Tottenham Hotspur triumphed over Shkendija in Europa League qualifying and there were some key takeaways from the match for Spurs to consider moving forward.
Tottenham Hotspur were dominant but not deadly in Macedonia on Thursday evening, leading to a 1-3 victory over Shkendija and a date with Maccabi Haifa in the playoffs of the Europa League.
Despite not quite being at the top of their game in terms of finishing off a lesser opponent, there were a few things that stood out during the match that we should keep an eye on for Spurs moving forward.
The play of a couple of Spurs along with some of the tactics caught the eye.
Serge Aurier: Not done yet
Serge Aurier had seemed to be a forgotten man early this season, after being one of the few mainstays under the initial reign of Jose Mourinho. With the addition of Matt Doherty, it appeared Serge had fallen in the pecking order. However, based on the play of both thus far, Aurier should probably be seeing more minutes at right back.
Considered a defensive liability at times, Aurier played only one bad ball all night and worked hard to backtrack and play his part in the defense. Having avoided any stupid fouls or bad decisions based on poor positioning, Aurier seems to have grown as a defender under Mourinho and was probably the best defender on the pitch last night, which is not something Doherty can say thus far.
Even more impressive last night were the crosses coming from the right-back. Doherty was brought in to help add some drive to the attack, but last night it was Aurier who was consistently putting the ball in the box. Unfortunately for Serge and Spurs, the boys were just not finishing the moves.
Aurier had five crosses that on a different day may have led to five goals in a demolishing of Shkendija. Instead, Dele had a first-time effort saved by the keeper, on another occasion a little mistiming by Son Heung-min and Dele left the ball whizzing between the two like the bad news bears. On the third occasion in the first half, Dele was seemingly alone at the back post, only to be thwarted by a terrific defensive effort. Three great crosses, three poor finishes, zero goals for Spurs.
In the second half, Serge found new targets, but still found the same results. At 65 minutes, Aurier pinged Lamela on the head only for the Argentine to redirect the ball and see it bounce wide of the net. Just two minutes later, Aurier played a wonderful left-footed cross into the box after cutting back to his weaker foot.
This time Serge found Harry Kane, who could only slap his palm to his forehead after missing what for Kane was a sitter. Of course, Erik Lamela had already scored and Kane would head home for Son later, but on a different day Aurier would have been the star as a clinical Spurs put five or six past Shkendija. Instead, it was a day of poor finishing and Aurier will have to live with knowing he did his part. Seeing those crosses and the effort from Serge is a positive sign for Spurs.
Tottenham midfield answer
For much of the start of the reign of Jose Mourinho and then frankly for most of the summer, Tottenham had to deal with rumors of the poor relationship between Mourinho and his French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele. It was going to be Paul Pogba all over again and Spurs would be lucky if they could find a buyer and get their money back.
Well, I was not buying this talk early and apparently neither were Mourinho and company as his continued efforts to build a relationship with and a commitment from Tanguy Ndombele seem to be paying off. Ndombele was far from perfect on the night, losing the ball on the dribble once or twice and hitting a couple wayward passes. However, overall, the Frenchman was the best midfielder on the pitch and more importantly, his effort from box-to-box was excellent.
We have seen too many videos of players walking back on defense and I guess Tanguy has too, but he was not going to be seen walking on film on this evening. Ndombele was great both on and off the ball. On the ball, he showed some of the flashes of what made some folks compare him to Mousa Dembele with his pirouettes and spins with his wide frame shielding the ball away from his inferior opposition.
Additionally, we saw some of the range of passing Tanguy possesses as well as before unseen willingness to make a strong tackle and win the ball for Spurs. Maybe it was the tight whistle from the referee, but I enjoyed seeing the good tackles and hard football without a whistle every 30 seconds.
The flow of the game suited Ndombele well and you can see how as he continues to grow his match fitness – this was his first full 90 minutes in over eight months – Ndombele can be the beast we thought he could be when he was signed for a club-record fee last season. If Mourinho can get the best out of Ndombele, that is great for Spurs and bad for the opposition.
Tottenham, tactics, and other takeaways
It was noticeably clear on Sunday with the high line from Southampton the approach Spurs were going to take, particularly in the second half. Kane would drop deep, pulling a high line even higher, then the wings and midfield could run in behind and Kane could deliver. It worked to perfection on Sunday against Southampton and clearly Shkendija saw it and were committed to NOT being beaten the same way.
However, equally obvious, despite the low block from Spark, was the fact that Mourinho had a game plan to still get in behind the defense to create opportunities inside the box. Whereas Sunday the balls were a bit longer and the idea of the through ball was clearer against the high line, Thursday was a bit different, but Spurs were committed.
Much like the backdoor play in basketball, where the person with the ball waits for the defender to ball watch and then make the pass to the cutting player behind the watching defender, that was Spurs’ approach for getting behind the Shkendija defense, use the backdoor.
Whether it was Harry Winks or Davinson Sanchez trying to play Dele or Aurier behind, or Son and Steven Bergwijn trying to play Ben Davies behind, there was a clear and concerted effort to try to get behind the defense with a quick through ball as the player cut in from the wing.
While the success of this would have been much more effective had players finished their attempts, it was the impetus that led to the second goal. It was one of these little backdoor through balls that Giovani Lo Celso played to Lucas Moura that put Moura in on goal to fire off his shot. That shot was saved but the rebound went to Son, who buried it for the 2-1 Spurs lead. So, while Lo Celso did not get the assist, the approach did clearly work, you just must keep trying.
Outside of the backdoors and the high volume of crosses the tactic led too, the one overriding tactical takeaway from the match was Mourinho himself. I have never been to a Spurs practice and Amazon only showed us so much, but that game sure felt like a practice match if I have ever seen one. From moment one until they were up by two goals, the one voice clearly heard on the broadcast was that of Mourinho.
Whether it was swearing at Dele Alli and urging him to press more or asking for “Stevie” to go “up, up, up”, the constant barking of commands and demanding for more pressure from Jose was clear.
At one point just before a throw-in, you could hear Mourinho call out to the team, “come on, top quality ball movement”, which was followed by a really nice little combination between Winks and Ndombele that led the players to exchange a high-five following the play. That kind of buy-in, that kind of desire to please the coach is exactly what this team needs. I sure hope Dele is listening.