Planned versus Pragmatic (or What Would Harry Have Done?)

Article by Gordon Grech

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Let’s get it out there; Sunday’s performance against West Bromwich Albion (“WBA”) was sub-par. It was embarrassing, frustrating and worst of all not unexpected. As Spurs fans will attest, give the team a game they are expected to win and they will manufacture a result you don’t expect. It is the Spurs way.

Pochettino (like AvB) before him plays a very strict formation game. The 4-2-3-1 set up with an emphasis on dispossessing the opposition and moving the ball quickly into attacking positions. He instructs his side to build pressure from the back and intimidate and unsettle opponents. It was been his hallmark at Espanyol and at Southampton. The results at both clubs, being critical were average – 33% win ratio at Espanyol; 38% win ratio at Southampton. Despite this he is lauded for his style and the success that it has. Without being overly critical the development of Lallana, Rodriquez, Schneiderlin and Lovren at Southampton were key.

Personally, I was never impressed. Admittedly I don’t watch Southampton every week (I find Spurs much more entertaining), but I did watch their 2 games against Tottenham last year, both with Tim Sherwood in charge. The first was Sherwood’s first game where Adebayor ran amuck to prove what a complete buffoon AvB was and the second was at the Lane towards the end of Tim’s reign. What was apparent in both games was that Pochettino’s much vaunted pressing game didn’t stop Spurs from taking maximum points in both fixtures. You would be hard pressed to find many other games in 2013-14 where the team did this. In the latter game Spurs went 0-2 down and triumphed 3-2 with a memorable Sigurdsson strike at the death. It begs the question, if the formation was so good and the Southampton players were so attuned to the game plan, how could Spurs in a train wreck of a season manage to beat them twice? The question is more pertinent when you consider that the 2 goals Southampton scored came from catastrophic defensive errors by Kyle “Accident Waiting to Happen” Naughton.

 

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In that game Southampton lined up with Lambert up front and an attacking midfield three of Davis, Lallana and Rodriquez. Comparing these 3 to the attacking midfielders Spurs employed against WBA and really on Lamela could be said to be of the same ilk. Erikson is a skilful ball playing midfielder better suited to a Luka Medic role just behind the attacking 3 and Child is just too slow, not just in terms of pace, but in the manner in which he reacts to play.

What this suggests to me is that Pochettino, like AvB before him is trying to make the players fit a strategy rather than developing a strategy that suits the way the squad plays. Spurs has obvious pace on the flanks in Lamela and Lennon, why not release these guys as wingers to do damage. Instruct one to find the by-line and cross and the other to work the channels inside. Have Erikson directing traffic in midfield working in tandem with a Soldado as the link up forward and Adebayor in an advanced role. You can still then have Capoue/Dembele/Stambouli protecting the back 4, but importantly you create width and relieve the congestion that the narrow formation currently creates.

Spurs most successful manager in the last 10 years was Harry Rednapp and its worth asking the question what Harry would have done with the squad. I couldn’t say for certain, but I find it hard to believe that he would have persisted with a formation that simply does not suit the players we currently have. He would have set the side up to play to its strengths. Let’s hope that Pochettino recognises quickly that pushing square pegs into round holes just doesn’t work.

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