Tottenham Did Everything Right Against West Brom — Except Win
By Ryan Wrenn
It will come as no solace that on another day, against another goalkeeper, Tottenham would have easily won the match against West Brom that ended up as a 1-1 draw.
The basic stats speak for themselves. Tottenham managed eight shots on target out of 20 taken in total. They overwhelmingly held possession. They completed four times as many passes as West Brom.
These are numbers that tell a story of domination. Or should, anyways. That this match ended in stalemate speaks more to luck and Ben Foster than it does Tottenham’s ability or Mauricio Pochettino’s tactical plan.
The rough 4-1-4-1 — that, in practice, resembles Tottenham’s traditional 4-2-3-1 with the exception of Christian Eriksen essentially having a free, deeper role — worked against this West Brom defense. Last term Tottenham legitimately struggled to break down Tony Pulis’ fortifications, only managing five shots on target over two matches.
On Saturday, Tottenham notched the same amount in just the first half. Pundits would say that West Brom held back Tottenham, but really the bulk of the credit needs to go to Ben Foster.
Yes, West Brom’s organized defending meant that some of Tottenham’s chances on target weren’t from the best positions or situations, but the fact remains that Foster played out of his skin. The former England international is a good keeper overall, but this was exceptional.
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On the other end of the pitch, things were far different. While Tottenham managed to complete 83% of their passes in West Brom’s third, the Baggies only completely 56 passes in 100 attempts close to Hugo Lloris’ goal.
That essentially meant that Nacer Chadli — inarguably West Brom’s biggest threat in attack — was dead weight in open play. The Belgian’s potency is unquestionable, but his ability to drive or influence play otherwise has always been an issue.
It was James McClean and Matt Phillips who were the bigger, more consistent dangers. The wingers pinned back Kyle Walker and Ben Davies at times in the match, while McClean led his team with two shots on target.
That alone wouldn’t be enough. West Brom hoped for set pieces: five of their nine goals this season have some from dead balls.
Spurs did their level best to not concede free-kicks in or near their own third — and indeed, West Brom only benefited from two such situations in their own half over the full course of the game.
When West Brom’s lead did come, it came from a corner. Nacer Chadli got on the end of a ball just deflected by Lloris and gave his side the lead in the 82nd minute.
Dele Alli salvaged the draw seven minutes later, but this match came close to being a terrible start to a dense run of fixtures.
Pochettino and the rest of the team can take some comfort however in the fact that this 1-1 draw looked different than the two identical results from last season.
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Those matches were narrower, featuring less Tottenham chances and more control from West Brom. Here they were forced to rely on Foster extensively. Were Pochettino to have named Heung-min Son to the side or had access to Harry Kane, this game is won in the first half.
It would be unfair to West Brom to dismiss this as a nothing more than luck. Tottenham fans can take heart though that if they continue to play like they did Saturday, this result will likely be the exception and not the rule.