Vertonghen, Eriksen React to Tottenham’s Win Over Hull City
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino used a 3-4-3 formation against Hull City yesterday and saw his side come away with a win and three points.
With Hull City making the trip to White Hart Lane, Tottenham would be welcoming the worst defense to their ground and look to add more misery to Mike Phelan’s team.
A 3-0 scoreline says a bit on the kind of game this was, but it doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. Hull who had conceded 32 goals prior to kick-off had conceded on average about two goals per match, meaning, Spurs would have a field day and indeed they did.
Although Tottenham’s front three didn’t get in on the scoring action, Christian Eriksen certainly did with the help of Danny Rose and Kyle Walker. The job that Spurs’ full-backs did caught the eyes of everyone in attendance as well as Jan Vertonghen who knows a thing or two about playing the full-back position with the Belgian national team.
“It was the plan to get them forward a bit more and it worked out perfectly,” Vertonghen told Spurs’ official website after the game. “They came up with two great assists for Christian and we can say that they are two of the best full-backs in the league. I think they’re doing a great job for us.”
Playing with three defenders isn’t new to this Spurs side, though Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t use it frequently. When the Argentine manager deploys it however, this system has gotten some good results.
One example would be taking advantage of both Rose and Walker’s pace to get further up the pitch and help out in the final third, stretching defenses as secondary wide players making overlapping runs.
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“You can see that they get a lot more freedom when we play with the five like we did tonight,” Jan Vertonghen explained. “Danny and Kyle know that there are three guys at the back – me, Toby [Alderweireld] and Eric Dier today – and I think that helps them to get forward.”
“You can see how many assists they’ve got this year and how important they were today – they’re a great threat for us and I’m very happy to be playing in the same team as them.”
Jan Vertonghen mentioned the number of assists that Danny Rose and Kyle Walker have, and combined, the two full-backs have chipped in with six assists this season in all competitions; three apiece.
Those six assists shows how important both players are to this offense when they’re given license to move forward and not worry too much about defending when, like Vertonghen said, he, Alderweireld and Dier are patrolling the backline.
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Being shutout on the road at Old Trafford this past Sunday, Christian Eriksen and Tottenham were determined to pick up a win at home — their sixth this season after beating Hull City.
Every game can be seen as a must-win, but against relegation threatened teams, these are especially crucial when Spurs are in the race for a top four spot at the halfway mark of the year.
“We wanted to bounce back after Sunday. We left some points at Old Trafford but we’re still in the same position and still keeping up with the other teams. It was a must-win tonight.” Eriksen said.
“We want to keep moving, keep building and the confidence will get better and better. It’s just about staying on top of everything.”
Next: Tottenham Player Ratings: Home vs Hull City
Looking ahead to Burnley this Sunday, the Danish midfielder is looking at it as another must-win game to continue keeping pace with the four clubs ahead of Spurs. Right now, Tottenham are in a good position to potentially leap over Manchester City depending on their result against Arsenal.
“We know some of the other teams around the top are playing each other so it’s a must-win, just like it was tonight,” Christian Eriksen continued. “To keep up with everything it needs to be three points. Of course, it will be a different game and very difficult against Burnley.”