Tottenham Struggling More as Teams Fight Back

There were some broad similarities between Tottenham’s 3-2 win over Everton two weeks ago and Sunday’s 2-1 win over Southampton.

They were both invaluable for Tottenham’s Champions League hopes, of course. With rivals dropping points on both matchdays, those six points tightened Spurs’ hold of second place.

In a more troubling sense, both victories feel much more narrower affairs than they needed to be.

Though Tottenham earned a 2-0 lead in both matches no later than the 56th minute, their grip on the game faded noticeably in the second halves.

Everton didn’t score their first goal until the 81st minute, then followed it up with a second in stoppage time when Tottenham had already added a third to put the win beyond doubt.

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If anything, Southampton came even closer to sharing the points with Spurs. After the break they came back with an intent to control the game in their hosts’ half. The result with James Ward-Prowse’s goal in the 52nd minute, a tally that could have been doubled had Ben Davies’ challenge of Dusan Tadic in Spurs’ box resulted in a penalty.

In both cases, Tottenham’s opponents were able to pull goals back after belated coming out of their shells and taking the game into the other half.

With Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli top-loading Spurs’ attack, it is often difficult to the point of impossible for teams to do much of anything but defend. That is the advantage of Mauricio Pochettino’s tactics — keep the opposition occupied as much as possible in the center of the pitch or their own half, thereby cutting off routes to Hugo Lloris’ goal.

Or, to put more fine a point on it, that is the advantage of Pochettino’s first half tactics. Going back to the beginning of last season, Pochettino clearly emphasizes a strong, determined first half performance designed to give Spurs a commanding lead before the interval. With a two or more goal cushion, the remainder of the match can be be played defensively.

That is two halves of a winning strategy, made possible by Spurs’ possessing some of the best offensive — Kane, et al — and defensive talent — Toby Alderweireld, et al — in England. It’s possible to split the game into more manageable pieces: earn a lead in the first 45, defend a lead in the last 45.

While this theory tends to work wonders, over these past two Premier League matches it appears to be breaking down somewhat. The offense is doing their part, earning early-ish leads. What appears to be breaking down is the defenses’ ability to hold up their end of the bargain.

Part of that might be attributed to Pochettino’s revised tactical shape. The 3-4-2-1, by its very nature, favors attack, committing far more resources into forward areas than a more conventional 4-2-3-1.

Both Everton and Southampton caught on to that fact and attempted to exploit it. Already behind, it made no sense to defend in the second halves. Instead they pushed forward at every opportunity, paying particular attention to the area behind both of Spurs’ wing-backs.

With added pressure on a backline still adjusting to a new formation, mistakes were bound to happen — and happen again. Pochettino might be advised to shift mid-match to a more solid 4-2-3-1, especially after a 2 or more goal lead has been achieved. That supports the centre-backs in wide areas by pushing the wing-backs deeper into more traditional full-back roles.

Next: Tottenham Player Ratings: Win vs Southampton

Moreover, it leaves plenty of talent up the pitch to execute counter-attacks when the opposition’s own attacks inevitably break down. Having someone pacey like Heung-min Son on the pitch for these late-game scenarios would be particularly valuable.

With the end of the season in sight and Tottenham still not assured a Champions League place, Pochettino should seek to tighten up whenever the opportunity arises.