What I learned from Tottenham Win at Huddersfield Town
By Aaron Coe
Spurs have a Real Back-up Keeper
Paulo Gazzaniga has just matched Hugo Lloris for clean sheets in the Premier League this season for Spurs with one. No offense to Michel Vorm, who was once a good International quality keeper, he is getting long in the tooth and Gazzaniga provides a bit more protection. While it was not the toughest day ever in the office for Gazzaniga, he did make a couple critical saves.
His late jump and palming of Chris Lowe’s long-range missile at the 30th minute preserved the game for Tottenham. The shot was unsight and swerved on frame around Jan Vertongen. It was a good save to be sure. One of five he made on the day.
It is just good to know Spurs cabinet for keepers isn’t bare and the season is not lost if Lloris was to go down. Hard to NOT see Gazzaniga starting in the Champions League on Wednesday, given Lloris hasn’t played a minute in nearly a month.
Davison Sanchez is Good
Davison Sanchez had a good game against Huddersfield. While Sanchez is sound as a righted-sided center-half in a back four, he is a beast in the middle of a back three, or five or whatever that was.
Saturday’s match wasn’t the same back three from earlier in the season, where Alderweireld and Vertongen were pinching in and forcing Sanchez to play deep, almost like a sweeper. This was a well-spaced back three that was flatter in the back, relying more on Sanchez’s speed than any depth of positioning.
From the flat back, Sanchez was able to attack the balls, both on the ground and in the air winning about a half dozen each, tackles and headers. This approach allows the three defenders to match up and create space. More importantly this spacing and aggression helps push our wing-backs up the pitch, bolstering the counter attack.
Sure, Sanchez is not on the level of Vertongen and Alderweireld, yet. He is young, strong, fast, and getting better every game. The longer these three men can play together, the better it is for Tottenham’s squad moving forward.
Throw-ins are Slow and Boring
Okay, I am starting to get over throw-ins here, the time it takes for the ball to come back in play is getting a bit over the top.
When I played, I had a long throw and we used it, but the other side of the field was just as good, and we used him too. Waiting for Billing to come and take every throw within 30 yards of the end line on either side of the field was a bit to endure.
Worse for Huddersfield fans, I don’t think the Terriers won one of those throw ins, where the ball was then flicked on to another player. In the end it just ended up wasting time and setting the Huddersfield squat to get hit on the counter.
Tottenham is also guilty of some egregious play when it comes to throw ins. In the defending and middle thirds of the pitch, okay, wait for the wing back to come up and take the throw, fine. This allows players to push up and create space for the attack.
When the ball gets to the final third however, the time wasted waiting for the wing back to arrive often leads to an opportunity lost. On the rare occasion, we see Harry Kane throw the ball in, I think we should see that more. We should see it from Lucas Moura, Heung-Min Son, Eriksen, and Dele more too.
If the ball goes out of bounds in the attacking third, why wait for the defense to settle in and lose the limited space available? An earlier throw-in can keep the defense off-balance and keep the game moving along.
If the early throw-in isn’t on, then throw it to the wing back coming up the line to take the throw. This keeps the spacing necessary to whip the ball around and it doesn’t crowd the strikers out. When Spurs wait for the wing back to take that throw in the final third, they are losing time and space, all the while allowing the defense to organize. Like I said opportunity lost, Tottenham is best when they play fast, keep that going.
