Tottenham Falls Flat versus Liverpool
By Aaron Coe
What Else Went Wrong for Spurs?
Beyond a formation that was destined to fail, not much went right today. In a first half, after a VERY shaky first 10-minutes where only a linesman’s offside flag kept Liverpool off the scoreboard, Tottenham dominated possession, but they only really took 1 shot.
SHOOT!
Eriksen had a free kick on-goal, but it wasn’t going to trouble any keeper who trusted his wall and Allison wasn’t troubled. Some stats might say Kane’s heal and Vertongen’s launch from midfield were shots, but that was it. 1 legitimate shot, coming off a free kick in the first half. Some domination?
Spurs had more looks at goal in the second half but all, except for Moura’s one-man press putting him on goal, came after Heung-Min Son and Erik Lamela were introduced into the game. Tottenham had 11 total shots according to the Premier League website, but three were blocked, taking us to 8. So, 5 of the 8 actual shots were in the last 30 minutes. Think a little width and a fourth attacker made a difference?
One must wonder why it took an hour for Lamela to come on and then, why for Winks, who was the only Spur not just giving the ball away. Leaving Dier and Dembele on, who both looked off the pace, seemed the wrong decision for a team down 2 goals as the they just do not provide enough forward push.
Maintaining Possession
Tottenham were either disposed or simply played a pass to Liverpool on nearly a dozen occasions in the match. Dier’s hospital ball to no-one in the first half was probably the most egregious of the poor plays.
Liverpool didn’t really have to defend hard, they just had to wait for Tottenham to make a mistake, which they did, twice leading to Liverpool goals and helping Liverpool take 17 shots with less than 40% possession. Winning the possession percentage battle means little, when you can’t link the back to the front and you keep giving the ball away.
