Tottenham Hotspur Links: 10/30/15 Afternoon Edition
It’s the afternoon so here’s the mid-day news for you to read.
Today’s afternoon edition of Tottenham Hotspur Links has two well-thought out pieces. Despite the minimal amount of news, this just means that Hotspur HQ will be going into more detail to discuss both stories. The first story involves Érik Lamela and how he’s becoming a success in his third season (technically second full season) and the second story is about Ryan Mason and if he should be Eric Dier’s partner at the double pivot. It’s time to get to the links!
– The secret to the success of Érik Lamela [via Spurs Fanatic]
Two keys to success for Érik Lamela’s game is 1.) getting into the box and 2.) playing off of the last defender. It doesn’t sound all that special but for the Argentine winger it surely makes a difference this season. Spurs Fanatic goes into detail about what “getting into the box” means in terms of Tottenham’s offense.
“Content to drift around and outside the 18-yard box last term, getting and arriving on time into the box has been the standout feature of Érik Lamela this season. His goal in the 5-1 drubbing of Bournemouth at the weekend just wouldn’t have happened last season. As Harry Kane chipped the ball back from an acute angle, Lamela was already there inside the six-yard box to tap-in the goal off of a rebound.”
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“Playing off of the last defender” is pretty straightforward. Once again, Spurs Fanatic.
“Against Manchester City in our 4-1 win, Lamela completed his game with a well taken goal as he kept his cool when rounding the keeper. When the ball went out to Clinton N’Jie in the build-up, Lamela was already running past the last defender to receive N’Jie’s cross.”
*clarification was needed to make it easy to read*
These two details to Erik Lamela’s game is making him more of a threat in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting eleven. While he still suffers from some miscues — which is now considered normal for him — Lamela has completely solidified the right midfield/winger position in Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 formation.
– Should Ryan Mason start against Aston Villa? [via The Fighting Cock]
It would seem counter-intuitive to mess up Tottenham’s new double pivot of Eric Dier and Dele Alli at defensive mid and central mid, respectively. But what The Fighting Cock has looked at is interesting. While Spurs are now good defensively, offensively they aren’t better. Which is hard to argue with, when looking at the statistics.
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Tottenham are averaging 1.7 points per game this season compared to last season’s 1.68 which shows that there are still improvements to be made.
Even with Heung-Min Son’s injury, Spurs have remained unbeaten in the Premier League despite his absence. With that said though, the South Korean international’s game is greatly needed by adding another creative presence at the attacking trio behind Harry Kane.
Mousa Dembélé is a good choice to play up top at the central attacking midfield role, but he won’t be adding much to the goal scoring department. Instead, the Belgian midfielder is more likely to help maintain possession when navigating through traffic and helping recycle possession from side of the pitch to another. It’s not bad, but it could be better. So how does Ryan Mason help Spurs at central midfield?
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By being able to push up the pitch and add a fourth midfielder to the attack from the central midfield position. The Fighting Cock knows fully well that Dele Alli is a great talent and deserves to remain as a starter. But looking over through the season, Alli hasn’t helped offensively. Instead he’s helped out more on defense which is why Tottenham are the joint-sharers as the best defense in the Premier League.
This isn’t a knock on the young 19-year-old central midfielder, but The Fighting Cock acknowledges that the offense must now keep up with the defense. In order to earn wins and not draws, some more risks must be taken. Last season saw a more open-attacking-offense, whereas this season is more defensive-minded. This isn’t bad but statistics wise, 1.7 compared to 1.68 isn’t that impressive in all honesty.
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If Érik Lamela can continue his fine form this season, his third season, in a Tottenham shirt, he will be a huge success for Spurs in future seasons. That being said, Tottenham supporters, so long as they’re able to acknowledge and accept the mistakes that Lamela has from time to time, they could slowly be fine with the huge price tag that Spurs ended up paying the Argentine winger in the summer of 2013.
As for Ryan Mason, being able to push up the pitch and looking to attack all the time could be beneficial with Eric Dier as his partner, who already does well as a destroyer at defensive mid. Dele Alli is the better talent over Mason, no question about it, but in terms of helping the team out offensively this is where Ryan Mason has the edge. For the time being though, Mauricio Pochettino might stick with a more conservative approach which has worked since Ryan Mason went down with injury.