot setup against weaker teams

Tottenham’s preferred midfield is a double-pivot with a defensive-minded holder or destroyer (Eric Dier or Victor Wanyama) and Mousa Dembélé in the role of two-way possession defending machine. If the goal is near-total control of the midfield area this is the ideal setup, as both players can absolutely shutdown opposition transitions, and give their more creative attacking teammates the freedom to do their thing further up the field. The problem is that none of the three have the kind of diverse passing range to initiate threatening attacks from deep. By the time Spurs get into the final third, teams are set and ready to defend. Some of that burden therefore naturally falls to the center backs, Jan Vertonghen and, when healthy, Toby Alderweireld. Toby in particular has become a critical part of Tottenham’s attack with his ability to surgically deploy diagonal longballs (while somewhere in the north Michael Dawson weeps silently). His recent absence due to injury has seriously hindered Spurs’ ability to bypass the midfield and connect to their forwards. Eric Dier handles this OK, but with nowhere near the accuracy or skill. Furthermore, Pochettino’s decision to use Dier as the primary right sided backup at center back has had a domino effect, weakening the team’s passing from both defense and midfield, where Wanyama has shown very limited ability beyond playing the simplest passes. The Dembélé/Dier combination is fine, but Dembélé/Wanyama and especially the ill-fated Dier/Wanyama pair gunk up Tottenham’s forward thrust with lots of predictable sideways passes, forcing things wide almost exclusively. Both primary fullbacks, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker, are having a wonderful time under Pochettino, but neither can be relied on for consistently incisive passing or crossing.

One way Spurs could switch this around against teams where control of the midfield is less critical, or easier to manage, would be to replace either Dembélé, or even the holder, with a more progressive passer. The two obvious candidates are Harry Winks, who recently made his first league start and appears to have won the manager’s trust, or long-forgotten Tom Carroll, who for all his physical limitations can play a more thoughtful, creative passing game. Another option would be to move Christian Eriksen deeper, into the pivot, a role he has occasionally played, and one that worked extremely well in Spurs’ biggest win of the season against Manchester City. Eriksen will never be a physically imposing presence, but his willingness to defend has improved immeasurably in recent seasons and it’s clear he could hold his own.Using a deep-lying passer would theoretically allow Tottenham to operate less dependently on their fullbacks and play more central forward passes. Getting a more dynamic passer on the ball early would also allow the attack to move faster and take advantage of less settled defenses.

Rein in the movement of the attacking band

One of the distinctive features of Mauricio Pochettino’s tactical system when things are running smoothly is a fluid, flexible forward line with short, quick passing and a ton of interchange and movement. Spurs attackers are almost impossible to track when you have no idea where any of them are going to be at a given moment. The one constant is a compact, narrow shape that allows for the kind of intricate interplay the manager prefers. The problem is when things aren’t clicking, and the whole thing becomes a big ole disjointed mess. Unpredictability is great until Spurs are the ones who don’t know where any of their teammates are going to be at a given moment. Passes go awry, runs go unnoticed, and suddenly there doesn’t seem to be any space at all. It’s times like these when television pundits will accuse Spurs of overcomplicating things and start shouting about width and getting crosses in – and for Pete’s sake nobody wants that. As a temporary fix, Pochettino should consider setting up with a more rigid formation to allow the team to rediscover some rhythm, especially when they aren’t able to field consistent lineups. While it might inhibit some of Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen’s wackier tendencies, keeping thing simple might help them regain some of that mythical “confidence” that seems to have been lacking recently. It might also dissuade Spurs from taking the kind of lazy potshots from distance they often resort to when they run out of ideas.

Do…nothing

OK, I cheated here, but c’mon they SMOKED Swansea on Saturday.

Actually, it’s pretty plausible that 90% of the problems Spurs have faced this season are down to injuries (and poor pre-season planning to address them). While Dembélé missing time at the beginning of the season was down to suspension, not injury, he’s struggled to get back up to speed and dealt with minor niggles along the way. Spurs have missed all of Hugo Lloris, Harry Kane, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Erik Lamela, Dele Alli and Ben Davies at various points since day one, and the domino effect of backups playing, or starters playing in different positions, has significantly disrupted their momentum. You need look no further than last season, when Tottenham went basically untouched for several months and were able to roll out a consistent lineup every week despite having zero depth at several crucial positions. Or for a more contemporary example look at Chelsea, who have been unchanged throughout their dominant run of consecutive victories. So injuries have hurt, and the problem has been compounded by Pochettino’s struggle to adequately replicate his winning formula with reserves. Spurs’ summer signings are an obvious culprit. Although Wanyama has fit in almost seamlessly, Vincent Janssen, bless his heart, is not a starting Premier League striker, at least not yet, and Tottenham have suffered (oh how they suffered) without a consistent presence up top. Additionally, Pochettino’s insistence on only right-footed players at right center back, and his refusal to sign a senior backup to Toby has led directly to the domino effect I mentioned earlier. But similarly, returning Toby to the starting lineup next week will also hopefully return Dier to midfield, instantly shoring up two troublesome spots in a single move.

With all this disruption, I return to the point I made at the open: Spurs have been largely successful in treading water. Chelsea might be pulling away at the top, but Tottenham remain well within striking distance of the top four despite several disappointing results, and a slew of damaging injuries. With players returning to health and the team already out of two of the four competitions they compete in, it’s not a stretch to believe that they can gradually return to the type of form they showed last season when they pushed Leicester for the title.