Are Tottenham evolving into Atlético Madrid?

Wednesday’s 3-1 Tottenham win over Borussia Dortmund hinted at Mauricio Pochettino’s tactical flexibility — but might also serve as a window into the club’s future.

Eschewing Tottenham’s typical intense pressing game, Pochettino elected instead to absorb pressure from Dortmund and catch them out on the break, thanks to the ingenuity of Harry Kane and electric pace of Heung-min Son.

It was a gameplan that worked exceedingly well, as Spurs’ three goals and numerous opportunities besides attest.

However effective it might have been, few expect this to be the new normal. Pochettino will rightfully switch back to a more familiar high press come Saturday’s late match against Swansea.

Still, it’s impossible to deny just how well suited Tottenham were for this alternate tactical set. Could it represent something more meaningful than a pragmatic one-off?

Pochettino might be tempted to think so. In broad strokes, what Spurs did on Wednesday is the route Atlético Madrid took to a shocking La Liga title in 2014 and two visits to the Champions League final in recent years.

Specifically, it’s a system that strips the team of traditional playmakers in favor of physical, multi-dimensional ball-movers.

Which is to say that Diego Simeone much prefers a box-to-box man in his Atlético side over a more technical player. His midfield often features upwards of four such players, and in so doing sometimes plays so narrowly as to not have room for wingers.

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Instead, the team often relies on exceptionally quick — or simply exceptionally talented — forwards like Antoine Griezmann or, in the past, Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao. Supplemented by decent production from the likes of Koke or once-and-future Spurs target Saúl Ñíguez, this amounts to a football club that can keep things especially tight at the back while also reliably scoring.

It’s also a system specifically built to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona, whom Atlético are obliged to play at least four times per season. Tottenham face plenty of tricky opposition in the Premier League, but hardly at the same level of such football superpowers.

That would make it impractical for Tottenham to become full converts to Atlético’s football ideology. They are simply not underdogs enough to give in entirely to such a defensive, reactive style.

The Atlético system might be a way for Spurs to break through the final glass ceiling keeping them out of Europe’s elite however. It earned them three invaluable early points in the Champions League group stage, and might still benefit Spurs in the reverse fixture in Germany as well as the two matches against Real Madrid.

Pochettino might also find use for the style domestically. We should expect to see it again in always-tricky matches against Jürgen Klopp’s high-pressing Liverpool, and perhaps against teams like Manchester City who might want to take the game to Tottenham.

So if what we saw on Wednesday appears like a reliable Plan B, how can Pochettino really lean into it when necessary?

Pochettino might be better served by dropping Christian Eriksen entirely in favor of a more direct player better with the ball at his feet, someone like Moussa Sissoko. That would better match the spirit of these tactics — though it would of course strip the team of the magic Eriksen tends to produce in even the most unlikely of circumstances.

He might also think to remove a centre-back in favor of adding another body to midfield — perhaps Harry Winks or Victor Wanyama when the Kenyan is healthy. With both full-backs sticking back more than they might in Spurs’ usual system, that should provide adequate defensive cover with more of a presence in the center of the pitch.

Next: How Tottenham overcame the press

Son and Kane look the ideal match for duties further forward, but Dele Alli would presumably do a job there as well.

All of which makes for an unexpected but welcome change of pace for a Tottenham side that could be accused for being too predictable in the past few seasons.

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