Why Tottenham struggled against Leicester and is Harry Kane now a real conundrum for Mauricio Pochettino?

[davieG]

https://talksport.com/football/605444/tottenham-leicester-harry-kane-pochettino/

 

Too many graphics to copy and paste.

 

By Lee Scott, Total Football Analysis Magazine

24th September 2019, 7:50 am

 

Updated: 24th September 2019, 8:02 am

 

There is a definite sense that reaching the Champions League final last season covered a poor end to the campaign from Spurs.

They stuttered and staggered in the last few weeks as performances didn’t meet the high expectations of not only the fans but of coach Mauricio Pochettino and his staff.

So far this season we have seen a similar picture. Wins over the newly-promoted Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have proved the exception and coming into this match we had seen them throw away a lead to draw 2-2 with the Greek champions Olympiakos in the Champions League.

Last season the overriding narrative surrounding the north London side was that they had not recruited a single player to strengthen the first-team squad. This summer was a different story as Pochettino saw his midfield bolstered by the likes of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso.

If Spurs are in the midst of a difficult run at the moment then one of the teams looking to overtake them in the race for the top four is Leicester City. Under Brendan Rodgers, we have seen Leicester be moulded into a highly competitive outfit with a young core of rapidly developing players.

In this tactical analysis, we will examine the key tactical aspects of the match that saw Leicester come away with a 2-1 victory thanks to a stunning late finish from James Maddison.

[Alf Bentley]

They "stutter and stagger in the last few weeks" every season, don't they?

 

I presumed that was in their corporate mission statement:

"Tottenham Hotspur is a football club that will always flatter to deceive and become a bit Spursy, stuttering and staggering in the last few weeks of the season and finishing third in a two-horse race"? 

 

A bit unusual for them to start the process so early, I suppose.

[StriderHiryu]

That’s a very good article though it doesn’t mention the switch in tactical setup Rodgers made at 60 minutes to win the game which was going to 442 diamond which allowed Leicester to commit more men forward and gave Maddison even more space behind the strikers. 

 

But it still very refreshing to see in depth articles like this about the club. Analysis of our team on TV is by and large crap as we all know. 

[Alf Bentley]

Yes, an interesting article, now I've read it and stopped laughing at Spurs....

[StriderHiryu]

Copied this from the Rodgers thread, but it wasn't mentioned in the Talksport article, even though IMO it was the biggest reason we won the game and the real stroke of genius from Rodgers in this match. At 60 minutes, he changed the system to be a 442 Diamond:

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Barnes and Vardy played up top, Maddison in behind to find the space (which led to his goal), supported by Tielemans and Praet, with width provided by the full backs. This system meant we could commit more players against Spurs who coincidentally also played a diamond.

 

 

Another change he made was that in the first half we were trying to press Harry Winks as he was seen as the engine of their midfield, but it gave Erik Lamela way too much space who caused us big problems. In the second half we pressed Lamela more and though Winks got more of the ball he didn't do as much for Spurs.

During the last ten minutes Spurs got control of the game back because our midfield was tiring, specifically Tielemans. That's why Hamza Choudhury was brought on who has not only shored it up, but playing as one of the midfielders to either side of the diamond he was able to support the attack and provide an assist for Maddison. He was also used this way in some preseason games, showing us that Hamza is not just a defensive midfielder, but has more to offer than that, even if he is not as technically blessed as Maddison, Tielemans and probably Praet who had some nice moments.

 

From a purely tactical point of view, this switch won us the game. Under Puel, we always kept two defensive midfielders for stability but rarely had a "Plan B" to beat teams at home. A lot of fans on here always wanted us to get a second striker / target man so we could play a more physical style. But Rodgers went for this system instead and it's notable that he signed two players that could play in a Diamond in Perez (even though he was withdrawn) and Praet who quite literally played as the right or left sided midfielder in a diamond formation at Sampdoria. When we went to this system, we were able to commit more players forward, but importantly players who can drift behind the lines. Praet broke free a couple of times, as did Tielemans, and Maddison found space for his goal.

 

[Nicolo Barella]

51 minutes ago, Alf Bentley said:

They "stutter and stagger in the last few weeks" every season, don't they?

 

I presumed that was in their corporate mission statement:

"Tottenham Hotspur is a football club that will always flatter to deceive and become a bit Spursy, stuttering and staggering in the last few weeks of the season and finishing third in a two-horse race"? 

 

A bit unusual for them to start the process so early, I suppose.

Outside last season, they tended to start kinda meh as well no?

[Dan]

I'm not saying it out of bitterness or dislike for them but if they had won the Champions League it'd have been a bigger farce than Chelsea winning it under Di Matteo, or at best on a par. They've been very poor in 2019.

[Woof]

Another analysis which overlaps quite a bit with the one quoted above but has a few more in play shots:

 

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/match-analysis/premier-league-201920-leicester-city-vs-tottenham-hotspur-tactical-analysis-tactics