An over reliance on full backs has hampered Tottenham’s progress
By Gary Pearson
An over reliance on Tottenham’s full backs have hampered significantly the club’s progress in the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino’s system bundles the pressure on the right and left back, making them the most integral players on the pitch. And that’s perfectly fine when you have players in those positions who can handle the pressure and workload. Unfortunately Tottenham’s full backs, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker-Peters, Serge Aurier, Ben Davies, are not good enough to be focal points in both attack and defence.
Pochettino’s system is almost completely devoid of midfield width. Playing a narrow diamond in midfield prevents anyone patrolling the heart of the pitch from effectively using the bylines. If they spread out to wide, midfielders risk being caught out of position, which creates massive spaces for the opposition to exploit.
By default, the responsibility in Pochettino’s system falls on the right and left back to offer wide support. Required to maraud the length of the pitch at pace, it’s incumbent upon the full backs to provide attacking support while ensuring they don’t forsake their defensive responsibilities. The best full backs in the world can cope with the physical rigours and mental challenges of such a highly demanding position.
Tottenham’s current batch of full backs, due to inexperience, sluggishness, a lack of defensive wherewithal, an inability to perform consistently at the highest level, can’t fulfil the aforementioned demands. Relying on inadequate right and left backs in this system can quickly turn into your achilles heel without the right personnel.
Maybe Ryan Sessegnon can fill that role at left back. But the young left back is still an unproven commodity so that possibility is pure conjecture. Until Pochettino is able to procure a right and left back worthy of filling those ambitious, onerous roles, he needs to shift tactics and create width in midfield.
Place the burden on those who are paid to create, to thrive under heightened pressure. Let the likes of Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura, Giovani Lo Celso (when he’s fit again), Dele Alli (when he finds form again) provide the side with needed width from midfield.
Next. Two up front can help cure what ails Tottenham. dark
Our full backs need to concentrate solely on defending well, especially with Spurs consistently conceding bundles of avoidable goals. Instead of having our full backs do numerous things insufficiently, Pochettino should demand they do one thing, defend, admirably.