Tottenham Hotspur: Team Observations | Tactical Analysis

Tottenham Hotspur Defensive organisation:

* Defensive shape is usually a 4x4x2, with a high line and full, aggressive pressure on the ball.  * The team has very good balance due to the compensation components in the team, such as: Naughton staying back to give Bale more of a free role, Dembele covering Bales position when he is too high up the pitch to get back, the other 2 midfielders will then all move one position over or Dempsey will drop deep, Sandro covering the centre backs position when he bring the ball out of defence or Walker not going forward as early when Parker is in place of Sandro, as he doesn’t cover the centre backs position and when Bale makes a diagonal run into depth, Naughton will be high up the field so a central midfielder will cover behind him.

* In their pressing, they will always apply a high full press, looking to win the ball high up the field. * If the ball is passed back to the goalkeeper, who ever was pressing that player will chafe down the goalkeeper. * Each player will have their own pressing zone assigned to them, but they will continue pressing a player if he then moves out of their zone, allowing another player to cover their zone.

* Lloris is a very positive, quick and and good at communicating with his defenders to organise. He is a sweeper ‘keeper, meaning he will be quick off his line and will look to cut off passes into depth in front of him. He isn’t a player that is going to come out for crosses though, especially on corners, instead he relies on his acrobatic saves and quick reflexes.  At corners the defenders will be deep and there will be a line in front of him, meaning that the best he can get on the ball will be a punch if we overload the 1st post and the area in front of him on corners.

* They will usually defend with their wingers and fullbacks high, usually becoming a 2x4x4. Dawson will drop a little (conceding depth) to give him time to read the game, as he can’t keep a high line with Vertonghen as he doesn’t have the turning speed or mobility to get back. They will still look to play offside though. Since Dawson is deep, we can attack down the channels, with quick diagonal balls, exploiting the space behind the fullbacks. We can also look to take advantage of Naughton’s poor aerial ability. Both centre asks are dominant in the air and look to mark the player in their zone, rather than one or the other picking up the striker.

* The 2 central midfielders will sit deep and the wingers will push on the join the front line to press, the 2 central midfielders will join the pressing at times, with 1 joining and one sitting just behind him to cover. This leaves a gap between the lines to expose, but one of the defenders will try and press quickly to close space. This will leave the, with either only Dawson and his lack of mobility left at the back or Dawson too high to get back, giving us the chance to kill the, with numerical superiority in transition. Both wingers have a lot of mobility to press, so be aware of quick pressure being put on you by them.

* The strikers will look to press the defenders and also try to position themselves to cut out vertical passes. Also be aware of the, chasing the goalkeeper down, so the centre backs will need to drop deep either side the give the goalkeeper more options.

[quote]Stat: Walker and Caulker both have 4 defensive errors this season, joint 4th in the Premier League.[/quote]

Tottenham Hotspur Pressing:

First a high and wide block, full press.

If they don’t win the ball, they will drop to a medium and tight block to wait for a trigger to go back to a high block full press.

When there is a trigger, such as the centre back facing goal with the ball they will press and move up to original full pres. Be aware that the players will continue their press to put pressure on the goalkeeper.

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