How We Lost: Tottenham v Arsenal
By Ryan Wrenn
Tottenham’s loss at home to Arsenal in the season’s first North London Derby has been thus far easily explained. Despite Tottenham’s apparent control of the game, they still managed to lose, not because the team as a whole deserved it, but because of mistakes made by the goalkeeper and centre-backs.
Michel Vorm’s failure to hold on to – or at least effectively deflect – a shot in the 25th minute resulted in an unmarked Mathieu Flamini converting the first goal of the match. After Calum Chambers’ own goal leveled the account, it seemed like Tottenham might have it in them to go on and win the match. Then, in the 77th minute, Flamini again charged unmarked into the box and volleyed a ball into the net. Both easily attributed to mistakes in defense.
Much like Kyle Walker’s own goal in the opening game of the season against Manchester United, this was more a failing of the midfield than it was the defense however. In that game, Nabil Bentaleb’s horribly mislaid pass returned possession directly back to United, who quickly charged down the pitch and delivered the ball into the six-yard box that Walker would accidentally knock in.
Wednesday night, Tottenham fell victim to another mistake in midfield, though this time one much more the result of the system itself rather than a single individual player error.
Less than a week prior to the match against Arsenal, Tom Carroll had made his first start for Tottenham in two years. Against Europa League opponents Qarabag FK, he performed admirably, managing the midfield on both sides of the ball. He was pitted against the Azerbaijani’s side primary playmaker and held him off well, recovering the ball and distributing it forward onto Tottenham’s attack. He seemed to thrive in that well-rounded role, one that he’d rarely been called upon to play in prior appearances for Tottenham or elsewhere. That fine play earned him a second start in the Capital One Cup opener.
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Whether it was by Arsenal’s design or Tottenham’s error in judgment, Carroll was encouraged to play a different game Wednesday. He switched sides with Eric Dier in central midfield and was pitted against Mathieu Flamini, Arsenal’s rarely deployed defensive midfielder. Flamini began the game sitting deep, provoking Carroll to move up the pitch and contribute in attack. While he failed to let his presence be known in Tottenham’s offense – he recorded a mere 70% passing success with no key passes and no shots – his absence in central midfield was made abundantly clear.
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Flamini’s game does not typically contain goals in it. He’s scored 21 goals in 365 professional appearances in all competitions per Transfermarkt. The most goals he’s scored in a season was four, with AC Milan in 2012/13. Consequently, it seems unlikely that he came into the game Wednesday believing he had a goal in store, much less two.
Credit must go to him for jumping on an opportunity however. With Carroll often pushed forward – and ironically, Flamini unable to stop him from doing so – the Italian found acres of space in which to run forward. Carroll would try to track back, but his advanced position meant he began behind Flamini and could rarely do much. Two such runs ended with Flamini’s only shots of the game, both of which ended up as goals.
Vorm’s error and the defense’s general lack of cohesion played their parts, but the source of both of Arsenal’s goals came from the maddeningly wide gulf of space left available for Flamini by Carroll. Perhaps Pochettino simply didn’t believe that a defensive midfielder had it in him to charge forward and decide the game. Perhaps Carroll refused to obey instructions given to him. Whatever the case, to prevent such errors from happening again, it is vital that Tottenham realize how exactly these goals were conceded and address the fault quickly.