Tottenham got back to winning ways in the Champions League with the win over Slavia Prague.
Tottenham Hotspur enjoyed an inspired win against Slavia Prague in the Champions League earlier today. Thomas Frank & Co. built on that win against Brentford at the weekend as they moved one step closer to automatic qualification for the knockout stages of the European top tier.
It was an own goal which came from a Romero flick on the near post in the first half followed by a well taken penalty from Kudus, and Simons in the second half that gave the North Londoners another win at home in the Champions League.
Simons, Richarlison and Kudus gave Tottenham a sense of attacking structure
Tottenham have had a lot of criticisms of late, given how the North Londoners have struggled to put together attacking sequences. But for once, the Lilywhites actually looked like they had a structure working in the final third (even though the execution of it wasn’t perfect all the time).
And you could sense that idea brewing from early on in the game. We saw how Richarlison was pressing from the front and playing as a proper No. 9 (he was neither drifting off to the flank like Muani nor dropping too deep like he usually does).
Then Xavi Simons kept taking up half-space positions out of possession. But suddenly when the North Londoners were handed some possession to play with, he would step inside as a runner (especially when Spurs had the ball). While Mohammed Kudus was holding width for large parts. He was acting more of an out-ball. Every time he got the ball, he was helping Tottenham get up the pitch.
It was basically Simons being asked to play the “Bergvall role”. He looked like an aggressive runner from attacking midfield but with one important difference: when the Swede played off late, he was bounding off Richy. For example, we saw that same dynamic on show somewhere around the 13th minute when Simons was driving through midfield in that same way, much like how he did against Brentford before being fouled. But Richarlison immediately followed up by testing the keeper from range. Now this is a sign of a striker who is confident.
Then Kudus was quite strong in duels while he retained possession quite well…and suddenly Tottenham had something that looked like a functioning front three. While it wasn’t perfect and that final ball wasn’t always there, especially with Odobert, who kept on wasting promising situations with poor crosses, you could at least see a structure that felt much more intentional than in some of the recent games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Djed Spence’s hybrid role from the left channel
When you looked at that left channel, Djed Spence was having one of the most technically interesting roles of anybody on the pitch. If we are speaking about out of possession, when in that second phase of Slavia possession, the former Middlesbrough defender was tucking in (almost like an extra midfielder). Micky van de Ven was shuffling out wide and covering the flank.
He was helping Tottenham form a back five without the ball, especially when the Lilywhites were pinned in their own third. And speaking in an attacking sense, there were also multiple sequences where Spence arrived on the inside channel (rather than hugging the touchline). He gave a presence between the lines instead of pure width.
You could see a clearly coached pattern there. Spence was inverting. van de Ven was spreading a bit to protect the wide area. And lastly, Romero was handling more central defensive work.
Thinking about it, this gives Tottenham an extra body in midfield when they try to build. Given their ability to drop quickly into a 5-4-1 shape when Slavia sustain pressure. But you can also see Spence is still raw in this role, given he could have been positioned better when Slavia had the ball. But these rotations and instincts come with time.
Ideally having Odobert in front of him helps him play this inverted role, given how the former Burnley man likes to start wide and come inside.
Archie Gray and Joao Palhinha pivot hints at lessons learnt (but a few problems still remain)
And the big takeaway for us was in the midfield. Thomas Frank named the duo of Archie Gray and João Palhinha as a double pivot. And as soon as you start to observe their positioning, it tells you a lot about what the Danish head coach is trying to fix.
Generally, one sat at the base (often Palhinha), while the other one stepped towards the ball or into the next line, depending on where the play was.
The idea seems obvious given that the Lilywhites are in need of more balance and presence in the second phase. This ideally means that Tottenham will not leave the edge of the box completely unguarded because Tottenham fans have seen this movie already, where Arsenal and PSG repeatedly found space at the top of the box.
Tottenham did concede a few opportunities from those exact zones. If it were any other team, it would have been a fine opportunity to put it behind the net. It shows that Frank has learnt structurally. But it is now up to the players to show that on the pitch.
