“This idea that you cannot change is alien to me. The game-state dictates how you play,” Jamie Carragher instructed Sky Sports activities. “I wake up every morning hoping the sun is shining so I can put some shorts and a T-shirt on, but if it is raining, you put your coat on.”
Carragher’s feedback had been directed at Tottenham after they conceded 4 targets of their defeat to Chelsea in December however they had been simply as relevant on Sunday as Spurs had been eradicated from the FA Cup away to Aston Villa. It was clear inside a minute.
Ange Postecoglou himself described Villa afterwards as “one of the best teams in the country at home” – so why was full-back Pedro Porro caught so excessive up the pitch inside seconds? He was behind not solely goalscorer Jacob Ramsey however Lucas Digne too.
Whilst Postecoglou launched an impassioned defence of his gamers, speaking of an “agenda-driven” narrative centred round him and his group, there’s the suspicion that it’s he – moderately than anybody exterior the membership – who’s undermining their greatest efforts.
The statistics nonetheless inform us this Tottenham group, for all their struggles this season, play just a little in a different way to everybody else. The ideas of play that had Postecoglou’s Spurs 5 factors clear on the high of the desk early final season stay in place.
No group within the Premier League has gained the ball excessive up the pitch extra occasions than Tottenham. No group permits so few passes per defensive motion. No group performs with extra width than Tottenham. By design, it’s alleged to be intense and expansive.
Requested why that depth was not there towards Villa, Postecoglou stated: “Because they are tired, mate. They can’t. If we had not played on Thursday night and I had rotated that team, do you think it would have been pressing a bit more aggressively today?”
Postecoglou, it appears, was conscious that his strategy wouldn’t be so efficient for what was, bear in mind, a one-off cup tie. And but, too typically Spurs’ positioning advised they had been nonetheless set as much as press. Our bodies upfront of the ball. No safety for the defence.
The Australian coach appeared to acknowledge this with a wise half-time swap, introducing Yves Bissouma rather than Mikey Moore. It gave his aspect extra of a foothold within the recreation they usually went on to take pleasure in their greatest spell of the match thereafter.
There had been hints of this extra versatile strategy within the latest win over Brentford, a recreation wherein Tottenham dropped deeper, soaked up some stress after which got here via it to say the factors. At Villa, the adjustment got here a lot too late.
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Peter Smith explains how Postecoglou tailored his strategy at Brentford
This concept persists that to make any compromise in any respect is to dilute the message, undermine all that arduous work. “My responsibility at this club is this group of players and team, to get them to play in the manner I want them to. That will bring us success.”
However the various is unquestionably damaging too. Not only for Postecoglou however to those younger gamers, those who’re, he says, his major focus. Moore doesn’t need to be hooked at half-time. Antonin Kinsky and Archie Grey aren’t relishing being so uncovered.
“You cannot judge this group of players on what has happened,” says Postecoglou. “They have given everything. Two 18-year-olds, a 17-year-old, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old goalkeeper.” He added: “It cannot be that people think that is an excuse.”
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Jamie Carragher explains why he was not stunned by Spurs’ 4-0 defeat to Liverpool
He’s proper, up to some extent. However then, few are judging these gamers. Grey is an actual prospect and can take pleasure in higher occasions in his profession than this. A lot of them, it’s to be hoped, in a Spurs shirt. Lucas Bergvall has proven loads of promise. It was Mathys Tel’s first begin.
No, the frustrations are being directed elsewhere. It was chairman Daniel Levy who was the main focus of followers’ ire at Villa Park. It’s Postecoglou anticipated to entrance up now. As a result of the argument that these are mere pups ill-equipped for the problem solely goes to this point.
Grey and Bergvall accounted for nearly £50m of the membership’s switch funds final summer season. A lot of the remainder was spent on Wilson Odobert. Tel, from Bayern Munich, is likely one of the youngsters he mentions. Kinsky was a £12.5m arrival from Slavia Prague simply final month.
The Czech made a promising begin towards Liverpool so it’s a little alarming how his confidence appears to have taken successful since then. There’s a 36-year-old former England goalkeeper on the bench in Fraser Forster. Choosing youth is a alternative, not an excuse.
After all, the thought is that they had been there to help, to be eased right into a group constructed round extra skilled figures, comparable to World Cup-winning defender Cristian Romero. Accidents have modified your complete equation, shifting the dynamic, and the outcomes are ugly.
“It is just injuries. I mean, you can walk outside and say, ‘jeez, it is really bright’, and say to yourself, ‘maybe it is not the sun’. But it is the sun, mate. We have just got injuries.” Robbed of 12 first-teamers lately, their harm document has certainly been wretched.
Any group would endure with out their greatest gamers however not this badly, and never for therefore lengthy with out making the requisite changes. Moreover, the issue for Postecoglou was that he had exacerbated the difficulty himself via his selections and his strategy.
Bringing again each Romero and Micky van de Ven for the aforementioned recreation towards Chelsea was a shock that introduced little sympathy his means. The medical group might have signed off on it however the transfer didn’t appear prudent even earlier than each broke down.
Misfortune? Maybe not on condition that Postecoglou’s Tottenham have made extra sprints than every other group within the Premier League this season. The proof means that means of enjoying comes at a price. The variety of muscle accidents is unlikely to be coincidence.
Supporters will nonetheless be divided as a result of the will to play formidable, front-foot soccer with younger gamers seems like a mission assertion value shopping for into. However it’s defeats, not an agenda, that form the narrative. Ready for gamers to get match won’t be sufficient.
