Tottenham: Pochettino Wants Direct and Aggressive Players
Tottenham are targeting players who have qualities like Liverpool’s Sadio Mané.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has delved further into which players he wants to sign before the window closes.
Following Spurs’ draw against Liverpool, Pochettino said he is looking for direct and aggressive players like Sadio Mané.
Despite being involved in numerous fouls, Mané routinely found success in attacking Spurs’ defense head on.
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“We need a player that is more direct, a player that is more aggressive and offensive,” Pochettino said (via Liverpool Echo).
“We have a player like [Christian] Eriksen or Son [Heung-Min] or [Érik] Lamela that are players who like to play into feet.”
“Some characteristics like that we see today from Liverpool. Mané, this type of player that can be offensive.”
According to FourFourTwo’s Stats Zone, Sadio Mané was effective on the right flank of Jürgen Klopp’s 4-3-3 formation forming a good duo with Nathaniel Clyne.
Against Spurs, Nathaniel Clyne exploited the open space that Danny Rose left behind whenever he pushed higher up the pitch while on attack.
This would see the right-back complete the second most pass combinations (14) of the game with Mané, three behind James Milner to Roberto Firmino (17).
A majority of Clyne’s passes (18 out of 25, 72 percent accuracy), were of the mid to long-range variety. Fourteen of them found the Senegalese forward who did his damage as a counterattacking threat.
Because Klopp’s teams are known for their Gegenpressing, otherwise known as “immediate ball recovery”, per Jürgen Klinsmann, this makes the 24-year-old Mané very successful.
Whenever the Reds lost possession during the game, instead of going on the defensive, Klopp’s players would try to win the ball back quickly.
Once someone would recover possession, Liverpool would be on the attack again.
It’s how Mané and Liverpool’s other forwards found themselves in perfect spots deep inside Spurs’ defense.
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A key trait that Mauricio Pochettino looks for in players is being able to high-press.
Some players on Spurs’ squad do it better than others, but the common denominator is that everyone on Pochettino’s roster has to track back and challenge the opposition.
Sadio Mané who committed one too many fouls challenged Tottenham’s players to recover the ball.
A lot of his fouls were yellow card worthy, and should have seen him get ejected, but he has that aggressive trait Pochettino seeks.
When Mané wasn’t challenging for the ball, he was waiting for an opportunity to run right through the heart of Spurs’ backline on a counter.
The directness Mané displayed on the right flank made Pochettino reconsider how Spurs’ defense would play.
Danny Rose couldn’t push higher up the pitch in fear that a counterattack would be aimed at the space he would vacate, thus Spurs played a big portion of the game on the defensive.
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Tottenham have direct players on the squad, but they would need more to accentuate the Eriksens, Sons and Lamelas of the team.
Players who like Pochettino said, play at their feet, not necessarily on the attack a la Sadio Mané or even Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy who thrive on quick scoring opportunities from mid to long-range passes.
It remains to be seen if Spurs will be able to find direct and aggressive offensive players on the transfer market before it closes, but Mauricio Pochettino acknowledges what his team is currently missing.