Ajax’s success suggests similar possibilities for Tottenham
The entire football world yesterday was set alight with Ajax’s success against Juventus. Tottenham have a similar task facing them in today’s opponents Manchester City.
Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax have a good relationship between them. Several of Tottenham’s players are former members of the Dutch giants. That said the relationship between the two sides runs far deeper than simple transfers. The two teams have very similar philosophies when it comes to building their sides and how they approach football itself.
Juventus were one of the favorites to win the Champions League this season. Their addition of Cristiano Ronaldo distracted many from the fact that their team was stagnating and aging and was primed to be beaten by a younger and hungrier team. That is exactly what happened and it should give hope to Tottenham that they can do the same to Manchester City.
City are not as weak an opponent as Juventus appeared to be yesterday however. With Pep Guardiola at the helm and a team that is younger at least than Juventus things will not be easy. That said Tottenham have the all important goal in hand and should use it to their advantage.
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The only worry of course though would be that Mauricio Pochettino could betray his principles and play a more defensive style of football. This would be a mistake. The only way to beat Manchester City is to go toe-to-toe with them and keep them and the ball away from your own goal.
If anything this game is going to be won and lost in the midfield. Tottenham must keep things turning over there and approach that battleground with determination, intelligence and physicality. Letting Manchester City have too much of the ball is a mistake and sitting back is too. Simply put their level of finishing is too high and their talent is too good to allow them multiple chances at goal.
If Tottenham can keep the ball in the middle third of the pitch while catching out the still mistake prone backline of Manchester City there’s an excellent chance.
Lucas Moura and Heung Min-Son will be integral to this process and the good thing is that there’s no players in the world at the moment who are better in the small places between the lines and with minimal area to move. The two of them have excellent technical ability, acceleration and ability to read the game and are primed to make the most of any slip ups that Manchester City make.
The final factor that Spurs can take advantage of is the fact that Manchester City are such a small team. Tottenham are excellent in the air and should look to make the most out of their set pieces. They can use these like they’re playing a chess match inside the football match and if they can steal a headed goal early on it will be an important thing to help the team moving forward.
Tottenham should be brave and they should be hopeful. They should be the same way that Ajax were in their defeating both Real Madrid and Juventus.