Lack of scoring threat not Tottenham’s main issue against Leipzig

Tottenham’s main issue against RB Leipzig wasn’t so much the lack of scoring threat but their willingness to sit back and let the away side dictate every facet of play. 

Most home teams’ primary objective is to take the impetus from the outset, putting the opposition on the back foot, thereby rousing supporters who are already in the mood to make life difficult for the visitors.

For some inexplicable reason Jose Mourinho appears satisfied with his side conceding possession, sitting back and absorbing what turned into a consistent Leipzig onslaught. Leipzig’s utter dominance in the first half made it feel like the German side is far superior to our beloved Spurs. We all know that’s not the case, but you wouldn’t know it based on the tentative, hesitant way in which Mourinho’s men acquitted themselves.

With over 60,000 raucous supporters raring to go, Spurs offered them nothing to cheer about. Within 15 minutes all the excitement, adrenaline and noise had been drained from the stadium. Leipzig had completely nullified Tottenham’s home advantage.

And Mourinho must take accountability for the way he set up his team. If containment was the gaffer’s goal, Tottenham fell way short of achieving that objective. In all candour, Spurs should have been down two or three at the interval, such was the abundance of excellent scoring chances Leipzig spurned. Of course Hugo Lloris’ heroic performance had a lot to do with frustrating Leipzig’s attackers.

What’s even more curious is Mourinho’s logic. Spurs, when they are fully fit, are one of the deadliest counter attacking sides in Europe. It serves them well to soak up pressure and wait for their opportunity to strike with lightning speed and efficiency.

Unfortunately their ability to counter has lost most of its venom without Son and Kane bursting forward. By the way Spurs started Wednesday’s Champions League affair, it didn’t look like Jose got the memo.

It becomes even more confounding when you take into consideration how shorthanded Leipzig’s rearguard was. They were without any first team centre backs. Yet Spurs barely made the two inexperienced centre backs break a sweat. Lucas Moura almost exposed them on a direct long ball at the back, showcasing the vulnerability of Leipzig’s centre back pairing.

Surely you’d expect Mourinho to be more risk forward, at least poking and prodding while playing in front of a boisterous home support. The way Spurs started the match had nothing to do with being down their best two strikers, and had everything to do with Mourinho’s negative, risk averse philosophy.

It’s a philosophy that also shows a lack of belief in his player’s ability to go toe to toe with Europe’s best, a surefire way of guaranteeing Spurs’ premature exit from Europes’ most prestigious club competition. Let’s hope a repeat of Amsterdam is on the cards when Spurs travel to Germany for the return leg, though they’ll have to be immeasurably more bold for that improbability to manifest.