Tottenham Hotspur had a disappointing outing against Arsenal last weekend. The Gunners got the better of the Lilywhites on a 4-1 scoreline. But Thomas Frank’s men do not have long to lick their wounds, as they are scheduled to visit European champions PSG in the Champions League league-phase tie this midweek.
It is a game which will be quite important if Tottenham were to secure automatic qualification going into those knockout phases.
That game against the Gunners ended up showing a lot of flaws in Thomas Frank’s structure at N17. And if Tottenham are to go to Parc des Princes and come through with the result, they will have to get a few things spot on.
We saw that Frank has already put through a game plan that successfully beat PSG once this season. But that performance in the derby showed that Tottenham cannot make repetitive mistakes, especially in these headline games.
And we take a look at three possible things that Thomas Frank needs to ensure that his side doesn’t show when the game kicks off this Wednesday night.
3 things that Thomas Frank need to get right vs PSG
Getting the offensive sequences right
One of the things that has been a bit of a talking point, not only from the Arsenal game but also in the lead-up to it, has been those offensive sequences.
Sticking to that Gunners game, the Lilywhites didn’t even register one shot going into the halftime. And by full time it was no better, with just 0.07 expected goals (which is the lowest in the club’s history since records started).
And this pattern is becoming familiar.
It was the same case against Chelsea as well, where you barely sensed any attacking potential out of sequences.
Now this doesn’t mean that Tottenham must make a 180-degree turn and start doing things the Ange Postecoglou way. But at least there should be a way where they can find ways to start sustaining attacks. Try to force Luis Enrique’s side into defending.
There should be those clear patterns when in possession, ones that can threaten their goal a bit.
Tottenham staying too deep into their own half cannot happen again
Another thing which has been a massive talking point from that Arsenal defeat has been how Tottenham stayed a tad too deep into their own half. Many fans and pundits do think that it was the foundation of where problems started for the Lilywhites against the Gunners.
Thomas Frank has this tactical switch to a back five, which ideally was to exert control and protect Vicario’s goal. But it only ended up inviting their city neighbours to play closer to the goal.
In a sense it was too easy for Arsenal to bring the ball to the final third and then equally easy for them to circulate it around the box. This gave them massive spaces to take shots.
So against PSG, going there and sitting for ninety minutes is like asking for trouble. So Thomas Frank needs to ensure that his side defends a bit higher. And that the midfield compress those spaces that made it too easy for the Gunners.
Now this again doesn’t mean having a reckless high-line defence. It just means that Tottenham need to defend more on the front foot a bit. Maybe aim to push that line about 10 or 15 yards further out.
Try making it harder for PSG to pick passes.
Cutting out blind long balls
Another thing that happened a lot in that game against Arsenal was that Vicario was going for blind long balls every time he got the ball. And this most of the time ended up giving the possession back to the Gunners and, in a sense, inviting them to have a go at the goal again.
It is more of a hopeful tactic, especially given that Richarlison (or Muani) is going to be on the receiving end of those balls most of the time. They are good at scrappy second balls and not these first balls aimed towards them.
So when lining up against the French giants, that approach needs to change because it will end up having the same effect it had against Arsenal, where it will just hand the possession back to Luis Enrique’s side.
Tottenham need to have more composure in their first and second passes. Now this means that they do have to cut out the blind long balls, but it does not mean that you take away the whole transitional approach that gave them the win against PSG earlier this season. We just mean that they need to choose when to go long and the kind of runs that they need to target on long balls.
Without that, Tottenham will spend the night chasing like they did against Arsenal.