Balancing The Attacking Band

Currently, Mauricio Pochettino has a slight selection issue each week. In the attacking band he has Sissoko, Son, Eriksen, Alli, Lamela and although he's some way behind the rest, Georges-Kévin N'Koudou will also now be a factor in Pochettino’s plans. But how does he plan to get his attackers game time?

Article by Chuck Booth @Check_Sec215

Sissoko and Alli are the most direct threats out of that group. Neither is afraid to pick up a ball and run directly at a defender as we saw in Sissoko’s full debut against Sunderland. That's a quality that will help Spurs in games against the lower half of the table but could be exploited against other top teams.

Son and Lamela bring the attacking flair to the XI, but due to Son's low defensive work rate, he shouldn't start with Danny Rose on the left flank. Instead, he should be partnered with a more defensive option like Ben Davies. Also, the two of them starting together can create issues in attack if their flair passes don't work out. With that Spurs could run into an issue as in the Monaco game where they got into good positions but no one could capitalise.

The best remedy to that is playing one of the flair wingers with one of the direct attackers to balance out the rotation. Christian Eriksen becomes the key to this because he has the ability to control the attacking tempo in a way that Tottenham's other attackers can't. He has a mix of flair and directness that, along with his superior vision, can break down a defense for Spurs to run rampant. He also seems to be finding his form with two assists in the Stoke game and two goals in the League Cup against Gillingham. It still remains to be seen if Eriksen's best position is in central attack or on the wing, but he's extremely effective in both roles.

Since he's given a freer role on the wing he can come inside to orchestrate the attack if needed. The wildcard in these plans is N'Koudou. He possesses blistering pace that is unmatched by any members of the squad except Danny Rose and Kyle Walker. If used properly he could be the key to unlocking defenses at the end of the season in a Nacer Chadli like role.

While N'Koudou may not be as refined a scorer as Chadli was, his pace can still unlock defenses in the same way that Nacer was able to for Spurs. He has a better chance of featuring for Tottenham than Clinton N’Jie did before making the swap to Olympique Marseille, so that can only be seen as a net positive overall.

My expectation is that Lamela, Eriksen, and Alli will continue to be the first choice attacking band, but son is coming very close to unseating Lamela for his first team role. While Son doesn't offer the same defensive industry as Lamela, his attacking abilities are off the charts and with Harry Kane missing an extended period of time it would be wise to get the best set of attackers on the pitch to make up for his production.

The second choice band will include either Eriksen or Alli, Sissoko and Son. Both of these would have N'Koudou as an option on the bench to shift the tide of a match. This is a big step forward for Tottenham from last year because, due to injuries and ineffectiveness of subs, they were not able to rotate the entire attacking band while fielding a quality side.

This led to both Eriksen and Alli playing more games than they should have by the end of the season. Add in international play with Euros during the summer and many Spurs players didn't get the proper rest that they needed. Pochettino needs to make sure they don't play too many minutes this season because they may not endure as clean of an injury record as last year.

Tottenham have a host of dynamic attackers this season. If they can stay healthy for the entire season the attack could post stellar numbers for the second straight season.

Listen and subscribe to our weekly e-Spurs Podcast FREE via:

iTunes: LINK

Acast: LINK

© e-Media Group 2016 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of @e_media_group

Share on Google Plus