Before the season started many thought this was the year Tottenham really made a stand for “The Rest” of the premier league and more importantly, where Tottenham displaced one of the top four powerhouses. The flaw in that assumption was a very simple one and the most obvious to see, it stems from an idea that seems to be as old as God Himself, which is that ‘We Learn From Our Mistakes’ and like most things ancient that still apply today to the betterment of mankind you can be sure that advise is as good as gold. So even before you can make an assumption as to what a Tottenham Hotspur can accomplish you have to ask the question
“Have the problems of the last season been addressed? “
Potential problems were touched on briefly in the article of “Money down the toilet or the 40 million pound bluff” that can be found over on Glory-Glory. One of these potential problems seems to have been declared the front runner to becoming a real permanent problem, that problem is the Tottenham midfield and its contribution to the team’s defending. The way we play the defence is just as much part of the midfield as much as the midfield is part of the defence. It’s a team game and everything each part of the team does affects the other.
Some possible ailments arising from the Tottenham midfield are:
The Midfield and Defense’s interaction.
Symptoms include:
- Separation from the midfield and the defenders: There seems to be a case of shyness between the defensive line and the midfield. They look too far apart which permits any decent pass to the opposition front line to become a heart stopping dilemma. Teams are more able to turn and face our LAST line with ease and not as much pressure. It becomes easy for the CB pairing to be isolated if one is being drawn into the chasm simply due to the opposition stepping to the side or forward to receive a pass. Oddly enough, this symptom tends to occur a lot more at home than away.
- Pressing too much: People seem to tackle the man and not the ball, then follow the ball and not the man once the ball has left the man they were hell bent on destroying in the first place. Generally there is nothing too criminal about this act IF your team mates know how to cover / protect the space, close of passing lanes and to anticipate the next recipient of the ball….all of which most of the players are not currently doing well at. With this in mind our players tend to press badly and then create a space behind them which is not looked after by a team mate.
- Undisciplined holder(s) and some bad positioning: Directly related to the points above, not one player appears to have inherited the skill Carrick gave us for protecting the open space in front of the back four in a zonal and anticipatory fashion. That space is being attacked on a weekly basis and no one has successfully made it their main duty to protect it at all cost. The best success being Jenas against Manchester United
- Lack of urgency: This is a motivational issue and saying this you would hope that with this predicament we find ourselves in that our players would work that extra 50% harder over the 100% they are supposed to be giving us already to get back into place and organise themselves properly. It doesn’t appear to be present for a full 90 minutes at the moment.
- Lazy attitude from the flanks: Also a motivational issue and definitely a symptom of bad defending. Once your wingers think they can take their time in getting back from attacking is when you know your team isn’t too interested in defending properly…granted not all are showing this symptom but the ones that do show it in abundance. This results in the fullbacks getting isolated. A not uncommon occurrence but can’t be a good sign when it happens as frequently as it does with us.
- Ball watching from the players: Again this is not an uncommon thing; it’s just worrying at how often it tends to occur with certain players. More worrying still is when your holder or the players assigned the holding duty are also in on the joke. Obviously this joke never gets old as it happens in a lot of the games
Could this be down to lack of trust from the coach to his players in the defensive line? The trust comes down to the defensive line, how high they play and who is in charge of giving orders. Could this be Dawson’s organisation? Jol’s coaching or lack of King being present to encourage a higher line? This affects the team going forward and most importantly when defending especially when you take into account bad holders and the occasional lethargic, ball watching flank men.
Midfield’s low confidence in defending through ball retention
Symptoms include:
- A lot of second guessing from our midfield players. It’s not surprising to see that some of our midfielders have a very high pass total count or completion percentage. This tends to happen when you pass safe and when you or your team don’t have a decisive plan of action.
- Aside from Tom Huddleston no one wants to dare spread the ball about quickly. Even simple passes become a bit of a chore and laboured effort. The ball therefore isn’t retained as comfortably and as well as we can normally which in turn adds more pressure on us.
- Getting the ball forward quickly seems only possible with maverick movement and numbers (nothing wrong with this if you can get back and defend as a unit). Pretty on the eye but with no obvious and apparent game plan along with a vast green ocean from the last man in midfield to defense could cause problems/
- No one in our CM seems like the one to take the game by the scruff of the neck…..whether it is down to lack experience, lack of faith in defensive abilities of the rest of the team mates, bad movement or no leadership, the problem is still there
These two factors, the midfield defending and poor ball retention (possibly due to bad movement and low confidence), contribute to a re-occurring lack of control we suffer in game. Without them what we have is a spineless team in possession and a team attack that doesn’t actually have a game plan aside from the individual performances and brilliance of certain erratic players. More importantly we don’t seem to be able to properly stop very dangerous attacks from occurring even if they are few and far between simply because when trouble does hit it appears that solo defending is the remedy of Tottenham, not a solid and supportive organised team defense.
Something else that warrants a mention is the behaviour of one of our full backs………. Chimbonda. This piece was meant to look into the midfield frailty but one cannot possibly escape the effect action Jackson has had on our poor defensive solidity as a unit. Chimbonda is a good strong, athletic and reliable one v one defender but things that he does which are impressive might indirectly affect the team in a negative way especially when you consider that the team might not be currently defending well as a unit.
How does Chimbonda affect the team’s solidity as a unit? Well he…..
- Holds unto the ball too much. Even though he can hold unto the ball remarkably well for a full back it doesn’t mean that he should do it at every single opportunity. It limits Lennon or Steed’s offensive contribution and makes them more reserved /cautious as he basically is overcrowding the plate, exposes us defensively and forces our team to be bent out of shape when right now we are in desperate need of some solidity.
- Bad timing on the overlap. The flank might not be as effective as it can be which we could use to pin back the opposition. Might be all according to Jol’s plan though I am not really sure but just constantly planting yourself and running down the wing time and time again even when the opposition is set I would not have thought was good timing which gets him out of position and Dawson to defend from the flank which could be seen as a bad idea.
- Has a concentration issue with his blind side during set pieces. Nothing that should be a worrying factor because he saves us a lot more than he misses his man. It’s when you add that extra straw that you find yourself stranded.
Concentration and Composure under pressure
Some have said that the midfield has no guts and that they fall apart under pressure. Maybe, as we seem to be conceding goals during the periods that are known to require the greatest level of concentration. At home we average the first goal against us every 30 minutes and away from home its every 60 minutes (Both of which are periods of the game when the tempo apparently is supposed to be slower or in the latter figure’s case could be building up with us sitting back inviting pressure). Out of the nine first half goals we have conceded this year about 6 occur in the last 10 minutes of the half…… SIX OUT OF NINE!!!!! Out of the 11 goals we concede in the second half 5 of them occurred in the last 10 minutes and 7 goals conceded in the last 15 minutes. The loudest declaration this shows is that we need to be able to see out a game, to be able to retrieve the ball and hold unto it while under pressure, and finally to be able to keep concentration during periods that you think your not under pressure.
Would an experienced head stabilise this and make the team focus? Is the defensive ability of a new DM what’s needed to breed confidence into the rest of the team when they attack and have possession of the ball? Either way something is needed to add that extra ‘character’ that ‘winning spirit’ that ‘X factor’ that was within the team 2 seasons ago, which oddly enough did have that reliable DM in Carrick or even Mendes, did have that experience partly in Naybet, Davids, Lee, and Stalteri, did have a reliable defensive personnel in King, Tainio, Jenas and even Mido who was extremely vital defensively against set pieces.
Having said all that the situation isn’t as disastrous as one might think because the team has shown a capacity to look much more solid for large spells of a game when playing away from home where IMHO we seem to play with more organisation (Fulham, Bolton, Man United and Liverpool). After all we concede only approximately 1.5 goals away compared to our 2.5 goals against average at home. This shows that the team has a capacity to defend better than the overall 2 goals per game against figure. The team just needs to concentrate more, hustle and defend as a unit. The only way this can happen is if the midfield and defense co –operate with one another.