Toby Alderweireld’s Tottenham Return Well Timed

The Tottenham team that shows up to Old Trafford is set to be the strongest Mauricio Pochettino has been able to field in almost three months.

Injuries to Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld and Érik Lamela forced Pochettino into a series of improvisations that succeeded only sparingly. Now, though Lamela remains out, Tottenham can start making up for lost time.

Key to that revitalization will be Alderweireld’s role at centre-back. He will come on in place of Eric Dier, who himself was pulled from defensive midfield as Pochettino remains unsure about Kevin Wimmer’s place in the side.

The result was at best flat and at worst disjointed. Dier is a fine player in his own right, but he fails to mimic some of Alderweireld’s most valuable contributions.

In Dier, Tottenham have a reliable, classic centre-back. He doesn’t stray from his position, relies on a hefty dose of physicality to keep the opposition back and generally leaves playing the ball to the men ahead of him.

Chief among those contributions is a total commitment to Tottenham’s vertical game — specifically the side’s efforts to get the ball up field and into dangerous positions quickly.

It might seem odd to expect such vision from a centre-back. It’s no understatement to say that Alderweireld has gone some way to revolutionizing the position however.

Dier’s methods are all fine and good — indeed it’s the role of virtually every centre-back in the game. Pochettino’s style asks for something special however, something embodied in Alderweireld.

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If there can be said to be one underlying principle to pressing teams like Tottenham, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund, it is this: find yourself with the ball as high up the pitch as you can in as advantageous an area as you can.

More often than not that principle is brought to life through the press. Players like Mousa Dembélé  or Lamela aggressive close down opponents who dare to pass in their own half and thereby retrieve the ball close to goal. Tottenham’s attack is in many ways oriented around making the most of these forced errors.

Before he succumbed to a knee injury in October, Alderweireld was the chief practitioner of Tottenham’s plan B.

If the high press fails to regain possession, it falls to the defense to stop play. When Tottenham’s talented backline invariably succeeds in doing so, the aim is to get the ball back into those aforementioned advantageous positions as quickly as possible.

More often than not that takes the form of patient build up play, with the ball moving from Jan Vertonghen or Alderweireld forward to Victor Wanyama, then to Dembélé then to the full-backs or whoever else will convey the ball forward to the men best equipped to convert.

Increasingly this season, Alderweireld’s found a shortcut: the long-ball.

Oft reviled for being archaic, off the capable foot of a player like Alderweireld they are lethal, especially when paired with an attack such as Tottenham’s. The Belgian’s accuracy and eye for space mean that he can pick out a run from, say, Heung-min Son before it even begins.

Such passes allow Son, or whoever else, to run into open space that the opposition — preparing to shut off or close down more conventional build up play — leaves unguarded. That stretching of the pitch is invaluable, especially against opposing teams who might not be anxious to allow shorter passes on the ground through their lines.

Which brings us to Manchester United.

Everything about Mourinho’s team screams organization. He demands that every player on the pitch participate in all phases of play. With rare exceptions, there are no one-dimensional players on a Mourinho team.

For Tottenham and Alderweireld, this creates an opportunity. Mourinho’s rigidity leaves them particularly vulnerable to quick transitions. Witness their two most significant losses this season: 1-2 to Manchester City and 4-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In both instances, United were frequently caught out by balls over the top of the midfield and defense’s heads, or even simply accurate long passes into space.

Next: Mauricio Pochettino Press Conference: Manchester United vs Tottenham

Tottenham will struggle if they come out expecting to play their normal build up play from the start. United simply don’t allow that much wiggle room through the center of their pitch. With Alderweireld back though, they can stretch their effective playing field farther and longer.

Expect Alderweireld to find routes to United’s goal that Dembélé or even Eriksen might not be able to. Combined with his natural defensive prowess, he could be in store for a man of the match performance.