Tottenham Need to Overcome West Brom Bugaboo

By Ryan Wrenn | Jan 13, 2017

Jul 29, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele (19) controls the ball against the MLS All Stars in the first half of the 2015 MLS All Star Game at Dick /

It’s a peculiar record that Tottenham have against Saturday’s opponents West Brom, and it’s one that Mauricio Pochettino will hope to break.

In the two sides’ last five meetings at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane, the home side has only taken all three points once. Indeed, the last three meetings have all ended with the same scoreline: 1-1.

For Pochettino and Spurs as a whole, it’s a problem that extends beyond general animosity toward Tony Pulis’ side. Three points on Saturday would make it six consecutive Premier League wins in a row for Tottenham. With competition for Champions League spots and, indeed, the title itself tight, there is a strong incentive to get it right here.

Seeing as how there was just as much — if not more — incentive to get it right the last time these two teams met in London, that’s not exactly reassuring however.

It was April of last year, and there were only a handful of games until the Premier League season closed out. Tottenham needed every point they could to stay within spitting distance of Leicester City in first place. A home game against West Brom seemed like just a matter of course.

Only that match ended 1-1 when West Brom’s Craig Dawson made up for his own-goal in the first half by scoring an equalizer in the second. Tottenham were stunned, and the effect carried over to the next week when Tottenham gave up the title chase in a 2-2 draw at Chelsea.

Subsequent losses to Southampton and Newcastle stripped Tottenham of one remaining shred of glory — Arsenal finished 2nd, thereby sustaining their long streak of ending the season above their local rivals.

Memories of those last few weeks of the 2015/16 campaign continue to haunt Tottenham. Last week’s win over Chelsea helped exorcise some of the demons — and a win over West Brom could finish them off.

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A desire to win sometimes eclipses why exactly Tottenham find it so hard to break down Pulis’ West Brom. How can Pochettino orchestrate wins over Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and virtually every other team in the league but the Baggies?

Part of it comes down to Tony Pulis himself. His sides have a way of playing the thorn in many a lion’s paw. It wasn’t too long ago that his Stoke City bedeviled Arsenal on a regular basis.

Why Pulis manages these kinds of feats is, simply put, his tactics. Though he deserves a lot of credit for the amount of points he squeezes out of it, his system is one of rigid, muscular defending accompanied by long balls and minimal creativity.

For Arsenal that represented a challenge because so much of their game involved passing the ball into the back of the net. With all avenues clogged with rigid lines of midfielders and defenders, and all hopes of dribbling thwarted by robust challenges, Arsenal often struggled.

The mountain Tottenham must climb to overcome West Brom is similar, though why they struggle is a bit different. Like Arsenal, this Spurs side rely on possession play and some clever passing — though not in exactly the same way. Where as Arsenal were rightfully confident that they could waltz through and around most sides, Spurs hope to catch them out with quick, lethal transitions.

Doing so relies heavily on the opposing side affording plenty of space in behind them. That’s why the press is so central to Pochettino’s philosophy — it forces situations where the opposition defense is caught too far up the field to effectively defend.

Pulis’ teams aren’t so vulnerable however. They sit deep, crowding the area in front of goal and wait for chances to spring forward in (rare) moments of possession.

This is, of course, how most sides face off against Tottenham. Pochettino and his team know well how to break down the likes of Sunderland and Crystal Palace when they come to White Hart Lane with the same intent.

The difference with West Brom is that this kind of play represents their definition of football. They recruit and train for precisely this type of game, and it works well enough for them to survive in the Premier League despite relatively smaller resources.

Next: Mauricio Pochettino Press Conference: Tottenham v West Brom

How Pochettino overcome them on Saturday is a real question. The same old tactics might not be enough. Spurs need at once to be at their best in their usual pressing-and-through-ball game while so remaining ready to field a Plan B.

That Plan B could involve widening the field of play with the introduction of Heung-min Son or another player who favors the flanks. It might involve Vincent Janssen coming in to play alongside Harry Kane, thereby adding another point for West Brom to defend against. It might involve yet another, heretofore unseen tactical innovation. We’ll have to wait until Saturday to see.