Reflections from Spurs FA Cup Demolition of Tranmere

After just two days rest, Tottenham made the long slog to Merseyside to take down Tranmere Rovers in Round 3 of the FA Cup 0-7. So, what can we take away from the game and how did the Tottenham Hotspur fare?

With only the two days between games, Mauricio Pochettino rotated heavily on with his Tottenham Hotspur side. However, it was not all youngsters and outcasts as the team was led and captained by Dele Alli while Heung-Min Son, and Surge Aurier had big performances for Spurs. Beyond that and the biggest Spurs away win in any competition ever, what can we take away from Tranmere?

Respect and The FA Cup

It is no secret that Pochettino, as well as many Spurs supporters, see the FA and League Cup competitions as something less than. We know from multiple pressers making and advancing in Champions League, as well as competing for top 4 in Premier League are still Pochettino’s main priorities. That said, it was clear the squad came in with a lot of respect for the competition and their opposition.

Within the opening 15 minutes of play, Spurs should have been up 2-0. Whether it was good goalkeeping by Tranmere’s Scott Davies between the sticks or poor finishing, the opportunities came early for Spurs. Son was played in about 7 minutes in and was one-on-one with Davies. Given his form of late, a goal was to be expected, after sending the keeper the wrong way however, Son’s shot was snagged by the outstretched feet of Davies and the game stayed at zeroes.

Only a few minutes later, a strong tackle from Juan Foyth led to a cross to Son, who this time played in Lucas Moura. The ball seemed to get stuck under Moura’s feet and his attempt at a left footed shot was easily stopped by Davies. It was good to see these early, clear chances but not so great to see the opportunities wasted. This clearly gave Davies and his mates some confidence.

Nevertheless, although it took Spurs a while to eventually score the game was never in doubt and it was clear Spurs came with winning intent. It was until the 25th minute of the match before Tranmere got off their first shot, and a second quickly followed, although the shots were blocked and wide.  Bottom line, Spurs came to play and gave a good showing for a lower-level competition.

Spurs Formation

With a lot of rotation in the squad, Tottenham lined up in what seemed like a 3-4-3, although at times it seemed like there were only two defenders in Davison Sanchez and Ben Davies as Juan Foyth found his way up field quite a bit. It was difficult to distinguish who was playing wing and who was playing back with Aurier and Foyth both pushing regularly into the attack.

Beside Aurier and Dele, young players– Oliver Skipp and Kyle Walker-Peters– rounded out the four in the midfield. Aurier and KWP were wide, with both Skipp and Dele playing in the holding position. As the game wore on, it was more Skipp than Dele who pushed forward providing an opportunity for Oliver to show off his passing range. The front included Son, Moura, and Fernando Llorente across the line.

This was the first time in a couple months we have seen the 3-4-3 employed by Pochettino and it was clear during much of the first half the team was getting used to the formation and the players within it. However, the plan worked as Spurs held more than 70% possession in both halves and keeper Paulo Gazzaniga was rarely troubled on the evening.

Spurs Youth on Display

Beyond Skipp and Walker-Peters, a couple of other Tottenham academy players Timothy “TJ” Eyoma and George Marsh were both on the bench and made more than a cameo in the game. Eyoma was on the bench in the Premier League about a month ago as the center-half injuries mounted up. Also, both Eyoma and Marsh were part of the Tottenham side that travelled to the US and won the International Champions Cup this past summer.

With the January market likely to be unkind to Spurs, seeing more players from the Academy coming into the squad and getting on the field is great. Marsh has been with Tottenham since 2015 and before joining the U-23 team wore the armband for the U-18 side. Eyoma is two years younger than Marsh, and doesn’t turn 19 until later this month, but has been part of the U-23 set-up for a couple years now.

As for KWP and Skipp, they both made contributions to the game. KWP was on the left, but showed he has mastery of both feet as he had several crosses into the box and was never bothered defensively. With a little more experience and muscle, KWP will be ready to contribute regularly in all competitions. Skipp did get caught in possession from behind twice, but outside of that and maybe a couple of loose passes, he played well.

Oliver Skipp showed skill in moving the ball forward for Tottenham. Harry Winks has taken some heat over the last month for the lateral movement he often finds with his passes. While Skipp was not always forward, many of his passes were. These were not long flighted balls or through-balls for folks to run into, they were strong on the ground passes to feet.

No, a striker wasn’t checking in and getting the ball 5 yards away for a quick pass back. Rather Skipp has the knack to zip the ball into tight windows between the lines giving the front line an opportunity with the ball at their feet. One time Son took the ball like this from midfield and went all the way to score. While some may call that an assist, given Son dribbled 50 yards, I’m not sure I do. However, the ball Skipp rolled into Llorente where he took two touches and scored, that was a good assist.

Based on Pochettino’s past comments, if the players make the bench and get on the field, it is because the team believes in them, which speaks volumes for these youngsters and the work that continues to be done in the academy. Further, given Tottenham’s unlikely moves in the transfer market, it is the academy that will be called upon to provide fresh blood for the squad.

Crown Them with Kane

I’m sure everyone has some opinion about Tottenham talisman Harry Kane coming onto the pitch with Spurs already up by six goals. However, for anyone watching the game, it was clear from his first touch this was the right move by Pochettino and Kane. After coming on following Llorente’s hat trick, there was no doubt the crowd wanted to see Kane and that Kane wanted to score.

Whereas Dele Alli was mysteriously being booed by the crowd every time he touched the ball in the first half- which was often- Harry Kane’s first touch was met with a nice roar from the crowd and he accommodated them with a nice little display of dribbling and footwork.

After the game Pochettino spoke about the privilege it was for the local fans to see Kane, even if just briefly as part of the FA Cup. A few minutes on, Dele played a nice through ball where Kane ran off the defenders shoulder and then provided a pretty chip over the onrushing Davies. Based on the crowd’s reaction and the high fives Kane delivered to people in the stands after he scored, this was indeed the right move. Classy move here by Spurs, even if Kane just wanted a goal, it was good to see the move and to see Kane deliver.

Other Musings from the Game

Dele Alli was all over the field last night and between he and Skipp, they attempted 200 passes, completing about 90%. Tranmere attempted 251 total passes to give some perspective on just how active Dele and Skipp were managing the tempo for Spurs.

The turf was clearly slick for the game. Several players slipped, once Aurier slipped giving Cameroonian big man Monthe a clear header, which was easily saved by Gazzaniga. Another defensive slip led to Foyth playing a header from the ground. A simple back-pass turned into the lowest header on record as Foyth slipped and crawled to the ball, heading it from his stomach to get it back to Aurier.

Son continues to shine for Spurs with a goal and two assists last night. Had Spurs been just a little more clinical Son could have had two goals and a hat-trick of assists, but alas will have to settle with 9 goals in his last 10 matches for Spurs in all competitions.

After only 2 goals in as many years for Spurs, Serge Aurier had a brace against Tranmere taking his Tottenham goal tally to four. His opening goal was a thing of beauty. He pressed high on a clearance off a corner and nicked the ball from Norwood, bounced it off Foyth and than ran on to drill a cracker that sliced into the upper 90 of goal. His second was a nice finish, with a little help from unlucky defending as Serge burst in on the right and Son laid the ball into his path.

Fernando Llorente now has two career FA Cup hat-tricks after last night’s affair. Llorente took four shots and three went in, which is encouraging knowing Son could be gone for up to a month after the Manchester United game next Sunday. Alternatively, if Llorente wants out, at least he has shown some form giving Daniel Levy some negotiating leverage. Either way positive play from Llorente is good for Spurs.

Finally, Paulo Gazzaniga continues to do well when called upon for Spurs, registering his 8th win in as many games this season. Although only officially credited with two saves, he did a nice job commanding his box, coming out one time to cut off the long throw coming in from Rovers.

What Next for Spurs

While there were only two days off before this game, playing on Friday gives Tottenham three full days without a game before hosting Leg 1 of the League Cup Semi-Final with Chelsea on Tuesday. That game is followed by Manchester United coming to Wembley in League next Sunday as Spurs look to keep their unbeaten 2019 intact and maintain the form necessary to compete on four fronts.

The draw for the 4th round FA Cup match will occur the evening of Monday January 7, with games set to run from Friday January 25 until Monday January 28.