It just has to be said, Tottenham played some scintillating football last season. Under new manager Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham made a dramatic stylistic change from the more defensive (read: haramball) eras of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte to something that is more akin to Wengerball than anything else.
And let me tell you, as an Arsenal fan, I hated typing that last sentence. Just look at Sanch and I hurting in public over this fact a few months ago.
Unfortunate that Spurs are the ones to inherit Wengerball
Fast, free-flowing football, expansive midfield play, positional fluidity, a double pivot central midfielder at lone 6, and defensive fragility. It's Wengerball through and through and there's a lot to be excited about for the new season if you're a Spurs fan.
So, off the back of a season that saw Tottenham play great football, and narrowly miss out on Champions League football, what does the squad look like going into the season?
Micky Van de Ven mate. I don't care who you are, I know that you want him at your club. I do too. I was surprised when Liverpool stopped pursuing him last summer as I thought he would have been a great replacement for Andy Robertson at left-back. I could write a whole essay about the guy, but this is not that essay.
So, let's talk about the Tottenham defence. It was... crazy to say the least. Ange's defenders took Pep's inverted fullback system and spiked it with cocaine. I remember watching a game and thinking that anyone watching football for the first time wouldn't believe that Pedro Porro is a defensive player.
The typical lineup was Udogie - Van de Ven - Romero - Porro.
Porro and Udogie were given license to roam as far forward as they could giving a numerical advantage to Tottenham further up the pitch. This meant that Van de Ven and Romero had to cover twice the amount of space, which made it easy for opposing teams to counter as there was a lot of space vacated by the fullbacks to exploit.
Consequently, they conceded an ungodly amount of goals for a side with top 4 ambitions (61), more goals than Crystal Palace (58). Not good enough going forward.
And yet as I write, Tottenham has yet to sign a defensive player this summer, nor do they seem to be prioritising one at the moment. With Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon back from loan their defensive options going into the season are:
Gugliemo Vicario, Fraser Forster, Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Emerson Royal, Djed Spence, and Sergio Reguilon
I have three main concerns about this defensive group.
First, with the starting back four all fit, how can they concede less goals than they did last season? So far Ange doesn't seem like a man who has a plan b. He's insistent on playing exactly how he wants and putting the burden on his players to execute that plan well enough. Should he persist with moving his fullbacks forward and leaving space in behind, it could rain goals again this season. Keep one fullback a bit low mate.
Secondly, injuries. Every single time one of the starting defenders in this side had an injury last year, the team collapsed. The drop-off in quality from each of the players in the backline to their replacement in the squad (especially in terms of how they want to play) is massive. And being in Europe this season means more games, which means higher chances of injuries. Right now I have no idea how Ange plans to cope with injuries to this backline as the season progresses.
Finally, Europe. Will Ange play his incredibly high line in Europe against the continent's best? As Brighton found out in the Europa League last season, Europe can be an entirely different proposition than the Premier League. Teams are more tenacious, better on average (especially deeper into the competition), and most importantly, relentless attackers. You just know that some random Danish team with young, pacy wingers is looking at that Spurs high line and licking their lips.
In summary, Tottenham haven't really strengthened defensively this summer, at least not in terms of signing new players. So it all comes down to the manager to figure out how to get the best out of this group over a season-long campaign. It will be fascinating to see how that goes.
This is Part I in a series of three articles on Tottenham. Read Part II and Part III.
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It just has to be said, Tottenham played some scintillating football last season. Under new manager Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham made a dramatic stylistic change from the more defensive (read: haramball) eras of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte to something that is more akin to Wengerball than anything else.
And let me tell you, as an Arsenal fan, I hated typing that last sentence. Just look at Sanch and I hurting in public over this fact a few months ago.
Unfortunate that Spurs are the ones to inherit Wengerball
Fast, free-flowing football, expansive midfield play, positional fluidity, a double pivot central midfielder at lone 6, and defensive fragility. It's Wengerball through and through and there's a lot to be excited about for the new season if you're a Spurs fan.
So, off the back of a season that saw Tottenham play great football, and narrowly miss out on Champions League football, what does the squad look like going into the season?
Micky Van de Ven mate. I don't care who you are, I know that you want him at your club. I do too. I was surprised when Liverpool stopped pursuing him last summer as I thought he would have been a great replacement for Andy Robertson at left-back. I could write a whole essay about the guy, but this is not that essay.
So, let's talk about the Tottenham defence. It was... crazy to say the least. Ange's defenders took Pep's inverted fullback system and spiked it with cocaine. I remember watching a game and thinking that anyone watching football for the first time wouldn't believe that Pedro Porro is a defensive player.
The typical lineup was Udogie - Van de Ven - Romero - Porro.
Porro and Udogie were given license to roam as far forward as they could giving a numerical advantage to Tottenham further up the pitch. This meant that Van de Ven and Romero had to cover twice the amount of space, which made it easy for opposing teams to counter as there was a lot of space vacated by the fullbacks to exploit.
Consequently, they conceded an ungodly amount of goals for a side with top 4 ambitions (61), more goals than Crystal Palace (58). Not good enough going forward.
And yet as I write, Tottenham has yet to sign a defensive player this summer, nor do they seem to be prioritising one at the moment. With Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon back from loan their defensive options going into the season are:
Gugliemo Vicario, Fraser Forster, Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Emerson Royal, Djed Spence, and Sergio Reguilon
I have three main concerns about this defensive group.
First, with the starting back four all fit, how can they concede less goals than they did last season? So far Ange doesn't seem like a man who has a plan b. He's insistent on playing exactly how he wants and putting the burden on his players to execute that plan well enough. Should he persist with moving his fullbacks forward and leaving space in behind, it could rain goals again this season. Keep one fullback a bit low mate.
Secondly, injuries. Every single time one of the starting defenders in this side had an injury last year, the team collapsed. The drop-off in quality from each of the players in the backline to their replacement in the squad (especially in terms of how they want to play) is massive. And being in Europe this season means more games, which means higher chances of injuries. Right now I have no idea how Ange plans to cope with injuries to this backline as the season progresses.
Finally, Europe. Will Ange play his incredibly high line in Europe against the continent's best? As Brighton found out in the Europa League last season, Europe can be an entirely different proposition than the Premier League. Teams are more tenacious, better on average (especially deeper into the competition), and most importantly, relentless attackers. You just know that some random Danish team with young, pacy wingers is looking at that Spurs high line and licking their lips.
In summary, Tottenham haven't really strengthened defensively this summer, at least not in terms of signing new players. So it all comes down to the manager to figure out how to get the best out of this group over a season-long campaign. It will be fascinating to see how that goes.
This is Part I in a series of three articles on Tottenham. Read Part II and Part III.
Subscribe to The False Nine Hypersub for exclusive subscriber only content
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10 comments
last season we did an evaluation of tottenham's signings for /thefalsenine and we turned out to be right on the money, mostly. looking to do the same for another small premier league club, palace, fulham, and bournemouth on my list atm. nothing much is happening transfer wise yet at the mid table clubs though. so, if you support a team from another league and want us to take a look at your signings reply with the name of your team below and maybe we'll take a look. https://paragraph.com/@thefalsenine/spursy-spurs-i-the-spurs-defence
naturally, as the season comes to an end and the chips have fallen where they've fallen, i'm thinking about all the things we've written these season at @thefalsenine and how they've aged. here's a thread of some essays on my mind. first, this selection of five youngsters we thought would have a breakout season. how many would you say we got right? and who did we get massively wrong? https://paragraph.com/@thefalsenine/five-young-players-to-watch-this-season
the first of a three part series in which we took a look at tottenham's transfer business and their prospects during the season. while we ultimately expressed skepticism at their chances in the league, we did not anticipate how catastrophic their league campaign would be. they've lost 20 games so far this season, for an elite team, it's horrendous. https://paragraph.com/@thefalsenine/spursy-spurs-i-the-spurs-defence
this one is pretty straightforward, we said rodri deserved to win the ballon d'or, and so it was. thank heavens it wasn't vinicius. https://paragraph.com/@thefalsenine/rodri-the-unsung-hero-poised-for-ballon-dor-glory
in january, just as arsenal's campaign disintegrated, @ashmoney.eth wrote an essay arguing that arteta's legacy is in question and that another trophyless season should see arsenal move on from arteta. well, the season has indeed ended trophyless, do you agree with ash? https://paragraph.com/@thefalsenine/artetas-reign-on-the-brink
first farcaster-native football commentary? 👀👀👀 lfg @chukwukaosakwe https://paragraph.xyz/@thefalsenine/spursy-spurs-i-the-spurs-defence
@maxp.eth did you see this
This is great brother @chukwukaosakwe Udo di Haven't read all yet, but already love the beginning with the humor, but of course it's sad to see that you're an Arsenal fan💀
Mint!
Tottenham's shift to an exciting, attacking style under Ange Postecoglou has fans buzzing, but defensive issues remain. in his /thefalsenine debut @chukwukaosakwe explores the Spurs defense, highlighting key players and concerns for the upcoming season. Can they solidify at the back? https://paragraph.xyz/@thefalsenine/spursy-spurs-i-the-spurs-defence